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Another poor start had Canadian fans nervous, but the Maple Leafs recovered to beat a woeful Brazil side 40-15 in La Vila on Saturday. Canada’s fitness and forward strength was the difference with captain Lucas Rumball leading the way with three tries of his own.
Os Tupis had the best of the early exchanges, turning away the first Canadian attack and moving into scoring position after ill-discipline from the men in red. Gabriel Oliveira reached over on the short side of a ruck for the first try of the game, with Lucas Tranquez converting from wide out. He would add a penalty goal soon after to make it 10-nil to the South Americans.
A malfunctioning lineout cost Brazil possession and Canada made the most of it, moving down the pitch until Rumball crashed over from close range. Tranquez nailed a 50-22 soon after but the opportunity was lost from a poor throw-in. Another chance for points went begging when Tranquez missed a shot at goal after the Canadian forwards were caught offside on a sliced up-and-under attempt.
Discipline then faltered for the Tupis, giving Canada a penalty in kicking range but Povey instead opted for the corner. The gamble paid off. After the Brazilian forwards had slowed the driving maul, the pressure stayed on until Rumball went over again in a near carbon-copy of his first try. Peter Nelson chipped over his second conversion to give the Maple Leafs a precarious 14-10 lead at halftime.
The Canadian pack took control early in the second half. Matthew Oworu and Cole Keith punched over just as Rumball had earlier from in tight. Brazil’s forwards meanwhile showed little sign of life as chins dropped, and their set piece continued to sputter.
An Andrew Coe try on the end of a Ben LeSage grubber removed any remaining doubt as to the result, with Brazil scoring a consolation try via Wilton Rebolo on the end of a rare successful lineout drive. The final say would appropriately go to Canada’s captain, however, as Rumball picked a gap between two uninterested defenders to claim his hat trick.
SCORING
CANADA 40
Tries (6) – L. Rumball 3 (22′, 33′, 68′), M. Oworu (42′), C. Keith (47′), A. Coe (59′)
Cons (5) – P. Nelson 4/5 (23′, 34′, 43′, 48′), R. Povey 1/1 (69′)
BRAZIL 15
Tries (2) – G. Oliveira (9′), W. Rebolo (65′)
Cons (1) – L. Tranquez 1/2 (10′)
Pens (1) – L. Tranquez 1/2 (13′)
TEAMS
CANADA
1 Cole Keith (17 Liam Murray 58′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Foster DeWitt 58′), 3 Conor Young (18 Tyler Rowland 58′), 4 Izzak Kelly, 5 Kyle Baillie (19 Conor Keys 18′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Matthew Oworu (20 Siaki Vikilani 69′), 9 Jason Higgins (21 Reid Watkins 69′), 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Andrew Coe, 12 Ben LeSage, 13 Mitch Richardson (22 Gabe Casey 79′), 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Peter Nelson (23 Cooper Coats 61′)
BRAZIL
1 Caíque Silva (18 Leonel Moreno 60′), 2 Leonardo de Souza (17 Matheus Rocha HT), 3 Wilton Rebolo (16 Henrique Ferreira 75′), 4 Matteo Dell’Acqua (20 Gabriel Paganini 48′), 5 Gabriel Oliveira (19 Ben Donald 61′), 6 Cléber Dias (21 Adrio de Melo 58′), 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth (22 Felipe Gonçalves 53′), 10 Lucas Spago (capt.) (23 João Amaral 69′), 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Robert Tenório, 13 Lorenzo Massari, 14 Ariel Rodrigues, 15 Lucas Tranquez
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Venue: El Pantano, Villajoyosa
