Cool Ruckings: Brazil aim to make waves at their first Women's Rugby World Cup

Irish Examiner

21 hours ago

SIXTEEN. That is how many Tests Brazil's women's rugby team has played, just six more than England played in 2024 alone. The Yaras have recorded five wins but one of those was history-making: a first victory against Colombia last June that secured qualification for the Rugby World Cup. They will be the first South American country at the women's tournament and the first Brazil team, male or female, to compete in rugby's global showpiece. 'It is incredible,' says their captain, Eshyllen Coimbra.
The remarkable story began in 2008 with their first international match. Brazil lost 10-0 to the Netherlands in what would be their sole fixture before an 11-year hiatus, mainly due to a lack of regional opponents. Brazil's union focused on women's sevens and rugby league before the 15s team was revived in 2019. One of the main reasons for doing so was the potential for World Cup qualification.
For the 2021 tournament (staged in 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic) Brazil were beaten by Colombia in a qualifier, the victors going on to lose to Scotland in a playoff. However, for the expanded 2025 tournament, South America was granted a guaranteed qualification spot. That place was decided in a winner-takes-all encounter between Brazil and Colombia.
Brazil came away with a convincing 34-13 victory in which Coimbra was one of the try-scorers. The captain was emotional when the full-time whistle blew, but World Cup qualification was not the first thing on her mind.
'It was a very unbelievable thing to win the game against Colombia because we had about six or seven losses before that game, it was the first time we won,' says Coimbra, who has a full-time player contract with Brazil and is also studying journalism. 'I wasn't thinking about the Rugby World Cup, it was the first win, and I couldn't believe it.
'I started to think about the World Cup the next day and I just thought: 'I cannot believe I am in the tournament.' I'm so glad we made it and it is incredible to achieve it.'
The playoff was just the second win in the team's history, the first coming against Portugal in December 2023. Emiliano Caffera took charge just after the Portugal victory and the head coach, who is also in charge of the men's team, focused on developing the players' skills for the 15-a-side game, with many of the players transitioning from sevens.
He says: 'All of the skills of sevens start the preparation for 15s. I had to work on the weaknesses which were the scrum, maul, defence and kicking game. We really focused there. The scrum-half, the No 10s, didn't have the knowledge of 15s, so we had to start from scratch … that was the key to start making that history that we didn't have.'
Many of the squad also bring rugby league knowledge. One of the most experienced players is Edna Santini, who is poised to become the first player to appear at a Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup Sevens, Sevens World Series, Olympic Games and a Rugby League World Cup.
The 33-year-old says: 'It is a very important personal milestone. Having the opportunity to play each tournament is really meaningful to me. To conquer everything with Brazil rugby, it's so important.'
Santini and the rest of squad are keen to make it clear they are not at the 2025 tournament just to make up the numbers. They want to make an impact, while acknowledging the difficulty of their pool.
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Pool D contains South Africa, Italy and France, three opponents they have never played, all of whom will be favourites. Positive results may be difficult to come by so what will success look like? The message is clear throughout the squad.
'It is an opportunity to show the Brazilian way to play rugby,' Coimbra says. 'We want to do our best, without looking at results. We want to surprise people and make people see what Brazil rugby is about. Each game there are expectations to play the best rugby we can but the main goal is to show Brazilian rugby for the first time.'
Santini says: 'Brazil being in the World Cup is new, we have high expectations in terms of doing our best, playing the hardest we can. We want to show we trained really hard to represent the Brazil rugby union in the best way we could.'
Performance and pride in the shirt may be the main objectives but the best opportunity for a surprise win will be their opener against South Africa. While the Springboks have far more experience, Italy and France are both another step ahead.
Caffera believes his side are capable of causing an upset. The 46-year-old, who played for Uruguay at the men's 2003 Rugby World Cup, says: 'For me it is the game that, if we do all good things and we have an amazing day, maybe we can do it. I don't think it'll happen against Italy or France. But with the weaknesses of South Africa and our strengths, maybe that can be the day.'
Regardless of results, the coach believes the tournament will hugely benefit his squad. He explains the experience of playing Tier 1 nations will be significant but to continue to progress, they need more games. The creation of a South American tournament would be the answer for Caffera but he understands the challenges – nations such as Argentina and Chile do not have established women's teams.
The coach adds: 'It's [about] playing with big countries and playing in big tournaments. At the moment we don't have that and we don't have that on the continent, it's going to be hard for us growing in the future without a 15s tournament. We really need a South American tournament to grow this team and grow the young players too. If we want to be a good team in the future we need to grow the young players and for me tournaments and games like that are key.
'WXV [World Rugby's annual global women's 15s competition] started some things but it is only one tournament for us. We don't have Six Nations, we don't have a strong club league, we don't have Super Rugby Americas for women, we need to send players to other clubs and countries. That is going to be the start because here we don't have anything. It is going to be really hard for World Rugby to give us more games. Players have to go to other countries like England, Italy, Spain, USA, New Zealand. We have good players, they need to play more.'
Brazil will break new ground at this World Cup; the next challenge is ensuring it is not their last.
Guardian