Impressive Brazil beat Paraguay for Four Nations Title

An impressive performance from Brazil saw Os Tupis winning the 2023 South American Four Nations title. Brazil defeated tournament hosts 41-22 in the final fixture of the competition on Sunday evening in Asunción. The win means that Brazil will rise two places in the World Rankings.

Brazil were champions going into the 2023 South American Four Nations. Os Tupis were undefeated in the 2022 Tri Nations which also involved Colombia and Paraguay. The 2023 competition saw the Chile XV also competing.

Brazil had been unbeaten in the 2022 Tri Nations and was again in the 2023 tournament. Os Tupis claimed a good win over the Chile XV then a comprehensive win over Colombia before winning on a high against Paraguay.

Before Brazil and Paraguay took to the field for the final the Chile XV defeated Colombia. The result of that match meant that Colombia were handed the wooden spoon. Colombia’s winless campaign followed a dour showing at home in Barranquilla in 2022. The loss of Los Cafeteros Pro has seen the test team plummeting.

Paraguay opened the scoring against Brazil. Sebastián Urbieta landed a penalty. Brazil responded through Lucas Spago to make it 3-3 early on in the final. Following a tense few minutes, Victor Silva scored the game’s first try in the 18th minute of play. It came from a break from N8 André Arruda.

Paraguay looked to hit-back in the second quarter. They had the better of territory and field possession but Brazil managed to hold on. Frustration for Paraguay was then added to as, playing his final test match, Guilherme Coghetto crossed to give Brazil a 15-3 lead at half-time.

Brazil opened the second-half with a bang. Cléber Dias provided excellent impact from the replacements. He broke the Paraguayan defensive line to enable Henrique Ferreira to score.

Paraguay fought back through their scrum. The forwards won a penalty which was turned into three points. It was not the start of a comeback as Brazil followed it up with they fourth try. Adrio de Melo went into the try zone in the 55th minute, doing so after another break from Cléber Dias.

The win was secured before Paraguay found their way into the try zone. Replacement Juan Chilavert went over but Brazil again responded, this time with Leonel Moreno scoring. Juan González  and Sérgio Luna then traded late tries to finish the match and tournament.

Evidence based on the match is that the rivalry between Brazil and Colombia is strong. Paraguay will feel justified in wanting to be included in the 2027 South American Rugby World Cup Qualifiers alongside Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

SCORING

PARAGUAY (22)
Try – Penalty Try, J Chilavert; J González
Con – Urbieta 1
Pen – Urbieta 1

BRAZIL (41)
Try – V Silva, G Coghetto, H Ferreira, A de Melo, L Moreno; S Luna
Con – L Spago 3; L Tranquez
Pen – L Spago

TEAMS

PARAGUAY
1 Daniel Cabral, 2 Lucas Otaño, 3 Enrique Quinteros, 4 Ignacio Martínez, 5 Mariano Garcete, 6 Carlos Plate, 7 Ariel Nuñez, 8 Marcos Riquelme, 9 Diego Miño, 10 Joaquín Mussi, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Tomás Mussi, 14 Gianfranco Parodi, 15 Arturo López

Replacements: 16 Diego Caballero, 17 Camilo Blasco, 18 Rolando Portillo, 19 Juan José Heisecke, 20 Lautaro Britez, 21 Daniel Chilavert, 22 Héctor Gayoso, 23 Marcos Romañach

BRAZIL
1 Brendon Alves, 2 Endy Willian, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Gabriel Paganini (capt.), 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Adrio de Melo, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Gonçalves, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Lorenzo Massari, 13 Victor Silva, 14 Sérgio Luna, 15 Guilherme Coghetto

Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 Levy Marinho, 18 Leonel Moreno, 19 Felipe Rosa, 20 Cléber Dias, 21 Antonio Zanatta, 22 Douglas Rauth, 23 Lucas Tranquez

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Juan Manuel López (Argentina); Adrián Bogado (Paraguay)
TMO: Marco Demestri (Paraguay)