Brazil's women book Sevens World Cup place
By Frankie Deges
From Punta del Este
Brazil's women won a famous victory at the CONSUR Sevens regional qualifier in Punta del Este on Saturday to ensure that one of the biggest nations in the world has finally qualified for a Rugby World Cup.
The Brazilians extended their control of the women’s scene in the region, having not lost a single game since the first ever international women’s sevens tournament in 2004.
They joined Uruguay's men in qualifying for the Dubai showpiece in March 2009.
In Paula Ishibashi they had arguably the tournament’s best player in either gender and her control of the final was incredible, scoring four of her team’s seven tries and adding five conversions in a conclusive 45-0 win against the Argentine Pumitas as Brazil secured their fourth consecutive CONSUR crown.
“We are delighted that we will now be able to go to Dubai and test ourselves against the best in the world,” said Natasha Olsen, one of those who started the women’s game in her country. “This is good for the whole of the game in Brazil.”
The Brazilians, with the same core squad and coach that began that road in Venezuela back in November 2004, finished the tournament without conceding any points. They disposed of the Venezuelans 24-0 in the semi-final before going on to beat Argentina, who had narrowly beaten home team Uruguay 10-7 in a heart-stopping semi-final.
Dream come true for Brazil's women
The final was a match too far for the Argentines as the Brazilians are on a different playing plain in comparison with the other seven nations in the region.
“We started looking after the girls who wanted to play rugby to prevent them from getting injured. Their passion and drive made us work hard and now going to a World Cup is an unbelievable feeling,” said Flávio Santos.
“We need to test our strength against other nations and going to a World Cup is a dream come true for these girls. They are athletic and love the game. We will bring our fun-loving personality but hope to play at the required standard. We go as an unbeaten team in international rugby,” laughed the coach.
The Brazilian men’s dream of accompanying their female counterparts to Dubai came unstuck in their semi-final against Chile. Having established a first half lead of 12-0, they succumbed to the higher tempo and ability of the Chileans who turned around the game with three converted second half tries.
In the earlier semi-final, Uruguay showed their experience and hunger in beating Colombia 29-14. The game was never in the balance, yet Colombia is probably the team that has grown the most in the region under coach Carlos Tejada.
Final day results
Semi-finals
Brazil 24 - Venezuela 0
Argentina 10 - Uruguay 7
5th to 8th
Chile 19 - Peru 0
Colombia 36 - Paraguay 0
7th place playoff
Peru 15 - Paraguay 10
5th place playoff
Colombia 17 - Chile 7
3rd place playoff
Venezuela 17 - Uruguay 5
CONSUR Final
Brazil 45 - Argentina 0
