Brazil national rugby union team
 | |||
| Nickname(s) | Os Tupis | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Tupí chief | ||
| Union | Confederação Brasileira de Rugby | ||
| Head coach | Rodolfo Ambrosio | ||
| Captain | Nick Smith | ||
| Top scorer | Daniel Gregg (143) | ||
| Top try scorer | Daniel Gregg (14) | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 35 (as of 9 May 2016) | ||
| Highest | 27 (2009, 2011) | ||
| Lowest | 42 (2015) | ||
| First international | |||
|
Uruguay 8 − 6 Brazil (9 September 1950) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
|
Costa Rica 0 − 95 Brazil (10 October 2006) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
|
Argentina 114 − 3 Brazil (10 October 1992) Argentina 111 − 0 Brazil (5 May 2012) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 0 | ||
| Website | www.brasilrugby.com.br | ||
The Brazil national rugby union team, nicknamed Os Tupis,[1] is the national side of Brazil, representing them in international rugby union. Rugby union in Brazil is controlled by the Confederação Brasileira de Rugby. Brazil is one of the founding unions of CONSUR (now Sudamérica Rugby) and played in the inaugural 1951 edition. Brazil has not qualified for a Rugby World Cup, but will participate in the inaugural edition of rugby 7s in the Olympics.
Rugby union in Brazil has a long history, dating back to the late 19th century when British immigrants brought the game to Brazil's urban ports. Despite Brazil's success in association football, Brazil has historically been one of the weaker teams of the Americas, having less success than that of Argentina, Uruguay or Chile. Brazil have usually ranked 4th in South America, and rugby has lived in the shadows of other sports in Brazil.
In the 21st century, efforts were made to revitalize the sport in Brazil. With sevens being added to the Olympic calendar, Brazil were invited to the World Rugby Sevens Series, where they've improved in both men's and women's sides. In 2014, they recorded their first victory ever against Chile, winning 24-16. In 2016, a meeting with the unions of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States and Uruguay established the Americas Rugby Championship, meant to mirror the Six Nations and The Rugby Championship, and give consistent tests to the top Americas unions. After 3 close games, two of which Brazil came very close to victory, Brazil beat the United States, 24-23, their first victory in the championship, as well as over the United States, and a Tier Two nation.
History
Beginnings (19th Century - 1949)
The very first instance of rugby being played in Brazil dates back to the late 19th century. British immigrants arriving in Brazil brought the game to various port cities in Brazil. These immigrants set up various athletic clubs which doubled with association football.[2] The first recorded instance of a rugby game being played in Brazil was 1891, played by the São Paulo Athletic Club, under the auspices of Charles William Miller. Future efforts to promote the game were then taken on by Augusto Shaw, after Miller began to devote himself exclusively to football.[3]
During the 1920s and 1930s, rugby began to flourish somewhat in Brazil, although it did not enjoy the widespread exposure as football. For the most part, rugby was primarily restricted to those who had British descent, or with some other connection to Britain. In 1926, proper domestic competition was established.[4] By 1932, a national side had formed; Brazil played its first ever national game against a South Africa XV, losing by an unknown margin. The sport suffered a setback when an attempt to get it recognized as a national sport was denied, since rugby was limited to only four states than the required five.[3] World War II suspended operations from 1941 to 1946, as was the case in many countries.
1950s - 1990s
Brazil participated in the first ever South American Rugby Championship, but lost all three of their fixtures. They were shut out 68 and 72 to zero against Chile and Argentina respectively, while Brazil played a more closer game against Uruguay, losing 10 – 17. During the 1950s, organization of rugby in Brazil was sporadic; there was no official high governing union at the time, and the national side was only organized by Jimmy Macintyre, who ran the SPAC. Brazil would not play another test until 1961. The modern day Brazilian Rugby Confederation (CBRu) was founded in 1963, in order to govern the game more efficiently in the country. The first president of the CBRu was Harry Donovan.[5] In 1964, Brazil finished runner-up in the South American Rugby Championship, tying Chile 16–16 and defeating Uruguay 15–8.
In the 1970s the better structure of rugby allowed the game to be introduced to Brazilians outside of the British-descended community. Brazil experienced somewhat of an expansion in rugby; the game was introduced to universities throughout the country, and Brazil was becoming a destination for rugby tours. In 1974, Brazil played a test match against France, losing by a margin of 7–99.[5] For the rest of the decade Brazil played against its South American neighbors; Brazil frequently beat minnows Paraguay during this period.
In 1985, France toured Brazil again, but this time Brazil played much more valiantly, losing by a score of 6–41. Brazil is a charter member of CONSUR (now Sudámerica Rugby), founded in 1989. Despite this, Brazil did not officially join the IRB until 1995, and did not participate in qualifying tournaments until then. However, their first fixture in the qualifiers was a disaster; Brazil were humiliated by Trinidad and Tobago by a score of 41–0, swiftly ending their campaign.
2000s - The New Century
Brazil began the 2000s with much more success. In 2000, Brazil easily won the 2000 edition of the SARC; they repeated this in 2001, topping the group of Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela. Brazil advanced to the next round of qualifying, disposing of Trinidad and Tobago; Brazil would go on to lose their final games, but Brazil was finally starting to close the gap. Throughout the 2000s, Brazil began winning more of its games, and in 2008, finally broke through; Brazil beat Paraguay to finally advance to the top flight of the SARC, their first time there since 1989. Brazil further repeated this by beating Paraguay again in 2009.
In 2012, the New York Times reported that rugby was Brazil's second fastest growing sport, behind MMA. This is partly due to World Rugby re-investing in Brazil due to the reinstatement of rugby in the 2016 Olympics.[6] Since then, Brazil has been invited to the World Rugby Sevens Series, allowing Brazil to improve against higher competition.
In 2014, Brazil recorded its first ever victory over Chile, defeating the Condors 24 to 16. Since initiatives were taken in 2009; the character of rugby has changed in Brazil; the registration numbers have risen, and the sport has successfully formed sponsorships with companies such as Bradesco, many of whom see Brazilian rugby profitable in the future.[7]
In 2015, Brazil played two tetss against the national team of Germany, one held in Pacaembu Stadium; these exhibitions attracted 10,000 spectators, being one of the highest attendances for rugby in Brazil. Brazil's improved form showed in 2016 in the first edition of the Americas Rugby Championship, where Brazil were on the verge of historic victories against Chile and Uruguay, but could not hold on. After scoring 25 points in their first ever fixture versus Canada, Brazil went on to upset the United States 24–23 in Pacaembu; Brazil proceeded to finish off the tournament losing 7–41 to Argentina, scoring their first try against Argentina in decades.
For the 2016 South American Rugby Championship "A", RedeTV!, one of Brazil's major TV networks, will air Brazil's games live. Brazil played Uruguay at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, one of the largest stadiums to ever host a rugby game in Brazil. Brazil tied 20–20 against Chile, further signaling their rise to the top in South America. To cap off the tournament, Brazil beat Paraguay 32–21, finishing in third place only behind Chile on points difference.
Uniforms
Traditionally, the rugby team of Brazil has worn a strip of a yellow top and green shorts while the away strip consists of a green top and white shorts. The current provider of the kit is domestic based Topper. In 2015, the shorts were changed to blue, to be consistent of that of Brazil's football team; this included a presentation involving the Tupí tribe, whom the team is nicknamed after.[8] The current shirt sponsor of Brazil is Bradesco.
Nickname
For some time, Brazilian national rugby union side was unofficially associated with Walt Disney's character Zé Carioca. Some time later, CBRu, still known as Associação Brasileira de Rugby, or simply ABR, chose Vitória Régia as its official emblem and nickname. However, this nickname was not adopted by fans.
In March 2012, CBRu announced Os Tupis as Brazil national rugby union team's official nickname,[1] a reference to Tupi people, the main ethnic group of Brazilian indigenous people. The choice for an emblem started in 2010, when CBRu started receiving e-mails with several suggestions. The three finalists were Tupis, Sucuris (Anacondas) and Araras (Macaws). Fans voted on an Internet poll and chose Tupis with 47% (4,387 votes) of preference. According to CBRu's President, Sami Arap, "The choice ratified the roots of Brazilian people. Tupi represents the essence of our country, referring to [our] strength, perseverance, loyalty and team spirit".
Tournament records
Rugby World Cup
| World Cup record | World Cup Qualification record | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | Pts F | Pts A | P | W | D | L | F | A | |
  1987 | Not invited | — | ||||||||||||
   1991 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||
 1995 | ||||||||||||||
 1999 | Did not qualify | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | |||||||
| 2003 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 140 | 84 | ||||||||
| 2007 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 179 | 108 | ||||||||
| 2011 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 230 | 190 | ||||||||
 2015 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 85 | 164 | ||||||||
| Total | 0/8 | 25 | 14 | 0 | 11 | 634 | 587 | |||||||
South American Championship
| Tourney | Host | Record | Pts Diff | Position | Wins | Draws | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 |  Uruguay |
1–2 | −129 | 4th | Paraguay (36–21) | – | Uruguay (3–71), Chile (3–79) |
| 2010 |  Chile |
1–2 | −34 | 4th | Paraguay (23–18) | – | Uruguay (10–26), Chile (8–31) |
| 2011 |  Argentina |
1–2 | −3 | 4th | Paraguay (51–14) | – | Uruguay (18–39), Chile (6–25) |
| 2012 | Chile |
0–3 | −136 | 4th | – | – | Uruguay (15–27), Chile (6–19), Argentina (0–111) |
| 2013 | Uruguay |
0–3 | −150 | 4th | – | – | Chile (22–38), Uruguay (7–58), Argentina (0–83) |
| 2014 | (four countries) | 1–2 | −24 | 3rd | Chile (24–16) | – | Paraguay (24–31), Uruguay (9–34) |
| 2015 | (four countries) | 0–3 | −77 | 4th | – | – | Uruguay (9–48), Chile (3–32), Paraguay (11–17) |
| 2016 | (four countries) | 1–1–1 | −11 | 3rd | Paraguay (32–21) | Chile (20–20) | Uruguay (14–36) |
Overall record
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % | For | Aga | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 13 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0.00% | 47 | 1054 | -1007 |
| Argentina XV | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 7 | 42 | -35 |
 Canada | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 25 | 52 | -27 |
| Chile | 23 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 4.54% | 247 | 809 | -530 |
 Colombia | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 395 | 34 | +361 |
 Costa Rica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 95 | 0 | +95 |
| France XV | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 13 | 140 | -127 |
 Germany | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 19 | 60 | -39 |
 Hong Kong | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 37 | -34 |
 Kenya | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 42 | 45 | -3 |
 Mexico | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 126 | 19 | +107 |
| Oxford and Cambridge | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% | 13 | 102 | −89 |
 Paraguay | 23 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 60.86% | 459 | 436 | +23 |
 Peru | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 404 | 61 | +343 |
 Portugal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 68 | -68 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80.00% | 75 | 71 | +4 |
 United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 66 | 3 | +63 |
 United States | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 24 | 23 | +1 |
| Uruguay | 24 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 12.50% | 217 | 829 | -612 |
 Venezuela | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 88.88% | 256 | 98 | +158 |
| Total | 131 | 52 | 77 | 2 | 39.69% | 2533 | 3983 | -1450 |
Current squad
Brazil's 31-man squad for the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship.[9]
Head Coach: 
Rodolfo Ambrosio
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
Notable players
Media coverageBefore 2016, most of Brazil's games were aired through SporTV, a paid television network. In 2016, changes were made to Brazil's broadcasting; more commonly available RedeTV! would air games involving the South American Rugby Championship, while ESPN Brasil holds the rights to the Americas Rugby Championship. See also
References
External links
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