13 Teams played Brazilian University Rugby Championship 2010

SAO PAULO – The first Brazilian University Rugby Seven Championship 2010 congregated 156 athletes from six states (Bahia, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Espírito Santo and São Paulo) between December 18^th and 19^th, in São Paulo. Ten teams were involved in the men’s competition and three in the women’s and they played more than 30 games at Band Arena’s field.

UCL, USP and UFPE competed in the women’s group. With two victories in the first round, UCL came started on Sunday needing just a win against UFPE. The match between the two teams was fairly fought until the final whistle.

The game was tied until the last minute when Thamara Rangel, 23 years old, received the ball free on the left side of the field and shot to score the only ‘try’ of the match. Karina converted the kick and UCL celebrated the title with victory on 7:0 against UFPE. USP settled for the bronze medal.

“I coached athletics and because of my speed my friends invited me to coach rugby. I really enjoyed the dynamics of the sport and started playing”, told Thamara.

In the men’s tournament, FTC from Bahia and Politécnica from São Paulo played the final. FTC came to the match unbeaten after an easy victory against UFM in the semi-finals with a 30:00 score. Politécnica needed some extra time to score the try that took the team to the finals of the Brazilian University Rugby Championship after a draw in 5:5 against USP San Francisco in regular playing time.

In the final match, Politécnica pressured the opponent from the start and did not give any space to the speed of the athletes from Bahia. Always playing in offense, Politécnica scored 15:00 and could finally raise the trophy. The bronze medal stayed with USP San Francisco that beat FMU 29:00.

Brazilian University Sports Confederation (CBDU) and Brazilian Rugby Confederation (CBRu), partners in the tournament, celebrated the results of the Championship that showed the interest and participation of young people in rugby. “This is only the first of many tournaments. Let’s work together with CBRu, teams and institutions of higher education to bring the FISU World University Championship of Rugby to Brazil”, said Marcelo Falcão, coordinator of the tournament and director of CBDU.

(Source: Polyanna Padua, CBDU Media Officer)

(Photo credits: Sylvia Diez)