We had a fantastic opportunity to once again see off the Conference 1 tournament in the women’s and men’s competition. A total of 18 teams from 16 different countries took part. As many as 52 games were played in both competitions. 234 players took participation. A total of 10 rugby europe referees were on tournament. Apart from them, a large number of our referees took part also, as a assistant and line reffs. The players of the younger selections were in charge of collecting and bringing the balls, which they did flawlessly. The match comessairees helped their colleagues from the European Rugby Federation rwith game sheets. Our doctors were ready and very agile during the entire tournament, where they did their job at a very high level. A large number of people were involved in the organization and logistics around the stadium complex, and it was done at a high level. All in all, a fantastic experience organizing a major tournament for all participants. We hope that this experience will be applied in the organization of domestic tournaments.
On our website, you can see information, results and the final table from the men’s tournament. On the website of the European Rugby Federation you can see the same for the men’s and women’s tournament.
20 conclusions
The superiority of the Swiss women's team
By far the best women’s selection in the tournament. Excellent individual technique of each player who is at a very high level. The Swiss women as a team seemed very compact and motivated to place in the rank above, which they eventually succeeded in doing. It should be emphasized that in their ranks there were players who play in France.
The women's tournament is better than last year
In general, it is a much better tournament than it was last year. Admittedly, there are four less teams, but the quality has increased, and that in all teams individually. It can still be seen that some countries put together a team without having a domestic competition or a larger selection of female players.
Great progress of the women's national team of Montenegro
One of the things that delighted us was the enormous progress in the game made by the Montenegrin women’s national team. Compared to last year, it was as if we were watching two different teams. Excellent hand play and even better accompaniment, with a large number of offloads, she was able to confuse opponents. Maybe the Montenegrins did not have fast sprinters, but they made the opponents work hard in defense, in order to stop them in attack. At the end of the tournament, they took a surprising 6th place that is, better placed than Croats.
Switzerland and Andorra goes to higher group
Well deserved, the two best teams in the tournament, who showed the most. We must also mention that the Slovakian and Lithuanian teams were also very good. Nevertheless, the Swiss women won the tournament without defeat, quite convincingly. While the girls from Andorra had a more difficult time, especially in the ½ final, where they overpowered the Slovakian women 17-10 and won the final and a higher ranking.
The discipline of the Balkan teams
A very interesting thing during the whole tournament is the weak discipline of the teams from the Balkans. From the first match to the last, everyone was complaining about, above all, the referee’s decisions. Believe it or not, some protested against the timer on the stadium’s scoreboard even though the referee has his own stopwatch and decides whether the time has expired. Tournaments in rugby 7 are very fast, everything happens very quickly, while you are protesting or whining about something, that is long gone, because such a game is always moving on.
A big decline of the teams from the Balkans
If we don’t count Turkey as a Balkan country, we can say that all teams seriously failed in the tournament. The best ranking of all Balkan teams was achieved by Montenegro in the women’s competition, where it took 6th place in general standings. The Croatian women’s team was seventh. The men’s team of Serbia took 8th place, while Bosnia and Herzegovina was last, that is, ninth.
Pale game from Serbia
There is not much to say about our game. We looked bad, out of shape, sluggish and slow. It was like we were trying to suffocate the ball instead of playing more with our hands. It was like we were trying to suffocate the ball instead of playing more with our hands. At the tournament itself, we recorded one win, one draw and three losses. When you look at the score it may not sound bad compared to the game we provided.
Serbia without a sprinter, very low tempo of the game
In the last three weeks, our team experienced two bad lucks, two of the fastest players, Kaspar Strugar and Ivan Voštić, were injured. The two would certainly be among the five fastest players in the tournament. Without them, Serbia played at a very low pace. Even when we narrowed the game, our support players were late and we lost possessions in attack. In defense, the biggest problem was the 1 on 1 game where fast players ran past ours and were in a position to score. There was a lack of communication and organization of the game in defense.
Canceled try at the end of the match between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
In game for 8th place, we could withess real drama at the finish. With the score 22-17 for us, the Bosnian player ran past our player, and in his desire to place the ball closer to the posts, he managed to place it outside the field. Initially, the referee called an try, but with the assistance of the linesman, the try was overturned. After that action, the match ended and Serbia won, while the players of Bosnia and Herzegovina were visibly dissatisfied with the decision. Anyway, watch the video that went viral and judge for yourself.
What would happen if Serbia lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina?
It would happen that they would be relegated to a lower rank, i.e. Conference 2. Even worse for us would be to lose the organization of the next year’s tournament. In other words, even worse for us would be a scenario where we would have to play with the so-called state of kosovo in Conference 2. When you add to this the moment of the finish of the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, we get enormous material for conspiracy theorists.
The energy of Uroš Jončić
After the first half of the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, we lost 12-5. Not only were we losing, but we looked very bad on the field. In the second part of the match, Uroš Jončić entered and completely turned the situation on the field with his energy. With an try and an assist, he initiated a total turnaround. In this format of the competition and in these matches, charismatic players can completely change the course of the game.
Excellent atmosphere at the Kralj Petar Prvi stadium
We must say that we enjoyed the atmosphere at the Kralj Petar Prvi stadium. The Serbian Rugby Union made an effort to organize the tournament at a high level. You had seats with as much shade as you wanted in the stands, you could drink whatever you wanted, you could buy various souvenirs, the public address system and the scoreboard were extremely up-to-date, so you could follow the matches and results without any problems, if you read our tournament tracking guide. Nothing was late, everything was in the best possible order.
Confusing competition system
Honestly, as the author of the text, I must say that I have been in rugby for a little over 20 years, I have had the opportunity to watch and participate in a large number of international tournaments. But I have not seen anything similar to this competition system. Namely, first, 9 teams were divided into 3 groups, where each team played two matches. After that, three new groups were formed, where the teams played two more matches each. Then a general table with points was formed. And that’s where the craziness starts. The first four teams advanced to the ½ finals. Then the next three teams formed a group of 3 teams, where they played according to the system. each with each, for a ranking of 5th to 7th place. And the two last ranked teams played a game for 8th place. Now I can say that for the first time in my life I have seen a match for the placement of an even place in a tournament.
Turkey and Monaco showed the best game of the tournament
The two teams that showed the most at the tournament and deservedly made it to the finals. Both teams played in a very high rhythm and were at a high level. They acted organized, disciplined and trained, they were undefeated until the final, where Turkey narrowly won 14-12.
Jusuf Sarican showed his class in the sweeper position
In open play, the typical defensive formation in rugby sevens is a line of 6 players, with the sweeper, or last player of the defense standing deeper in the field. Related to this, the attacking team wants to create an extra player situation with a quick flow of the ball. On the other hand, a defensive team with a sweeper puts pressure on the opponent’s ruck, which sometimes has to send more than one player to clear the ruck. It was in such a game that Jusuf Sarican was fantastic. He picked the momentum fantastically to run from the field and be an assistant to the kicker and steal the ball or win a penalty for his team. We’re not sure, but he had over 20 steals or penalties.
Norway in RK Rad jerseys
The Norwegian team had a problem with their luggage, which seems to have been lost. As the luggage could not arrive before the start of the tournament, they borrowed jerseys from RK Rad and thus received additional support from the stands.
Monaco and Turkey next season in the Trophy group
Absolutely deserved. Both teams were the best in the tournament, which was proven by the results on the field, so they were placed in the Trophy group, where they will participate next season. It seemed that they were playing at a higher level than most teams, which is not surprising when we take into account the results achieved.
Bosnia and Herzegovina next year in Conference 2
Bosnia and Herzegovina lost all five games and did not play a good tournament. In the last match against Serbia, she had the opportunity to score in the last seconds of the match, but the referee canceled the essay because the player was off the field at the moment the ball was dropped. Be that as it may, next season they will play in Conference 2.
Little interest from the audience, as well as club members
It was somewhat surprising that there was not a lot of audience in the stadium and stands. Even more surprising is that there were not too many people from the rugby world as in previous years. Nevertheless, this is the most important rugby event in Serbia and it is surprising that it was not better attended. After all, you can always bring the youngsters to watch the tournament and rugby at a high level.
Hold the tournament of junior categories at the same time as the tournament of Conference 2
We believe that at least one junior tournament could have been held during the Conference 2 tournament. Especially on Sunday when there were several breaks. After that tournament, young rugby players could come to the stands where they could watch good representative rugby. It was a fantastic picture for me that about a hundred young rugby players were in the stands, let’s say when the Serbian national team plays.
