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A strong opening half from Brazil saw the 2022 South American Tri Nations champions opening the 2023 South American Four Nations in style. Brazil were 22-0 ahead at half-time and went on to win 27-12.
Brazil fielded their test team while the Chile XV is officially the next-of-XV. Some of the Chileans will feature at the World Cup. Hooker Tomás Dussaillant, second-rower Augusto Sarmiento, and center Pablo Casas are on the roster. Three names are yet to be finalized to take the final roster up from 30 to 33.
Brazil’s win continues South American progression. A record three South American countries will compete at Rugby World Cup 2023 – Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Brazil’s strong showing against the Chile XV means suggests that Brazil are on the right direction.
Os Tupis were the better team by far in the opening half. Center Victor Souza made light work of the defense to score the opening try in the first minute of play. It was unconverted but Lucas Spago was successful with his second kick to give Brazil an 8-0 lead late in the opening quarter.
Two second quarter tries put Brazil in a dominant position at half-time. Lorenzo Massari Temer joined fellow center Souza in putting his name on the scoresheet. Captain Gabriel Paganini scored five minutes later for a 22-0 lead. Both tries came following basic errors from the Chile XV deep in their own 22.
While Brazil had been training specifically for this match the Chile XV was more of a side that had been thrown together. Less preparation meant it took longer for the Chile XV to reach their potential. They did well to score two second-half tries, though Brazil were the certainly better team on the day.
Replacement Benjamín Videla scored late in the third quarter. Diego Warnken’s conversion made it a 15 point deficit. The Chile XV put everything in to scoring which saw them losing possession and defending as a result.
The teams exchanges tries late in the contest. Speedy winger Daniel Lima touched down eight minutes from full-time for Brazil and prop Simón Donoso scored in response for the Chile XV.
Both teams will play again on Wednesday. Brazil play a test match against Colombia while the Chile XV take-on hosts Paraguay.
SCORING
BRAZIL (27)
Try – V Silva (1′); L Massari Temer (30′); G Paganini (35′); D Lima (72′)
Con – L Spago 2/4 (31′, 36′)
Pen – L Spago 1/1 (19′)
CHILE XV (12)
Try – B Videla (55′); S Donoso (76′)
Con – D Warnken (56′)
BRAZIL
1 Brendon Alves, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Gabriel Paganini (capt.), 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Adrio de Melo, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Gonçalves, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Lorenzo Massari Temer, 13 Victor Silva, 14 Sérgio Lina, 15 Guilerme Coghetto
Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 João Lucas Marino, 18 Leonel Moreno, 19 Cléber Dias, 20 Felipe Rosa, 21 Douglas Rauth, 22 Antônio Zanatta, 23 Lucas Tranquez
CHILE XV
1 Vittorio Lastra, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Lucas Bordigoni, 4 Augusto Sarmiento, 5 Bruno Sáez, 6 Santiago Edwards, 7 Ernesto Tchimino, 8 Joaquín Milesi, 9 Tomás Alvarado, 10 Diego Warnken, 11 Martín Dumay, 12 Pablo Casas, 13 Clemente Armstrong, 14 Gaspar Moltedo, 15 Luca Strabucchi (capt.)
Replamcents: 16 Jorge Delgado, 17 Simón Donoso, 18 Marco Lopez, 19 Tomás Orchard, 20 Felipe Méndez, 21 Inti Ubeda, 22 Benjamín Videla, 23 Andrés Kuzmanic
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Adrián Bogado (Paraguay)
Assistant Referees: Federico Solari (Argentina); Sergio Alvarenga (Paraguay)
TMO: Marco Demestri (Paraguay)
