Match Preview – Belgium vs Brazil

Perhaps one day the Americas Rugby Championship will be considered the turning point for Brazilian rugby. There is no doubt that since joining both the amount of rugby played for Os Tupis and the quality of matches have risen remarkably. What was once no more than five or six tests in a year has now doubled, and the improvement can be seen in victories over traditionally superior North American sides USA and Canada.

The Brave New World that Brazil has found itself in continues on Saturday. Canada, Germany, Portugal, and the USA have been new opponents for Brazil in recent years. Belgium now joins this list as the teams meet for the first time at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.

Belgium are also a team on the rise and though they lost all five of their Rugby Europe Championship matches they acquitted themselves well with only narrow defeats to Germany and Russia. They will not have their best team available against Brazil. Missing are the likes of Jean-Baptiste de Clerq, Thomas de Molder, and Julien Berger, but there are still a handful of France-based professionals in the side.

Vannes prop Maxime Jadot, Montauban lock Sven D’Hooghe, and Narbonne flanker Amin Hamzaoui are the most prominent names in the pack. D’Hooghe, 2.01m (6’7″) tall, should prove particularly frustrating at the lineout for Brazil where he will be a dominant figure.

The backs are more impressive with captain Jens Torfs and midfield partner Guillaume Piron both plying their trade in the French Pro D2. New flyhalf Vincent Hart has experience on the HSBC Sevens Series as does winger Marc Tchanque, the danger man in the side with no shortage of pace.

Brazil were clobbered by Germany in Leipzig and Rodolfo Ambrosio has responded by dropping five players from the starting lineup. Two come in the forwards where Pedro Bengaló is recalled at tighthead prop in place of Caíque Silva, who drops to the bench.

Gabriel Paganini is out of the match day squad completely with Cléber Dias moved into lock and a surprise choice of Alexandre ‘Texugo’ Alves at No 8. Normally a loosehead prop, Alves will be looked at to added power from the back of the scrum.

There are three changes in the backs. Matheus Cruz replaces Douglas Rauth as the starting scrumhalf with uncapped English-born Will Broderick named in the reserves. Broderick was due to play last week but pulled out before the match with Cruz a replacement instead.

The other alternation sees the immediate recall of the most experienced player on the team – Moises Duque – to the midfield and De Wet van Niekerk pushed out to the wing in place of Stefano Giantorno. In a straight swap Lucas Muller takes over from Lucas Tranquez on the other wing.

With Belgium only four spots ahead and Spain ahead next week this represents Brazil’s best chance at earning a victory on their European tour. It also should serve as a barometer of progress for the side. A repeat of the German result will not be acceptable especially against a Belgian side below full strength. If the Tupis can find parity in the scrum and get the ball to the Sancery brothers out wide they have a chance to create history.

BELGIUM
1 James Pearse, 2 Thomas Dienst, 3 Maxime Jadot, 4 Bertrand Billi, 5 Sven D’Hooghe, 6 Gillian Benoy, 7 Amin Hamzaoui, 8 Nick Cording, 9 Isaac Montoisy, 10 Vincent Hart, 11 Craig Dowsett, 12 Jens Torfs (capt.), 13 Guillaume Piron, 14 Marc Tchangue, 15 Florian Piron

Replacements: 16 Gianni Vercammen, 17 Sep de Backer, 18 Tuur Moelants, 19 Maxime Temmerman, 20 Louis Debatty, 21 Thomas Brouillard, 22 Kevin Williams, 23 Romain Pinte

BRAZIL
1 Lucas Abud, 2 Yan Rosetti (capt.), 3 Pedro Bengaló, 4 Lucas Piero, 5 Cléber Dias, 6 Arthur Bergo, 7 André Arruda, 8 Alexandre Alves, 9 Matheus Cruz, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 De Wet van Niekerk, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery, 14 Lucas Muller, 15 Daniel Sancery

Replacements: 16 Endy Willian, 17 Michel Gomes, 18 Caíque Silva, 19 Mauricio Canterle, 20 Matheus Daniel, 21 Will Broderick, 22 Leonardo Ceccarelli, 23 Lucas Tranquez

Date: Saturday, November 18
Venue: King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
Kickoff: 15:00 local (09:00 Eastern, 12:00 Brasilia)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (RFU)
Broadcasts: Facebook Stream, Brazil Rugby TV