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The coastal town of La Vila in Spain welcomes international rugby over the next two weekends. Starting things off on Saturday are the USA and Brazil, once yearly opponents but now only distant relatives since the demise of the Americas Rugby Championship.
In the four years since their last meeting Brazil have maintained their No26 position on the World Rankings, but the Eagles have dropped five spots to No18. The sting of missing out on the World Cup is still very fresh for the veterans in the group. For the younger players it’s a chance to build towards the next round of qualifiers.
Tests during this cycle have been hard to come by for both sides. The USA managed to fit in three on a European tour in August, defeating Romania before falling to Portugal and Georgia. Brazil were champions of the South American 4 Nations tournament, beating Colombia and Paraguay and also a Chile XV though the latter was not a full test.
Eagles coach Scott Lawrence has opted for continuity, as much as possible, in his selection for this tour. The group is not at full strength with the likes of Greg Peterson and AJ MacGinty absent on club duties, but they are at least able to call upon Toulouse prop David Ainu’u.
Nate Brakeley captains for the first time in the absence of MacGinty and Peterson. Alex Maughan has answered an SOS to pack down at tighthead prop for just his second cap, with Ainu’u settling for a bench spot. Luke White is recalled at No8 with Thomas Tu’avao on the bench.
EDIT: A late change sees Cam Dolan dropping out due to illness. Sam Golla moves to lock with Vili Helu starting on the blindside flank. Siaosi Mahoni joins the bench.
Nick McCarthy returns at scrumhalf with Ruben de Haas not in contention due to injury. Christian Dyer is also ruled out so there is a test debut for Utah Warriors flyer Joe Mano on the right wing. Michael Baska is the reserve scrumhalf but otherwise the backs are identical to those that faced the Lelos in Tbilisi.
Brazil have an incoming Head Coach in former Uruguay halfback Emiliano Caffera, who most recently served as an assistant for Chile at the World Cup. Caffera will act as an assistant for now, however, with Josh Reeves staying on to lead the squad for this tour. They will have a nearly full strength lineup at their disposal as Os Tupis look to recreate their famous February 2016 victory over the Eagles.
Matheus Rocha moves across the scrum to start at loosehead prop, with Wilton Rebolo returning to the squad at No3. Italy-based Matteo Dell’Acqua comes into the second row, and Cléber Dias comes in on the blindside flank with Matheus Cláudio settling for a spot among the reserves.
The backline is almost the same as the one that faced Portugal, with the only changes out wide. Ariel Rodrigues replaces Sergio Luna on the right wing, with Lucas Tranquez recalled at fullback at the expense of Guilherme Coghetto. Promising flyhalf Joao Amaral could make his full test debut after joining the squad from the national u20 side.
While rankings and historical results would suggest that USA are firm favorites, this Brazilian outfit should not be taken lightly. In terms of relative strength the Eagles are missing more players and with no specialist tighthead prop their scrum will be challenged. Take the USA in the Spanish sunshine but Os Tupis should prove a real challenge for the Eagles.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 7am Pacific, 10am Eastern, noon Brasilia. Live broadcasts will be available on ESPN 3 and Star+ in Brazil, and on RugbyPass TV for viewers in the USA.
USA
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Alex Maughan, 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Sam Golla, 6 Vili Helu, 7 Paddy Ryan, 8 Luke White, 9 Nick McCarthy, 10 Luke Carty, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 Tavite Lopeti, 14 Joe Mano, 15 Chris Mattina
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Jake Turnbull, 18 David Ainu’u, 19 Siaosi Mahoni, 20 Thomas Tu’avao, 21 Michael Baska, 22 Dom Besag, 23 Lauina Futi
BRAZIL
1 Matheus Rocha, 2 Endy Willian, 3 Wilton Rebolo, 4 Gabriel Paganini (capt.), 5 Matteo Dell’Acqua, 6 Cléber Dias, 7 Adrio de Melo, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Gonçalves, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Victor Silva, 13 Lorenzo Massari, 14 Ariel Rodrigues, 15 Lucas Tranquez
Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 Caíque Silva, 18 Leonel Moreno, 19 Ben Donald, 20 Matheus Cláudio, 21 Douglas Rauth, 22 Robert Tenório, 23 João Amaral
Date: Saturday, November 11
Venue: El Pantano, Villajoyosa
Kickoff: 16:00 local (07:00 Pacific, 10:00 Eastern, 12:00 Brasilia)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (Brazil), RugbyPass TV, Star+
Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2019-02-23 – USA 33, Brazil 28 (Round Rock)
2018-02-24 – Brazil 16, USA 45 (São José dos Campos)
2017-02-11 – USA 51, Brazil 3 (Round Rock)
2016-02-27 – Brazil 24, USA 23 (São Paulo)
