2018 ARC Preview – Brazil

This last Saturday’s thrilling Rugby World Cup qualifier in Vancouver opened the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship. The intensity of the match confirmed this year’s competition as being the highest profile yet. Brazil travel to Chile to begin their campaign this weekend.

 

2017 FORM

Brazil had a dream start to 2017. In the ARC’s opening round Os Tupis knocked over Chile with surprising ease. They were then hammered by the USA and also lost their third round match against Uruguay. After being humbled by the Argentina XV they recovered to stun Canada in the final round.

The 2017 South American Championship doubled as Rugby World Cup qualification. Brazil were competitive but fell to both Chile and Uruguay, eliminating Os Tupis from contention. In their final match they regrouped and put on a show with a rout of Paraguay.

In the June Internationals Brazil made history with an incredible come-from-behind win over Portugal in São Paulo. The highs of victory were then dampened with a crushing defeat at the hands of Romania.

Os Tupis’ year came to a close in November. Their European tour began with a loss against Germany but they immediately rebounded to defeat Belgium, a first-ever win in Europe. Their final match was forgettable with Spain opening up the defense with ease in Alicante.

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The strength in Brazil’s pack is the back row. Flankers Matheus Daniel and André Arruda have been top performers for Os Tupis in recent years. For the 2018 ARC they are joined by Angelo Marcucci. The Argentine-born newcomer brings a distinguished reputation with him from playing in Rio Grande do Sul.

Brazil’s Mr. Reliable is Moisés Duque. Whether he is playing inside centre or flyhalf Duque is the go-to man for Os Tupis. In previous editions of the ARC he has put in match winning performances in historic wins over the USA and Canada. Outside centre Felipe Sancery has been among the standout players that the competition has produced.

 

VERDICT

With wins over Chile and Canada in 2017 and over the USA in 2016 Os Tupis have proven that they deserve to play in the competition. The results have also increased the expectation on the team with wins being considered more attainable and the opposition not treating them lightly. This year, though, looms as being complex as Brazil’s three home games are against teams who enter as firm favorites. Both away matches will demand the best of Brazil.

 

FIXTURES

DATE	OPPONENT	VENUE	KICK-OFF TIME
Feb 3	Chile	Estadio de la Pintana, Santiago	3pm Local, 1pm Eastern
Feb 9	Uruguay	Estádio do Pacaembu, São Paulo	8pm Local, 5pm Eastern
Feb 17	Canada	Westhills Stadium, Langford	5pm Local, 8pm Eastern
Feb 24	USA	Estádio Pereira, São José dos Campos	6pm Local, 4pm Eastern
Mar 3	Argentina XV	Estádio Pereira, São José dos Campos	6pm Local, 4pm Eastern

 

SQUAD

NAME	POS	HGT	WGT	DOB	CAPS	CLUB
Abud, Lucas	LH	1.88 6-2	120 265	Aug 26 1993	31	Poli
Gomes, Michel “Vanzinha”	LH	1.78 5-10	113 250	Apr 9 1997	3	São José

Rebolo, Wilton “Nelson”	HO/TH	1.82 6-0	118 260	Aug 2 1995	17	Bandeirantes
Rosetti, Yan	HO	1.75 5-9	96 210	May 7 1993	26	CUBA (AR)

Rocha, Matheus “Blade”	TH	1.90 6-3	120 265	Apr 23 1997	6	Jacareí
Vettorato, Jardel	TH	1.79 5-10	118 260	Oct 22 1985	24	Farrapos

Dias, Cléber “Gelado”	LO/FL	1.93 6-4	106 235	Jul 3 1994	19	Poli
López, Diego	LO	1.93 6-4	105 230	Mar 16 1987	32	Pasteur
Paganini, Gabriel	LO	1.92 6-4	103 225	Mar 3 1993	11	Bandeirantes
Piero, Lucas “Bruxinho”	LO	1.89 6-2	113 250	Sep 25 1991	42	Desterro

Bergo, Arthur	FL	1.88 6-2	100 220	Mar 7 1994	13	SPAC
Daniel, Matheus	FL	1.83 6-0	95 210	Jun 19 1990	30	Jacareí
Marcucci, Angelo	FL	1.80 5-11	97 215	Jan 15 1990	–	Farrapos
Moraes, Michael “Ilha”	FL	1.90 6-3	95 210	Sep 10 1991	2	Curitiba

Arruda, André “Buda”

N8

1.90 6-3

108 240

Jan 9 1989

18

Desterro

Bourda-Couhet, Laurent	SH	1.70 5-7	75 165	Jul 12 1994	16	Bandeirantes
Broderick, Will	SH	1.68 5-6	85 185	Sep 17 1992	1	Bandeirantes

Ceccarelli, Leonardo	FH	1.83 6-0	95 210	Apr 1 1998	2	Jacareí
Reeves, Josh	FH	1.82 6-0	90 200	Aug 7 1986	13	Bandeirantes

Duque, Moisés	CE	1.75 5-9	90 200	Dec 21 1988	45*	São José
Sancery, Felipe	CE	1.85 6-1	92 200	May 27 1994	27	São José
van Niekerk, De Wet	CE/WI	1.83 6-0	88 195	Mar 25 1994	12	Poli

Muller, Lucas	WI	1.84 6-0	87 190	Feb 13 1990	9	Desterro
Rodrigues, Ariel	WI	1.78 5-10	80 175	Sep 7 1998	3	Jacareí
Tenório, Robert	WI	1.91 6-3	90 200	Jul 27 1996	12	Pasteur

Tranquez, Lucas “Zé”

FB

1.83 6-0

93 205

Mar 12 1994

24

SPAC