Clube de Campo do Palmeiras in southern São Paulo has been announced as the venue for the inaugural Brasil Rugby League Festival this November which is set to include the inaugural Confederação Brasileira de Rugby League National Championship, plus a series of International Rugby League matches.
The venue, which is home to the Palmeiras Football Club, is set to host the largest Rugby League event to date in the Latin American country, featuring a 12-team National Championship plus the Federación Latinoamericana de Rugby League (FLRLXIII) South American Cups.
The Confederação Brasileira de Rugby League National Championship will be run as a nine-a-side tournament on November 24 featuring six Men’s teams and six Women’s teams. Teams for the tournament are set to come from Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo, with teams from previous Rugby League communities of São Lourenço and Baixo Guandu also invited. Clubs that have committed so far include:
- Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro)
- Volta Redonda (Rio de Janeiro)
- Saracens Bandeirantes (São Paulo)
- Tatuapé (São Paulo)
- Athenas Rugby de Itanhaém (São Paulo)
- Guaicurus Três Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul)
Additional participants and the split of teams across the Men’s and Women’s competitions will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The Federación Latinoamericana de Rugby League (FLRLXIII) South America Cups will see three Brazil Representative teams take part in the Festival. In the Men’s South American Cup, the Brazilian Men’s team will take on Argentina and Colombia for the Regional Championship, whilst in the South American Silver Cup, the Brazilian ‘B’ Representative team will take on the Argentinian ‘B’ team.
In the Women’s South American Cup, both Brazil and Argentina will go head to head in what will be the first full sanctioned Women’s Rugby League International to take place in Latin America.
The Festival will run on November 24 – 25
