ABSTRACT
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 are that it inherently trains individuals in life skills and promotes social change in communities, but any real change and the processes involved in change are still not easily evidenced or understood. We end this chapter with a brief summary of our findings and suggest ways that rugby can continue to grow in Brazil.
