Rugby and Sport Development in Brazil: From peripheral to centre stage

This chapter will focus on the development of rugby in Brazil. Following an overview of the socio-historical relevance of the sport in Brazil, the chapter examines the sport’s development through a sport-for-development programme that introduced rugby as an alternative delivery to football, where it is proposed that rugby’s values are more indicative of a socially responsible citizen. However, we outline that the assumption that the ‘Sport Works’ narrative of sport-for-development programmes is still produced through the introduction of rugby, despite well-defined values associated with rugby. For example, many of the assumptions about sport is that it inherently trains individuals in life skills and promote social change in communities. But, as we outline any real change and the processes involved in change are still not easily evidenced or understood. We end the chapter with a brief summary of our findings and suggest ways that rugby can continue to grow in Brazil.