National team on a winning streak
We’ve probably already bored everyone with the winning streak of the Serbian team, but what can we do, throughout history it hasn’t often happened that we have big winning streaks, and we want to enjoy it. We are quite sure that we are on the right track and that good results and interesting matches await us. In total, we tied five victories in a row, where we finished last year undefeated, which is very interesting data.
We can say that it all started with the reactivation of national competitions after the break due to the Covid-19 virus. Then the Rugby Europe decided not to continue the competitions, but to start all over again. The good thing for us was that we did not interrupt activities during the Corona in domestic competitions, so our players were active in training as well.
Before the start of the season, Mišel Milović was placed at the head of the coaching staff, which gave additional motivation for the national team to prepare as well as possible. At the right moment came a coach who likes a solid game in defense and forces a fast and high level of play in attack. We played the first match in Sofia against the favored Bulgarians. A huge job was done in consolidating the national team, where we played an excellent and solid game where we were defeated very narrowly 14-11 in the end. We can say that in that match we showed that we can play at a high level, which will be shown in the following period, because since then we have beaten Turkey twice, Andorra once, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Someone might say that it is not very difficult to beat these national teams and that our group does not play a high level of rugby. Maybe they are right, but we have to say that we haven’t really celebrated against these teams in the past either. We’ve always had problems with Andorra, and to tell you the truth, we don’t remember the last time we beat them. In fact, we remember, it was in Smederevo on December 6, 2008. when we celebrated with a score of 32-7. As far as Bosnia and Herzegovina is concerned, until last year we did not even beat it in history if we are talking about official European competitions. Admittedly, we didn’t play often, but here we have two defeats and one victory. As for Turkey and Montenegro, they will only improve and it is a matter of time when they will completely catch up with the leading teams in our group.
A win or a draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina for first place in the group.
If you have recovered from the shock that we never in history until last year did not beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in official competitions, we would like to continue with the article. There is not a lot of calculation here, the match between us and BiH will decide who will be the first at the end of the competition. Whoever wins the group at the end of this year will not advance to the group above. Rugby Europe has decided to lock the groups for two years, that is, there is no promotion or relegation from the group. However, Rugby Europe constantly changing the rules and systems of the competition, so you never know what can happen with them. After all, we will wait and see what will happen.
In the first two matches, Serbia achieved two victories with two bonus points. Bosnia and Herzegovina also celebrated, but without winning bonus points. Both national teams defeated Turkey and Montenegro. We were convincing against Montenegro 62-0, while the match against Turkey was more uncertain, but in the end we won 23-6. Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Turkey 25-13, and Montenegro in an uncertain ending 20-18. An interesting fact is that Serbia did not receive a single essay in the previous part of the competition, which is just proof of how strong the players’ defense is.
The calculation is more than clear. If we win or draw, we win the group, if we lose, Bosnia and Herzegovina will finish in first place. Those two scenarios are the only possible ones and everything will depend on the outcome of this match. As a reminder, the match will be played in Zenica on the 29th. of April, starting at 2:00 p.m. The stadium where the game will be played is Kamberovića Polje, where rugby has been played for many years.
How is Bosnia and Herzegovina playing? What kind of team can we expect to run in Zenica?
We can definitely expect an ever stronger Bosnia and Herzegovina team. For sure, they will not want it to happen to them that they suffer a defeat against us two years in a row, and that on their home field. That is exactly why the team will most likely have a lot of players who play abroad. Even if they don’t get any players from abroad, Bosnia and Herzegovina can field a solidly strong team made up of RK Celik players. All the players who have emerged in the Zenica rugby giant are trained players with extensive experience playing in younger categories.
However, players who play in strong leagues, primarily French and Italian clubs, make a big difference. We are referring to Miralem Lekić who plays for the Lyons from Piacenza who play in the TOP 10 league, which is the highest level in Italy. Then we have Baptist Gufurović who plays in the Federal 1 competition for Beauvais. Joey Hus performing in the US Montmélian Federal 2 team. If we add to the scrum the experienced Stanković and Haris Oruč, who is very well known in these areas, we get a very serious scrum, which can perform in the Trofej group without major problems with success.
It was the scrum game that was the mainstay of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the matches in Conference 2 South. Statics that are at an excellent level. Against us, they had the upper hand in the scrum, where they won several penalties. They perform the outing at the highest level, from which they very often form a mole from which the cancer develops towards the line, where the center is employed with a fast ball that uses a fast game and breaks through the defense line.
In open play, they use mobile and penetrating scrum players, who attack space by running at angles, making it difficult for the defensive player to tackle. When combined with the quick passing game of demi and the pick eng go game, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s scrum can be very tricky for any defense. Very often there is a mismatch in the attack, so you will have, for example, a very penetrating third line player like Lekic who has a line player opposite him. Now imagine Lekić playing TOP 10 in Italy, getting the ball in a full run and in front of him there is a lineman who plays in the Serbian Championship.
How to play against Bosnia and Herzegovina?
First of all, the scrum should be stabilized. We must not allow ourselves to be pushed like last time. The ball must be secure and we must maintain our balance or even take the initiative in pushing. Without a strong static scrum, we have nothing to look for even at the Conference 2 level. For that to happen, all six players in the first line must be extremely fit. And that should be thought about now, in the preseason. We cannot prepare players two weeks before the start of the competition, after all, we do not deal with alchemy but with sports.
Milović’s specialty is definitely the lineout, from which the game system is further developed. When you have the flow of the ball from the lineout and the scrum, you can execute the game plan. If you have a dominant lineout, like we had in the previous game, then we can secure a big advantage for our team. In addition to having a very good out, we especially stood out in the defensive out, where we created big problems for the opponents, we had a large number of stolen lineouts, and when the opponent managed to win their lineout, we put pressure where the ball was unsafe for them.
The main factor will definitely be aggressiveness and discipline in defense. Defensive pressure always gives you confidence that you can get out of an unfavorable situation and go on the offensive. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the most vulnerable in the game in the air, where by pressing our fast players after tactical shots we can achieve a big advantage. In the last match, we were extremely aggressive in the defensive ruck, which brought us quite a number of won balls and penalties for us. And when we won the ball, we were very lethal on the counter.
The high tempo game in the game plan made a huge difference. First of all, because the opponent could not sustain the set pace. In the moments when we were extremely fast, when we played in the system and when we dictated the tempo, we made the opposing players have to follow us. This resulted in their scrum players getting tired and unable to express themselves in statics, at least as far as the first part of the match is concerned. When the players are at a high level in the game with and without the ball, when the support is timely, the opponent has nothing to ask against us.
Also, we think that a long bench will be extremely important. Because when the game is of high intensity, fresh players from the bench who can play at the same level as the starters come to the fore. The national team is as strong as all 23 players together. There is no great philosophy here. Finishers must be extremely fit and focused to finish the match. Let’s just remember the match in Zenica last year when the hosts were in the 63rd minute reduced the score to 23-19. Then Milović introduced fresh players who made the difference, thanks to which we had a peaceful end to the match.
A sure and accurate shooter can really make a serious difference, especially in uncertain matches where every point is worth its weight in gold. We have several players who can grow into very good shooters and we need to work on making that happen.
How much influence can our young players have on the game of the Serbian national team?
We think that young players under the age of 23 will have a huge impact both in the training process and in the match itself. That is, those that the coach Milović chooses. And we certainly have very high-quality young players, both in Serbia and abroad. Let’s just take the example of Damien Božić (2002) who plays for RC Suresnes plays locks and third line positions. Two weekends ago, he made his debut in the National 1 competition, which is the third strongest competition in France. He started in all four games he played for Serbia and will definitely be one of the main players in the future. Nikola Stanković (2000) has been a member of the Serbian national team for a long time, so it is a bit strange that we mention him as a young player because we remember that he has been there for ten years. Nikola is a member of the RK Rada and can cover the positions of flyhalf and center. Among the standard starters, we also have Relja Pećanca (2001), who in the past year and a half has been a true revelation in the position of the second line. Relja made incredible progress and became a mainstay of both the RK Rad and the national team.
Nemanja Stošić (2002) has already played several matches for Serbia. Although there is a lot of competition in the center position, he managed to impose himself on the coach Milović. The young prospect of Dinamo from Pančevo, Ivan Voštić (2003), was an indispensable part of the national team in the last year and a half. Ivan covers the wing and full back positions. From the players who were in the protocol, we have Milan Trujkić (2001) from RK Rad, who covers the position of the counter, Aleksa Atanasković (2000), the counter from RK Torpedo Mlava, Petar Hinić (2000) from Dinamo, who played in the post position, Lazar Tatomir (2002 ) from RK Rad, who covered the wing position, and Stefan Simović (2001), who played for Partizan, who covered the center positions.
We expect a lot from players from the class of 2004. We have very high-quality players who should strengthen the competition and put a smile on the face of coach Milović. These players have already taken their place in the first league clubs and have the role of the game holder. Uroš Pucar, prospect of Stade France, and now a player of Masija from Paris, played for the U18 national team of Serbia. He was exceptional in the position of winger in the third line. Danijel Stojanović has already distinguished himself as one of Rad’s leading players in third line positions. Milan Kuzmanović is Dinamo’s alpha and omega, playmaker, creator of all actions, plays in the position of scrumhalf and center. Marko Košpić covers the positions of wings, defenders, and can play well in the position of scrumhalf. Nemanja Lazić, prospect from Kruševac, can cover several positions, but we think he would be extremely effective on the wing.
Here we have listed a total of 15 young players under the age of 23. There you have players who are starters, players who are standard national team members who come off the bench, there are players who were only once in the protocol and finally there are players who we think will be part of the national team in the future.
