RWC 2023 Qualifiers Preview – Brazil vs Chile

It is crunch time in South America. Brazil and Chile will compete in a vital test match in Montevideo on Sunday. The winner will be far closer to remaining in RWC 2023 qualifiers. The loser will all but certainly see their dreams shattered.

The match is a first of a kind; both teams are lined with professional players. The Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) is responsible for most of them though there are also some who play in Major League Rugby and Europe.

Brazil’s side is as expected. New York’s Wilton Rebolo joins SLAR props Lucas Abud and Matheus Rocha up front. Winger Lorenzo Massari is the remaining foreign-based player in the starting team.

Chile’s line-up is one named to batter Brazil. It sees fly half regular Santiago Videla on the bench. The move also means the reliable Francisco Urroz kicking goals and Rodrigo Fernández assisting from fullback.

Matías Garafulic moves to inside center. He will look to target Brazil’s leading back in Moisés Duque. It also sees his brother Nicolás Garafulic playing on the wing. It is a tactic used in SLAR wherein Nicolás Garafulic played N8 for the most part but moved to wing for the Semi Final against Peñarol.

Selknam’s forwards had the better of Os Cobras in SLAR. The smash-brothers Martín Sigren and Ignacio Silva start on the flankers with big men ahead of them. The scrum and lineout are likely to ask questions of their opponents.

There is a long history of international competition between Brazil and Chile. Dating back to 1951 the teams have met in 27 previous capped test matches. The overall record favors Los Cóndores with 21 wins compared to 4 victories for Brazil and 2 draws.

Brazil’s three wins were all recent. Os Tupis downed Chile in four of the past five matches. Heavy investment in the High Performance Center brought results. It also forced Chile into adopting a similar policy. The result was a 26-13 win in the non-capped match between Brazil and Chile in 2020. In addition, Chile’s SLAR team, Selknam, has been more competitive that Brazil’s.

Chile are favored to win the RWC 2023 qualifier. Brazil’s biggest weapon is arguably the scrum. This same area saw Selknam bullying other teams during the SLAR season. Chile’s back-row and backline loom as more physical and more creative than the Brazilians.

BRAZIL
1 Lucas Abud, 2 Wilton Rebolo, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Cléber Días, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Adrio de Melo, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Cunha, 10 Joshua Reeves, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt.), 14 Lorenzo Massari, 15 Daniel Sancery

Replacements: 16 Yan Rosetti, 17 Leonel Moreno, 18 Jardel Vettorato, 19 Matteo Dell’acqua, 20 Arthur Bergo, 21 Douglas Rauth, 22 Lucas Spago, 23 Leonardo da Silva

CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Ignacio Silva, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Francisco Urroz, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussailant, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Nikola Bursic, 20 Augusto Sarmiento, 21 Tomás Orchard, 22 Nicolás Herreros, 23 Santiago Videla

Date: Sunday, July 11
Kick-Off: 4:00pm Local; 4:00pm Brasília; 3:00pm Santiago
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay
Referee: Gianlucca Gnacchi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Andrea Piardi (Italy); Gonzalo De Achaval (Argentina)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)
Broadcasts: ESPN (Latina Americana); ESPN (Brasil); Twitch

Historical Results
2019-03-02 – Brazil 15, Chile 10 (Jundiaí, Brazil)
2018-05-05 – Brazil 28, Chile 12 (São Paulo, Brazil)
2018-03-02 – Chile 14, Brazil 16 (Santiago, Chile)
2017-05-13 – Chile 15, Brazil 10 (Santiago, Chile)
2017-03-02 – Brazil 17, Chile 03 (São Paulo, Brazil)
2016-04-30 – Brazil 20, Chile 20 (São Paulo, Brazil)
2016-02-06 – Chile 25, Brazil 22 (Santiago Chile)
2015-04-25 – Chile 32, Brazil 03 (Santiago, Chile)
2013-04-27 – Chile 38, Brazil 22 (Temuco, Chile)
2012-05-20 – Chile 19, Brazil 06 (Santiago, Chile)
2011-05-14 – Chile 25, Brazil 06 (Puerto Iguazú, Argentina)
2010-10-16 – Chile 31, Brazil 08 (Santiago, Chile)
2009-04-25 – Chile 79, Brazil 03 (Viña del Mar, Chile)
2005-10-13 – Chile 57, Brazil 13 (São José dos Campos, Brazil)
2002-04-13 – Chile 46, Brazil 06 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1993-10-15 – Chile 35, Brazil 26 (Santiago, Chile)
1991-08-21 – Chile 23, Brazil 18 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1989-10-14 – Chile 49, Brazil 20 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1981-05-18 – Chile 33, Brazil 03 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1979-10-07 – Chile 48, Brazil 0 (Santiago, Chile)
1977-10-29 – Chile 33, Brazil 27 (Tucumán, Argentina)
1975-09-20 – Chile 31 , Brazil 10 (Asunción, Paraguay)
1973-10-16 – Brazil 03, Chile 22 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1971-10-16 – Chile 45, Brazil 03 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1964-08-16 – Brazil 16, Chile 16 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1961-10-14 – Chile 34, Brazil 0 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1951-10-09 – Chile 68, Brazil 0 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

OVERALL RESULTS
Brazil 4 Wins
Chile 21 Wins
Draws 2