1. It will be interesting to observe the U18 juniors and their performances in the finals of the Serbian Cup
A large number of U18 juniors will take part in the matches of the ½ finals of the Serbian Cup. And we will see them off with great care, and that’s because most of them will play a notable role in their teams. Generation of 2004 is one of the better ones we’ve had in recent years, which the results show, after all. That is exactly why we are interested in how he will look in the senior competition.
As for the Rad teams, several young people have already taken their place in the team. Danijel Stojanović is already a standard member of the starting line-up of the Builders, and he was one of the better players during the entire half-season. It may sound strange, but he just turned 18 years old on Saturday, and he has already performed well in the senior competition. We will be especially interested in Boris Milojković, who will perform in the pillar position. We had the opportunity to see his capabilities in the scrum at the U18 match against Croatia. Now he will have a slightly more difficult job with the scrum of Vojvodina. We are particularly interested in how Uroš Jevđenijević will look in the match, who covers the positions of the second and third line of the scrum. So far, he has played good games and already has a lot of experience in the senior competition. The wing positions are covered by Mihajlo Samardžić, who has already played several games and for whom every experience is valuable.
A lot of younger juniors will also be in the BRK Crvena Zvezda squad this weekend. There are already established Momčilo Kralj and Dragan Kokanović who are already standard in the first 15. Their games throughout the season were at a high level. Now we have a chance to see how they will manage against Partizan. We will see if Nikola Pumpalović and Aleksandre Heam will get a chance from the start of the game. We believe that they have well deserved their place as starters, but it is up to the coaching staff of Zvezda to decide who will start. A fantastic opportunity for the young players to see what they can do against a strong black and white side.
RK Kruševac decided to send the young trio on loan to Vojvodina in order to gain additional experience. Nemanja Lazić, Aleksa Jovanović and Veljko Mitić will take their place in the team from Novi Sad, where their opponents will be an extremely strong Rada team, which is also the new champion of Serbia this season. The boys have already had the opportunity to play minutes in senior rugby, but we are always especially interested when it happens in rugby 15, and especially tells us how they will cope and how much responsibility they will have on the field.
Although the lineups will not be known until the week before the games start, we have singled out these 11 players who played this season in the junior competition and who, according to our knowledge, will play this weekend.
2. BRK Crvena Zvezda wants to celebrate 40 years since its foundation with the Serbian Cup trophy
With the new coaching staff who took over the helm of Zvezda already in the match of the ¼ finals of the Serbian Cup, the team from Ada strengthened considerably. A number of players from the Red Stars Championship side in rugby league will feature this weekend. Along with the youngsters we have listed, there are also a lot of players who have been the backbone of the team this season. In particular, we would like to single out the Serbian national team members Predrag Keglić, Aleksandar Đorđević, Aleksandar Madjanović and Ivan Rodić, who have completed the national team cycle and are in good shape. Also, a large number of veterans strengthened the team, we are thinking first of all of Vlastimir Sretenović, who was one of the better players last weekend against Dinamo.
Zvezda is a team that will really force a high tempo in the game. Miljan Nikolić was one of the best players through the season. We expect a fast game as it was the case last week where Daniel Kayan showed exceptional efficiency with three essays. Quick hand play as well as a penetrating scrum should grace the red and whites. Last week, Pančevci had no solution for Uroš Martinović, who was taking meters of the field as if it were a joke. But this week they have a more serious job ahead of them and a much bigger bite than Dinamo.
Back in 1982. BRK Crvena Zvezda was founded and this year marks the 40th anniversary of the club’s founding. It is no small matter when a club, and especially a rugby club, has such continuity of existence. There are not many of our clubs, because it is very difficult to maintain the continuity of the club, especially for 40 years. If it were easy, they would have 50 active clubs now. The Serbian Cup trophy would certainly complete the celebration and festivities on the occasion of the great jubilee.
3. The complete Partizan chases the trophy in the Serbian Cup
Although they were left without their fifth title in a row in the Serbian Championship, don’t think that Partizan lacks motivation. Even in that game with Rad when they were losing 28-0, they didn’t give up and fought until the end. If the match had lasted another ten minutes, anything would have happened. One thing you must know, never write off Partizan. At any moment, a team that is extremely strong and competitive can emerge.
Finally, Partizan will be complete, at least as far as the suspended players are concerned, because Đorđe Preradojević and Aleksandar Andrić will be available. Several players went through the national team cycle and played excellent games, such as Aljoša Avramović, Igor Dejanović and Aleksandar Krstić. Partizan is a team with strong leaders, and here we must highlight Stefan Đorđević in the scrum and Velibor Srećković, who is also the captain of the national team. The two also went through a successful representative cycle.
This season, Partizan had several reinforcements. Here we must highlight first of all the players of RK Dorćol who played excellent games for the black and whites. Simović, both Nikolics were up to the task. There is also Rajko Trifunović, the ace of Crvena Zvezda in rugby league. Towards the end of the season, the Russian international Oleg Babkin also put on the black and white jersey, who strengthened his position of hooker in the scrum. Let’s not forget the Serbian national team in rugby 7, Lazar Grubić, who came from Petrovac Torpedo in the summer transfer window.
We expect a solid game from Partizan on both sides of the field. In particular, we must highlight the granite defense, which will certainly cause problems for the opponents. And we had the opportunity to see it during this season as well, when a strong defense line is formed and an even stronger set-up in the depth of the field, which prevents you from progressing with shots. From this defense, counter attacks developed, which are Partizan’s strongest weapon. If we add to that an excellent positional game, where in the restarts you have a dominant scrum and a safe out, then we get an extremely strong team that was not accidentally the champion of Serbia 4 times in a row.
Match information
1/2 final: BRK Crvena Zvezda – RK Partizan
Venue: Ada Ciganlija
Date: 20.11.2022 .
Kickoff: 13:30h
Referee: Nemanja Babić
Asistant referee: Vladimir Radulović
Assistant referee: Marko Žeravica
Match comessionnaire: Stevan Ilijašević
Doctor: Maja Veselinović
Expected weather forecast: Rain, 8C
Live: sportuživo
4. Working close to the double crown
Rad is definitely a big favorite in the match against Vojvodina. He plays on his home ground. They are currently in great shape, two weeks ago they won the Serbian Championship and now all their attention is focused on the Cup. A lot of players went through the representative cycle of both the senior and junior national teams. So they welcome the game ready with a good atmosphere.
During the year, several young players jumped out and stood out in Rad team. Here, above all, I was thinking of Relja Pećanac, who in the last year and a half has reached the level of a standard representative of Serbia. Let’s not talk about Alen Ćosović, who is in great shape during the same period. When we look only at Rad’s scrum, we have in addition to the super experienced Predrag Vraneš, Vladimir Đukić, Stevan Nikolic, Uroš Jončić, Marko Ristic and players who are slowly entering their best years like Vojin Karanović, Milan Trujkić and others. When we add to that the young people from the first part of the article, we arrive at a serious team.
The situation is not different in the line either. Rad has several players who are standard national team players such as Nikola Stanković, Nemanja Stošić, Miladin Živanov. We must not forget Srđan Božić, who plays at a high level. We are not sure what the Građevinari line will look like and how many players have managed to recover from injuries. We assume that Uoš Babić has completed the season and that we will not see him until spring. In any case, whatever line-up comes out will be quite strong and effective. With a double crown, Rad would certainly crown an excellent season. That is, if we also count the title in rugby 7, it would technically be a triple crown. However, two obstacles separate them from the trophy.
5. Vojvodina can surprise
The Novi Sad players certainly have quality in their ranks and can make a pretty good result with a good game. In their ranks, they have two representatives of Serbia and one representative of Montenegro. Let us remind you that until this season, Vojvodina was a player in the A League for many years, where it was one of the most consistent teams. They even managed to beat Red Star at one point.
In addition to Rajko Janković and Dušan Jocić, who are standard representatives of the Serbian national team, as we have already said, we also have Aljoša Marinković, who represents Montenegro. Apart from them, there are also the Janićijević brothers in the front line. The team is also filled with young guys who arrived in Pannonia from Ruma. There are also the more experienced Marko Novosel and Milan Milićević, who are experiencing a second youth or the beginning of a midlife crisis, we are not quite sure.
From reinforcements for the Serbian Cup, they got five players from Kruševac. We already wrote about the three at the beginning of the text, while Stefan Aksentijević and Bogdan Mihajlović will be reinforcements with a lot of experience. We can expect a very tight game. In particular, he will look for an opportunity in the line where Luka Rakita, who entered his best years for rugby, will be especially dangerous. We must not leave out either Vukašin Vuković or Peđa Banić. When Vojvodina is complete, it can perform a really serious composition.
Of all the teams, the Novi Sad team realistically has the least chance of winning the Serbian Cup. But here one game decides. Or two, and surprises are possible and do happen.
Match information
1/2 final RK Rad – RK Vojvodina
Venue King Peter I stadion
Date: 20.11.2022 .
Kickoff: 13:00h
Referee: Mihailo Marjanović
Asistant referee: Relja Bulajić
Assistant referee: Marija Stojsic
Match comessaionnaire: Goran Vuković
Doctor: Enes Isaki
Expected weather forecast: Rain, 8C
Live: sportuživo
