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Canada and Brazil will close out what has been a quiet 2023 season with a neutral-venue test in La Vila on Saturday. Both sides were defeated in their first match of their tour, with the Maple Leafs falling to their hosts Spain and Os Tupis crushed by the USA.
It’s the fifth time the two sides will have met in test rugby, though the first since the dissolution of the Americas Rugby Championship. The results thus far have been split with both teams successful at home. Canada ‘A’ defeated a Brazil XV in a non-test fixture a year ago in Mogi das Cruzes.
Kingsley Jones has now seen his side slip to their lowest ever score on the World Rugby Rankings and will need a convincing win on Saturday just to escape the year with some credibility. Four players have paid the price after a dismal first half against Spain with another ruled out through injury.
Djustice Sears-Duru came off early in last week’s game, but it’s Cole Keith who will slide over to loosehead rather than Liam Murray who remains on the bench. Conor Young fills the vacancy at No3 with Tyler Rowland joining the bench. Conor Keys drops to the reserves with Kyle Baillie switching to lock and Mason Flesch starting on the blindside flank.
In the backline there is a change in the midfield with Mitch Richardson rewarded for his try-scoring cameo with a start at outside center, bumping Ben LeSage to No12. Both wingers have changed as Andrew Coe and Kainoa Lloyd come in for Josiah Morra and Isaac Olson respectively. Reserve scrumhalf Reid Watkins again waits a test debut after being an unused replacement against the Leones.
For the Brazil the result was even more lopsided last weekend, with the Tupis unable to score even a single try. Josh Reeves has made six changes to the starting lineup in what will be his final match in charge before formally handing over the Head Coach job to Emiliano Caffera.
The most notable alteration comes in the second row where regular skipper Gabriel Paganini has been dropped. Gabriel Oliveira takes his place at lock with flyhalf Lucas Spago taking over the captaincy for the first time. The only other change in the backline sees Robert Tenório continuing where he left off in the midfield after the injury to Victor Silva against the Eagles.
Concerns over a potential injury crisis at hooker have been eased with both Henrique Ferreira and Wilton Rebolo passed fit, though it’s Leonardo de Souza who gets the start. Rebolo continues at tighthead prop, with Caíque Silva recalled at loosehead. Matheus Cláudio is a straight swap for Adrio de Melo at openside flanker, with the latter named on a bench that shows a 6/2 split.
Sunny conditions are again expected with only light wind projected at game time. Both teams are in poor form, though the Canadians did show some life in the second half against Spain. Brazil looked unfit and at times uninterested against the Eagles. On paper this should be closer but Canada should be considered clear favorites on Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 7am Pacific, 10am Eastern, noon Brasilia. Broadcasts will be available on both ESPN 3 and Star+ in Brazil, TSN+ in Canada, and RugbyPass TV for viewers located elsewhere.
CANADA
1 Cole Keith, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Conor Young, 4 Izzak Kelly, 5 Kyle Baillie, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Matthew Oworu, 9 Jason Higgins, 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Andrew Coe, 12 Ben LeSage, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Peter Nelson
Replacements: 16 Foster DeWitt, 17 Liam Murray, 18 Tyler Rowland, 19 Conor Keys, 20 Siaki Vikilani, 21 Reid Watkins, 22 Gabe Casey, 23 Cooper Coats
BRAZIL
1 Caíque Silva, 2 Leonardo de Souza, 3 Wilton Rebolo, 4 Matteo Dell’Acqua, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Cléber Dias, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Lucas Spago (capt.), 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Robert Tenório, 13 Lorenzo Massari, 14 Ariel Rodrigues, 15 Lucas Tranquez
Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 Matheus Rocha, 18 Leonel Moreno, 19 Gabriel Paganini, 20 Ben Donald, 21 Adrio de Melo, 22 Felipe Gonçalves, 23 João Amaral
Date: Saturday, November 18
Venue: El Pantano, Villajoyosa
Kickoff: 16:00 local (07:00 Pacific, 10:00 Eastern, 12:00 Brasilia)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (Brazil), RugbyPass TV, Star+, TSN+
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2019-02-09 – Brazil 18, Canada 10 (São José dos Campos)
2018-02-17 – Canada 45, Brazil 5 (Langford)
2017-03-03 – Brazil 24, Canada 23 (São Paulo)
2016-02-20 – Canada 52, Brazil 25 (Langford)
