Brazil fall to Germany in front of record Crowd

Following on from the first test, played last Saturday in Blumenau the teams met in São Paulo this evening in the second of two internationals. The 31-7 final score sees the Europeans returning home  with two well-earned results.

With both preparing for continental competitions in February and March the series was of immense importance to both. For Brazil the record home crowd of 10,460 places the team in good stead ahead of the Americas Rugby Cup.

The Europeans came out on top, working hard to win the series but, ultimately, doing so well by being the better team in both matches. Brazil, nonetheless, made Germany work hard and was very competitive in particular areas, notably the scrum.

Fullback Raynor Parkinson opened the scoring in the 6th minute with a straight-forward penalty attempt. It helped settle the game after Germany had made early handling errors.

A well-taken set-piece move saw Germany scoring the opening try in the 12th minute. From a lineout Germany attacked through a rolling maul which opened flanker Jaco Otto scored. Parkinson added the sideline conversion, which rebounded in off the posts, to make it 10-0.

22 minutes in Brazil had an attacking scrum metros out from the German try line. The Germans won a penalty from the scrum which resulting in pushing and shoving from both sides. Argentine referee Juan Silvestre talked to the German front-row in English only to then talk to the Tupis in Spanish.

French referees aside this scenario did not happen at the Rugby World Cup and nor could it due to the share lack of top-flight referees from outside of the Anglo and French nations. The bilingual referee, though, could not help Brazil stop committing basic handling errors as high balls were knocked-on repeatedly in the opening half.

The impressive scrummaging from Brazil came under threat in the 35th minute when loosehead prop Carnaval was forced off with a suspected broken arm. His replacement, Lucas Abud, improved the scrum and aided the Tupis score a penalty try in the 29th minute. The push-over score was converted by fly half David Harvey making it 10-7.

Veteran center Fernando Portugal found himself in trouble in the final minute of the first half. His high tackle on Parkinson resulted in him being yellow carded. Germany took full advantage of the sanction by going into the break with three more points from Parkinson’s boot.

A high tackle two minutes into the second half gave fly half Jeremy Te Huia extending the lead to 16-7 . Harvey came agonizingly close with an attempted drop goal which nearly resulted in a try. Germany, though, cleared well and soon found themselves deep in Brazilian territory.

A further Te Huia penalty in the 59th minute put Germany into a relatively comfortable position. With Brazil unable to convert opportunities into points Germany was able to press home the result. It was confirmed in the 77th minute when Otto crossed for his second try. Te Huia landed the conversion but was unable in the final minute after Fischer touched down in the corner.

BRAZIL 7
Tries – Penalty
Cons – D. Harvey

GERMANY 31
Tries – J. Otto 2, P. Fischer
Cons – R. Parkinson, J. Te Huia
Pens – R. Parkinson 2, J. Te Huia 2

BRAZIL
1 Rafael Carnivalle 2 Daniel Danielewicz (capt.) 3 Jardel Vettorato 4 Lucas Piero 5 Felipe Tissot 6 Matheus Daniel 7 João Luiz da Ros 8 Nick Smith 9 Beukes Cremer 10 David Harvey 11 Lucas Tranquez 12 Martin Schaefer 13 Fernando Portugal 14 André Silva 15 Guilherme Coghetto

16 Yan Rosetti 17 Wilton Rebolo 18 Lucas Abud 19 Matheus Wolf 20 Mark Jackson 21 Stefano Giantorno 22 Felipe Sancery 23 Matheus Cruz

GERMANY
1 Arthur Zeiler 2 Dale Garner 3 Samy Füchsel 4 Michael Poppmeier 5 Rob May 6 Kehoma Brenner 7 Jaco Otto 8 Jarrid Els 9 Sean Armstrong (capt.) 9 Jeremy Te Huia 11 Sam Harris 12 Paul Bosch 13 Carlos Soteras-Marz 14 Pascal Fischer 15 Raynor Parkinson

16 Rupert Cowan 17 Jörn Schröder 18 Marcus Bender 19 Benjamin Danso 20 Eric Marks 21 Oliver Paine 22 Thomas van Gelderen 23 Mark Sztyndera

Attendance: 10,460