Maybe this season we won’t have the opportunity to see the start of the Serbian Championship, we will wait until September for it, but we will have a lot of activities and competitions to see off. What is definitely the main thing for all rugby fans in Serbia is that the national team will finally play a game on home ground after a long time. The European Championship in Rugby 7 awaits us as part of Conference 1, which will be held in Belgrade. The U18s will also compete in the European Rugby 7s Championship in Poland. We must not forget the domestic competitions, which will be played both in the senior competition and in the younger categories.
The Serbian national team welcomes Turkey and visits Bulgaria
Тhe national team of Serbia will play the match at home. More precisely, 13th of April, Starčevo will host Turkey. It is interesting that last year we played only two matches, both away. We are not sure that any other national team that constantly participates in competitions has had such a case.
We have never lost to Turkey in XV-a-side match. We recorded three victories. We were better twice at home, and almost two years ago in Trabzon we were better away as well. The Turks are individually of exceptional quality, yet their game system is quite archaic without a clear structure. Maybe that is also the reason for the recent bad results. However, it is a matter of time when they bring in a coach who will set up a good game system, when that happens, we think Turkey will be a team to respect.
A week after Turkey, we play away in Sofia against Bulgaria. An old connoisseur and we would say a big debtor, because we are currently on a three-game losing streak against them. We experienced the last defeat away from home in 2021 when we lost 14-11. Which was quite a surprise because we weren’t complete, but we managed to put together a team that had a clear goal and a clear vision. The romantic story almost got a happy ending.
We will see how our national team will look like. We have more than enough time to prepare and form a strong squad that will be competitive with the very good Bulgaria. A big problem will be that this spring there will be no competition in the Serbian Championship, so the local players will not have the experience of playing XV-a-side rugby. The Cup of Regions is scheduled for the weekend before the match with Turkey, which will be a preparatory match before the official competition.
Our chances of going further are minimal, even mathematically speaking. But they exist. The match in Moldova cost us dearly, which we easily lost and significantly reduced our chances of winning the group. We need to concentrate on our matches, and if an opportunity arises, of course we will use it.
Conference 1 in Belgrade
Belgrade will host the European Championship in the Olympic discipline of rugby 7 this year as part of Conference 1 in men’s and women’s competition. The tournament is sheduled on 8. June 8 and 9 and should be held like every year at the Kralj Petar the first stadium. It will be very interesting to see how the Serbian national team, which almost avoided being relegated to the lower ranks of the competition last year, will manage. We hope to do much better this year.
"10-ka.rs" is relevant again
Rugby 10-a-side tournaments have always been very attractive and interesting to watch. In this half-season, there will be no competition in the Serbian Championship in A and B groups, due to the transition to the autumn-spring season from 1st of September. Another reason is the bad situation in senior rugby, so this way the clubs are given space to recover the senior squads and to adequately prepare for the start of the Championship.
A total of 4 rugby 10-a-side tournaments are planned for this spring. The team with the most points will win the entire series. We will cover the entire competition and all events on our website. We have set aside a separate section for that, which you can view via this link.
This spring, there is no Serbian Rugby XV-a-side Championship
There is no Rugby XV-a-side competition this half season. Which is expected when we look at how the previous season ended. However, clubs have been given a “grace period” to recover through the Rugby 10-a-side competition and for the Rugby XV-a-side competition to start again in the autumn. If the competition were to start now, the big question is how many teams would sign up, that is, if anyone would sign up. We will see what the picture will be in the fall and how much the team will manage to regenerate.
Regions Cup
The Cup of Regions should be a warm-up match for the home rugby XV-a-side players, before the start of the matches in Conference group C. The question is how long this idea will take root because we failed to realize it even when the situation in senior rugby was more stable. Perhaps it would have been better if the match had been played against Montenegro or Bosnia and Herzegovina. But be that as it may, every training game is good before the matches of the national teams.
Serbian Rugby 7s Championship
Unlike last year, when there were three tournaments on the program, this year two will be held. Both tournaments will be held before the start of the European Rugby 7 Championship, we assume as part of the players’ preparation for the national team. The team that collects the most points after two tournaments will be the champion of Serbia in 7s rugby.
U18s 7s again in Zabka
The U18s juniors will perform again in Poland’s Zabka, near Warsaw, at the European Rugby 7s Championship. last year бабѕ Еаглес took 11th place, but that didn’t reflect the game on the field. Our теам was the youngest team in the competition, which did not have much international experience. This year, a more experienced team will perform, which will certainly leave better impressions and achieve a better result. We are convinced of that. The tournament is sheduled on 13. 13th and 14th od july, which is pretty much deep in the summer.
U18s Serbian Cup
A total of 4 tournaments are planned. The only change that can happen is the number of teams. In the past, the competition, where 4-5 domestic teams could participate, will now decrease to 3-4 teams. It was not a classic team application, so we have no information on who would have applied. Rad and Dinamo have stable teams. Kruševac, Borac from Starčevo and BRK Crvena Zvezda, unlike previous seasons, will hardly be able to complete the teams for the tournament. A positive surprise is the RK Loznica team, which can easily form a junior team. Let us remind you that a few years ago the people of Loznica had U16s cadets and U14s pioneers who regularly competed. Also RK Čelik from Zenica participates, as in previous years, in the competition of all youth categories.
U16 Serbian Cup
Compared to the Serbian Championship that took place last fall when three tournaments were played, the Serbian Cup will feature one more. The team that wins the most points after the tournament will win the Serbian Cup. Since there were no team entries, we assume that all domestic teams that have qualified for the Championship will take part. We mean Rad, Dinamo and Dorćol. Teams that have the potential to form teams are BRK Crvena Zvezda and Kruševac. Čelik from Zenica will participate out of competition, as it does every year.
U14s Serbian Cup
The competition that last fall was the most promising and the one that disappointed us the most. In total, believe it or not, 8 teams participated in the competition. Only one team finished the competition by participating in all 3 tournaments, and that is BRK Crvena Zvezda, which won the title of the Champions of Serbia. One tournament was cancelled, so it was repeated. Dinamo took part in one tournament, and won that tournament. The Rad team, which was the favorite, did not have enough players to play in the last tournament. Somehow we have the impression that this is a generation that is quite promising and that needs matches and tournaments to progress as much as possible. Also Čelik was exceptional at this age. We can’t imagine what it would be like if these teams played games instead of tournaments. It would explode in all directions.
Torpedo Mlava is a level below these teams, but they started to catch up from tournament to tournament. Immediately behind are Borac from Starčevo, Dorćol and Žarkovo. Matches between these teams are always interesting because they are uncertain, and we believe that the players train for these matches, unlike matches against stronger teams where the difference is huge.
U14s Pioneer competition is always interesting before the start of each half-season. It is especially interesting how all the teams will look. Who did good presentations over the winter and attracted new kids to rugby. How far the existing players have progressed and how much they have grown after all.
U12s Serbian Cup
Last half-season, a total of 6 teams competed in the rooster competition. All 6 teams participated in all three tournaments. Incredible constancy, which is simply surprising for our concepts. U12s Petlići absolutely lived up to expectations. And we can’t wait to see them on the field this spring. A total of 4 tournaments are planned. As with other age categories, the team that collects the most points at the end of the season wins the Serbian Cup.
Dorćol won the title of Serbian Champion last fall. Čelik from Zenica was first in the standings with 3 wins in three tournaments, but they performed out of competition. Dorćolci were just behind and deservedly the best U12s team in Serbia. Žarkovo, RAS Smederevo, Rad and Borac were evenly matched in the tournaments, which is what the table shows after all.
Memorial "Luka Marin"
RK Vojvodina has traditionally held the “Luka Marin” Memorial Tournament for many years. This will be the third year that the beach rugby tournament has been held. A true refreshment for Serbian rugby, which for years lacked a competition where the primary fun and playing of rugby is more than the result itself. The tournament is scheduled for Saturday the 25th of May on the beach volleyball courts located on Strand in Novi Sad. The Orkus cafe is close by, where you can make a base, because the field is 15 meters away, and in Orkus you can knock and enjoy refreshing drinks to your heart’s content. The ideal thing is to plan to spend the weekend in Novi Sad, spend one day playing rugby, one evening going out and the next day you have enough time to see and enjoy one of the most beautiful cities in the Balkans.
3 takeaways
A calendar aimed at rehabilitating the teams
The season has reverted to an autumn/spring format, which will give clubs plenty of time to rebuild their squads. For the players to recover from injuries and for everyone to adequately prepare for the fall. This makes sense if there is a plan to revitalize the squads by club. If nothing is done but the situation is left to recover by itself, then we are not on the right track.
We believe that this is a good decision, that it is in place and that we must try to get the most out of the given situation.
Tournaments are played, not matches
For the first time in all official competitions, only the tournament is played. No matches are played anywhere. Rugby is a sport where matches are played. Games are needed both in senior rugby and in youth rugby, where we have not played them for many years now. We believe that it is a big loss for all teams and players, because after all, in matches, players have much more time to show what they know and can do.
There are no Finals
It is always a minus for us, when there are no final games or tournaments at the end of the competition. Rugby is a sport where finals are played. There is no country in the world except Serbia, where the playoff final in the senior competition is not played. It is especially important for the younger categories, because there is no greater excitement when you are preparing for a decision match. The essence of sport is physical activity. But the feeling when you prepare and play a grand final is unrepeatable at any level. Then all the attention is focused on you, family and friends come to watch you, the talk is about rugby. Which, you will agree, is better than when after 3rd tournament, you win the competition, so you don’t even have to show up for the fourth one.
