Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025: Meet debutants Brazil
“Joga bonito” is a phrase used by Brazilians to describe how the game of football should be played.
“Joga” is the verb “to play” in Portuguese, while “bonito” means “beautiful”. The philosophy revolves around individual skill, creativity and a mindset to attack.
Football is not just a game in Brazil, it is ingrained in culture, with more than two million registered players.
Rugby, on the other hand, still remains an unknown sport among the majority of the people from the South American country, even with Brazil making their debut at the Women’s Rugby World Cup against South Africa on Sunday.
Brazil, who are the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup in 25th, have only played 16 Tests of XV-a-side rugby and celebrated their first win in 2023 over Portugal.
Despite the vast difference in player pool, resources and global triumphs, the rugby-playing mindset remains the same as that in football.
“They have absolute speed and are at their absolute best when they are decisive and read what is happening in front of them and react in the moment,” Brazil women’s sevens coach Crystal Kaua told BBC Sport.
“I always say it is like driving in Sao Paulo [which has 12 million inhabitants]. With the motorbikes, if you see space then you have to take it. They aren’t big so they must make smart and fast decisions.”
To qualify for the World Cup, Brazil had to defeat Colombia in the South American play-off – a hurdle they had failed at six times previously.
With the women’s sevens team thriving on the World Series, the decision was made to push for qualification by bringing in their sevens stars for the play-off game, resulting in a comfortable 34-13 victory.
Among the 32 players selected for the World Cup, 11 have competed in at least one Olympic Games.
Fly-half Raquel Kochhann, who has only six caps in XVs, was one of those players that head coach Emiliano Caffera approached to help seal qualification.
Like the vast majority of teenagers in Brazil, Kochhann’s dream was to play professional football, but injury ended her hopes.