Second Leg, WXV South America Qualifier
Medellin 9 July
Colombia had won the first of the two qualifiers 24-23, so it was as tight as you please. Once more they had the advantage of a home venue, in the heat of the northern city. But above all, their great adventures in previous rounds of the WXV, which saw them travelling across the world, were bound to stand them in good stead.
On two minutes they went ahead with a penalty from in front. (3-0) But Brazil (the ‘Yaras’) had a slight edge at the scrum; almost on the rebound they scattered the Tucanes’ pack, leaving the No 9 Campos an easy passage down the short side to the line. (3-5)
They were quite capable of flowing movements but were handicapped by the usual problems facing amateur sides, avoiding unforced errors.
A couple of penalties against Brazil led to a third in front of the posts, and to the delight of the parasoled crowd, the Tucanes were ahead again. (6-5). The left-wing Arzuaga, who had been so prominent in previous rounds, doing the honours.
Brazil leaked more penalties, but fortunately for them, none was kickable up to the first water-break. (6-5)
An impressive handling move by the Yaras led to an advantage. The No 10 Fioravanti put a grubber through, but it ran too far. Valentin, the right-wing, attempted a kick at goal, but pulled it wide.
Five minutes before the break Soto made a lovely break and weaved her way to the line through. That calmed Toucan nerves.
HALF-TIME 11-5
Straight after the restart Soto was over for her second. Two fierce hand-offs and she crossed on the far left. (16-5)
The game saw two recurrent faults, losing the ball on contact and the unwise pass. Just as Brazil were mounting another raid on the line, the ball was snaffled by No 13 Zurique, and she galloped nearly the length of the pitch. She was hauled down, but there was Soto once more to finish the job. A successful conversion took the Toucans way ahead, 23-5.
Brazil weren’t done for yet. A long touch kick brought them close to the line, but – like so many other teams we have seen – they couldn’t finish the job. Another promising move was undone by an interception, so the final water-break saw the score stuck at 23-5.
On the resumption the Colombian 10 Mejia, whose kicking was important throughout, inserted a long touch-finder to bring her team inside the Yaras 22m. For a while they could stop worrying about defending their own line.
By now the heat and the pace of the game was taking its effect on play. Accuracy suffered, passages of play became scrappy.
But Las Tucanes took advantage of a very deliberate box-kick by Campos to mount a counter-attack. The No 8 Mestra claimed the try as she forced the ball down in triumph. (30-5)
The last few minutes did great credit to the Brazilians; they mounted attack after attack. These led to a series of penalties where they opted for a scrum. In a most unusual finish to the game they scored not one, but two penalty tries as a result of Colombian weaknesses up front.
We had the still unusual sight of the referee standing under the posts to award the try, then at once signalling the end of the game.
Sadly for the visitors, those 14 points couldn’t save the day.
Result: Colombia 30 Brazil 19
Combined scores: 54-42
Teams
Colombia:
T Delgado, Olave, Naranjo, Alvarez, R Delgado, Cuartas, Alcate, Mestra, A Ramirez, Mejia, Zurique, L Soto, Arzuaga, Garcia, Lopera
Bench: Caycedo, Barajas, Cardona, Gutierrez, Hernandez, Sarmiento, I Ramirez, A Soto
Brazil:
Barros, Amorim, Gomes, Santana, Bomfim, Mariano, Medeiros, Coluna (captain), Campos, Fioravanti, Dias, Araujo, Santini, Valente, Bodeman
Bench: Leni, Momberg, Oliveira, Marques, Coimbra, Mayumi, Sarmento, Lopes
Afterthoughts
This win means Colombia become South American champions and qualify for WXV3, alongside Fiji, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Scotland, and the losers of the match between Italy and Spain. They all meet in Dubai starting on 14 October.
So Las Tucanes remain our favourite South American rugby side, but Brazil must be a long-term prospect for success. They have the benefit of a vast population plus fame as a nation of successful athletes. Their present handicap is rugby’s ranking well below that of football, basketball, volleyball and other sports in the nation’s affections, but their Sevens squad has already proved its worth.
