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Brazil ‘A’ completed a second half fight back to defeat the USA Selects in the Americas Pacific Challenge. The match was a second round clash but was the first for the North Americans. Their opening match was cancelled due to their late arrival in Montevideo.
Brazil ‘A’ were beaten in their opening match of the tournament. They won the second half against Uruguay ‘A’ but were off their game in the first. There were similarities in today’s performance as Brazil ‘A’ were far better in the second half than in the first.
Brazil ‘A’ did start well. Their physicality was clear as they were looking to win the battle up front. In contrast, the USA Selects looked to find spaces with their runners.
The scoring was slow early on. The teams were level at 3-3 after 18 minutes. The points came in the form of exchanged penalties from Patrick Madden and Lucas Spago. A second Spago penalty gave Brazil ‘A’ the lead in the 21st minute.
The deadlock was broken by Kyle Breytenbach. The USA Selects N8 went into the try zone for a 26th minute try. Madden landed the conversion and was also on target eleven minutes later. The second USA Selects score saw prop Ivan Pula touching down. It gave the USA Selects a notable 17-6 lead.
The half-time siren had gone but play continued. The determined Brazilians made use of it to score their opening try. Flanker Adrio de Melo barged his way over and into the try zone. Spago’s conversion made it a 17-13 half-time scoreline.
The final minutes of the first half were all Brazil as were most of the second half. A strong run from Kauã Guimarães saw Brazil in again and back in the lead. The USA Selects hit-back with a penalty from Madden only for Spago to respond with two of his own.
Brazil ‘A’ were 26-20 ahead late in the game. The replacements saw the South Americans getting the job done. Hooker Endy Willian crossed and Spago continued to kick with accuracy as he finished a fine day at the office.
The final round will provide Brazil ‘A’ with an opportunity to finish with a 2-0 record. Brazil ‘A face Paraguay ‘A’ in their final match. The USA Selects will be up against Chile ‘A,’ a match that looms as of immense interest to all involved as the RWC 2023 qualifiers see the winner, on aggregate, of Chile and the USA booking their places in France 2023.
SCORING
BRAZIL 33
Tries – A. de Melo (40’+4′), K. Guimarães (43′), E. Willian (72′)
Cons – L. Spago 3/3 (40’+5′, 44′, 73′)
Pens – L. Spago 4/5 (18′, 21′, 61′, 68′)
YC – H. Ferreira (26′), P. Aparecido (47′)
USA 20
Tries – K. Breytenbach (26′), H. Barlow (37′)
Cons – P. Madden 2/2 (27′, 38′)
Pens – P. Madden 2/2 (14′, 48′)
YC – I. Pula (40’+3′)
TEAMS
BRAZIL ‘A’
1 Alexandre Alves (16 Piero Pozzi HT), 2 Leonardo de Souza (17 Endy Willian 61′), 3 Henrique Ferreira (18 Joel Ramírez 54′), 4 Gabriel Paganini (19 Gabriel Oliveira 50′), 5 Kauã Guimarães, 6 Pedro Aparecido (20 David Müller 57′), 7 Adrio de Melo, 8 Matheus Cláudio (capt.), 9 Douglas Rauth (21 Felipe Cunha HT), 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Robson Morais (18 Joel Ramírez 34′-36′), 12 Joel Santos, 13 Gabriel Quirino (22 Carlos Moura 78′), 14 Robert Tenório, 15 Daniel Lima
Not used: 23 Victor Domingues
USA SELECTS
1 Ivan Pula (17 Alex Lopeti 51′), 2 George Sharpe (16 Joey Backe 77′), 3 Brian Nault (18 Elijah Hayes 65′), 4 Charlie Hewitt (19 Mike Matarazzo HT), 5 Ben Mitchell (20 Colin Turner 58′), 6 Justin Johnson (17 Alex Lopeti 40′-45′), 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Kyle Breytenbach, 9 Sean Yacoubian, 10 Shane Barry (22 Sam Walsh 61′), 11 Harry Barlow, 12 Tia’i Vavao (21 Karl Keane 73′), 13 Jack Wendling, 14 Patrick Madden, 15 Owen Sheehy (23 Nolan Tuamoheloa 58′)
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Matías Esteban (Uruguay)
Assistants: Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina) & Tomás Bertazza (Argentina)
TMO: Francisco Pesce (Uruguay)
