Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Brazil Rugby, the Confederação Brasileira de Rugby (CBRu) has named a 36-man roster to prepare for the upcoming RWC 2023 qualifier. Brazil will play host to Paraguay in São José dos Campos on June 26.
The 36 players are preparing in Brazil’s High Performance Center in São Paulo. 23 players will be selected for the RWC qualifier in near-by São José dos Campos later this month. The Estádio Martins Pereira will host what is the Americas’ opening qualifying match for RWC 2023.
Brazil’s roster is heavily based on Os Cobras Brasil XV, Brazil’s team from the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The South American league was played in March, April and May will games taking place in Chile and Uruguay.
The Brazilian-based players are joined by a handful of foreign-based names. Rugby United New York front-row Wilton Rebolo and Italians Matteo Dell’Acqua, and Lorenzo Massari are the notable inclusions.
Brazil’s preparations for the must-win RWC qualifier against Paraguay have seen the recruitment of two Argentine coaches: Damian Rotondo and Nicolas Fernandes Lobbe. They are providing assistance to head coach Fernando Portugal and Cobras head coach Emiliano Bergamaschi who is Portugal’s technical assistant.
The winner of Brazil vs Paraguay will advance to the second round of the Americas’ RWC 2023 qualifiers. It is to also be the final round of South American qualifying. Chile will host Colombia in the other round one match. The two winning teams from round one will join Uruguay in round two. The top two from the triangular tournament will progress to face North American opposition.
Game one of the South America vs North America series will be between the champion from the two respective hemispheres. The winner of this match will qualify for RWC 2023 as Americas 1. The losing team will face the winner of South America 2 vs North America 2. The winner of that contest will qualify for RWC 2023 as Americas 2.
There will be one final opportunity for the loser of South America 2 vs North America 2. That team will enter RWC 2023 repechage. The tournament will involve four teams with the Americas participant joining three others from different regions. Canada qualified for RWC 2019 as the repechage winner.
BRAZIL ROSTER – RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 QUALIFIERS
LOOSE HEAD PROP
Lucas Abud
Alexandre Alves
Leonel Moreno
Wilton Rebolo
HOOKER
Leonardo de Souza
Yan Rosetti
Endy Willian
TIGHT HEAD PROP
Henrique Ferreira
Caique Silva
Jardel Vettorato
Joel Ramirez
Matheus da Rocha
SECOND-ROW
Matteo Dell’Acqua
Kauã Guimarães
Gabriel Paganini
FLANKER
Arthur Bergo
Matheus Claudio
Cleber Dias
Devon Muller
N8
André Arruda
Adrio de Melo
Felipe Rosa
SCRUM HALF
Laurent Bourda-Couhet
Felipe Gonçalves
Douglas Rauth
FLY HALF
Josh Reeves
Lucas Spago
CENTER
Moisés Duque
Lorenzo Massari
Gabriel Quirino
Felipe Sancery (capt.)
WING
Daniel Lima
Robert Tenório
De Wet Van Niekerk
FULLBACK
Daniel Sancery
Lucas Tranquez
FIXTURES – RWC 2023 QUALIFIERS
First Round
June 26: Brazil vs Paraguay, Estádio Martins Pereira, São José dos Campos (Brazil)
July 03: Chile vs Colômbia, venue tba (Chile)
Second Round
July 11: Brazil / Paraguay vs Chile / Colombia, Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (Uruguay)
July 18: Uruguay vs Chile / Colômbia, Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (Uruguay)
July 25: Uruguay vs Brazil / Paraguay, Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo (Uruguay)
Third Round
Play-Off 1: South America 1 vs North America 1 (date, venue tba)
Fourth Round
Play-Off 2: South America 2 vs North America 2 (date, venue tba)
Fifth Round
Play-Off 3: Loser Play-Off 1 vs Winner Play-Off 2 (date, venue tba)
The loser of Play-Off 3 will enter RWC repechage. The repechage will be a tournament featuring Americas 3, Africa 1, Europe 3, and Asia / Oceania 2.
