The Brazil women's national rugby union team are the national side of Brazil, representing them at rugby union. After several successful performances at Sevens rugby, they played their first 15-a-side fixture in May 2008 against Netherlands and lost 10–0.
History
The first women's rugby match known in Brazil took place in 1987, during São Paulo Athletic Club's traditional end-of-year sevens tournament. Most of the players were the girlfriends and sisters of the men's team players, who always accompanied them to games and practices. In 1997, during Women's Day, another match took place in Florianópolis, in Desterro Rugby Clube. Maria Mikaella, former captain of the Brazilian National Team, played in that match, and made a little statement about how it was
"we didn't know the sport. In Brazil we didn't have rugby on TV or even a rugby ball to buy. We haven't heard about rugby until our friends began to play. We started just watching, but the sport seemed to be really cool to just watch. So we convinced the boys to teach us. The first game was messy. I just remember that we lost. However made us fall in love with rugby."
Brazil played their first international test match against the Netherlands in 2008.[1][2] The team wasn't formed again until 2019, when Brazil visited Colombia for its first match against South American opposition.[3] In 2020, Brazil and Colombia played again in Medellín, in a match that was the first one in a Women's Rugby World Cup qualifiers. Colombia defeated Brazil by 23–19.
2023
2023 will see Brazil face Colombia in official test matches, which is part of the South American region's qualifying matches for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.[1]Sudamérica Rugby, with funding from World Rugby, organised the first women's fifteens tournament for the region, the 2023 Americas Rugby Trophy, which was hosted in Brazil in June.[4][5] The tournament saw Brazil face Colombia, and a development team from the United States.[4][5]
Brazil met Colombia again on 5 and 9 July 2023 in Medellín, for a place in the WXV 3 competition.[6][7] They recorded their first international win when they beat Portugal 10–7, it was also their first time to face a European opponent after fifteen years.[2]
2024
Brazil created history on 29 June 2024 by becoming the first South American team to qualify for a Women's Rugby World Cup.[8][9] They defeated Colombia for the first time in Asunción, Paraguay and will make their debut at the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.[10][9] Brazil moved up 12 places to their highest position of 39th from 51st after their 34–13 win over Colombia.[11]
