Match Preview – Brazil vs Paraguay

Os Tupis will look for their first win of the South American ‘A’ Championship in their last fixture of the competition against Paraguay in São Paulo. The match will now be played on Friday evening after originally being planned for Saturday, and will no longer hold any relevance to Rugby World Cup qualifying with both sides eliminated from contention for a spot in Japan 2019. Nevertheless there will be a great deal of pride on the line and turning of the tide for Brazil.

Despite a much improved performance against Uruguay that saw the Tupis within one score until the final play of the match, Rodolfo Ambrosio has opted for five changes with the Head Coach now clearly thinking ahead to the June tests and beyond. Most notable is the naming of hooker Yan Rosetti as captain for the first time with regular skipper Nick Smith left on the bench and Arthur Bergo restored to the back row. Gabriel Paganini has paid the price for ill-discipline with Cléber Dias named in his place at lock, and one big man replaces another at tighthead prop where Caíque Silva returns at the expense of Pedro Bengaló.

Another interesting selection is a first start for utility back Laurent Bourda-Couhet at the scrumhalf position with veteran Lucas Duque named among the replacements. Daniel Sancery moves back to his favored fullback spot and De Wet van Niekerk is recalled on the wing. All-time record cap winner Daniel Danielewicz will make his final bow for the team having been part of the team for well over a decade. Jardel Vettorato is also named in a match day squad for the first time since announcing his retirement from international rugby last year.

Paraguay must find the inspiration to compete after a harrowing loss to Chile in Santiago that saw them concede 54 points before the half. Despite the lop-sided margin only three changes are made to the run-on side. Alejandro Montiel has recovered from a leg injury to take the place of Jorge Riveros in the second row, while Martín Ortiz earns a start on the flank at the expense of Juan Gómez. The last alteration sees Sebastian Urbieta play in his third position in three games as Carlos Bareito starts at outside centre and Urbieta moves to inside centre.

Reinforcements are in thin supply on the bench where Daniel Cabral takes the spot of Martín Sitjar as front row cover. Camilo Orrega makes it four back reserves as he is set to make his first appearance of the Championship, joining the squad in place of injured scrumhalf Gonzalo Bareiro.

Despite having beaten Brazil in two of their last three encounters, Los Yacarés enter the match as considerable underdogs against a team that has shown considerable improvement over the past 18 months. Paraguay meanwhile are in a downward spiral and now look destined to be relegated to the ‘B’ division in next year’s Championship, with Colombia set to overtake their position as the next in line behind Brazil and Chile in the Americas rankings.

Friday’s match kicks off at 9pm Brazilian time, 8pm Eastern, and will be broadcast live on SporTV 2.

BRAZIL
1 Jonatas Paulo, 2 Yan Rosetti (capt.), 3 Caíque Silva, 4 Lucas Piero, 5 Cléber Dias, 6 João Luiz da Ros, 7 Arthur Bergo, 8 André Arruda, 9 Laurent Bourda-Couhet, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Stefano Giantorno, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery, 14 De Wet van Niekerk, 15 Daniel Sancery

Replacements: 16 Daniel Danielewicz, 17 Jardel Vettorato, 18 Pedro Bengaló, 19 Nick Smith, 20 Matheus Daniel, 21 Lucas Duque, 22 Lucas Tranquez, 23 Robert Tenório

PARAGUAY
1 Omar Rojas, 2 Juan Manuel Gavigán, 3 Álvaro Rojas, 4 Alejandro Montiel, 5 Andrés Nasser (capt.), 6 Martín Ortiz, 7 Carlos Plate, 8 Leonardo Glizt, 9 Gastón Navas, 10 Héctor Gayoso, 11 Fabrizio Da Rosa, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Carlos Bareiro, 14 Diego Argaña, 15 Horacio Agüero

Replacements: 16 Daniel Cabral, 17 Joaquín Vera, 18 Juan Gómez, 19 Luis Mauger, 20 Camilo Orrego, 21 Pablo Espínola, 22 Fabrizio Cabrera, 23 Rodrigo Da Rosa

Date: Friday, May 26
Venue: Estádio do Pacaembu, São Paulo
Kickoff: 9:00pm local (8:00pm Paraguay/Eastern)
Referee: Damián Schneider (UAR)
Assistants: Claudio Cativelli (URU) & Francisco Saavedra (FERUCHI)
Broadcasts: SporTV 2