Tri Nations – Colombia vs Brazil – ARN Guide

Colombia host Brazil in the closing fixture of the 2022 South American B Championship. Branded as the Tri Nations, the tournament saw Brazil defeating Paraguay on Wednesday and Paraguay downing Colombia in the opening fixture last Saturday.

The aforementioned results mean that a win for Brazil on Sunday will see Os Tupis crowned Tri Nations champions. The match will be the first between Colombia and Brazil since 2018. On that occasion Brazil were 67-5 winners in São Paulo.

A lot has changed since 2018. Both Colombia and Brazil now have professional teams in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). This has lifted the level of Colombia to be far closer to Brazil in 2018. It has, nonetheless, also benefitted Brazil to see the level also improved on from 2018.

While Brazil are chasing a win for the title, Colombia require a win with a points differential of at least five points. It is an uphill challenge for Los Tucanes.

Colombia’s line-up features five changes from the team that lost to Paraguay. Up-front Jorge Álvarez takes over fro Pablo Llanes at hooker.  The props and second-rowers are unchanged. The back-row sees Diver Ceballos retained but having two new partners. Nicolás Cadavid and Bryan Guzmán replace Luis Giraldo and Juan Pacheco.

In the backs the changes come at outside center and on the right wing. Álvaro Gamarra comes in for Juan Agudelo and Alain Altahona makes way for Alejandro Guisao.

Brazil’s front-row is altered. Wilton Rebolo moves from hooker to tight head. Leonel Moreno is back following his red card against Chile to join Rebolo and Leonardo Souza up front.

The second-row sees Cleber Dias moved into the position from flanker. He partners captain Gabriel Paganini in locking the scrum. Arthur Bergo starts at flanker alongside André Arruda and Adrio de Melo.

There are two changes to the back-line. One comes in the midfield with Joel Santos starting at inside center. He partners Roberto Tenório with Victor Souza getting a start on the right wing.

The match is the first between Colombia and Brazil since SLAR began. The reshaped nature of South American rugby has seen Chile qualifying for a first Rugby World Cup and Uruguay qualifying earlier than in previous qualifying campaigns. Attention within the region and from outside is at an all-time-high.

 

TEAMS

COLOMBIA
1 Carlos Angulo, 2 Jorge Álvarez, 3 Aldair Marquez, 4 Jhon Álvarez, 5 Santiago Mejía, 6 Nicolás Cadavid, 7 Diver Ceballos, 8 Bryan Guzmán, 9 Julián Navarro, 10 Jhojan Ortíz (capt.), 11 Neider García, 12 Cristian Rodallegas, 13 Álvaro Gamarra, 14 Alejandro Guisao, 15 Jhon Arley Urutia

Replacements: 16 Alejandro Llanos, 17 Diego Posada, 18 Sebastián Benítez, 19 Yoimar Mosquera, 20 Luís Giraldo, 21 Alejandro Vanegas, 22 Santiago Gálvez, 23 Juan Agudelo

BRAZIL
1 Leonel Moreno, 2 Leonardo Souza, 3 Wilton Rebolo, 4 Cleber Dias, 5 Gabriel Paganini (capt.), 6 Adrio de Melo, 7 Arthur Bergo, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Lucas Tranquez, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Joel Santos, 13 Robert Tenório, 14 Victor Souza, 15 Guilherme Coghetto

Replacements: 16 David Muller, 17 Brendon Alves, 18 Henrique Ferreira, 19 Felipe Rosa, 20 Diego Vidal, 21 Rafael Spago, 22 Gabriel Zurka, 23 Robson Morais

Date: Sunday, August 28
Kick-Off: 6pm (Bogotá); 8pm (Brasília)
Venue: Estadio Romelio Martínez (Barranquilla, Colombia)
Referee: Damien Schneider (Argentina)
Broadcast: Star +