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An historic test match has been booked for November. Brazil will face Zimbabwe for the first time. The match will be played in Stellenbosch, South Africa on November 14. The fully capped test match will see the 24th placed Tupis facing the 34th placed Sables with world rankings points on the line.
Brazil’s test matches against African opposition have previously been limited to Kenya. Os Tupis have played Kenya twice, losing both matches. In short, the opportunity of playing against Zimbabwe is groundbreaking for Brazil.
Zimbabwe is the first of two African opponents for Brazil in November. The match will take place on November 14. Game two for will be on November 20. Brazil and Zimbabwe will both play again, only against either Kenya or Namibia. Kenya and Namibia will also play a test in Stellenbosch on november 14. The two winners teams will play each other in the final while the two losing teams from November 14 will contest the Bronze Final. As such, Brazil will face either Kenya or Namibia on November 20.
Test matches between countries from the Americas and Africa are rare. The one common fixture is Argentina vs South Africa in the Rugby Championship. Brazil vs Kenya and Uruguay’s two-match tour of Namibia are the most recent fixtures. Canada last faced Namibia in 2014.
Four African countries have participated in Rugby World Cups. This is the same number as countries from the Americas. The first African competitor was Zimbabwe. Indeed, the country had been a force during the amateur error. This included a win over New Zealand in 1949 when the country was Rhodesia. Rhodesia also played host to Argentina in 1965 and were 17-12 winners.
The 1965 fixture against Los Pumas is the one and only test match between Zimbabwe (or Rhodesia) and a team from the Americas. Zimbabwe’s two appearances at RWCs were in 1987 and 1991. The Sables faced France, Romania, and Scotland at RWC 1987 in New Zealand and Ireland, Japan and Scotland at RWC 1991 in Ireland and Scotland.
