Sometimes we imagine what our life would look like if we didn’t play rugby or if rugby wasn’t a priority in some important life decisions. Even when we make an important decision, we always think about where rugby can be there. Those who don’t play rugby, or who play rugby recreationally or on a superficial level, can’t understand it. It may sound strange, but it is true.
Everyone has their own rugby story and rugby experience that completes and enriches them throughout their lives. It is especially interesting for us to hear someone’s rugby story, especially those who marked rugby in Serbia. That’s exactly why we came up with the idea to do an interview with Bojan and hear his more than interesting rugby journey. We hope you find it interesting and enjoy reading it as much as we did while making this extremely interesting interview.
Rugby.rs: When did you start playing rugby? How did you find out about rugby?
Bojan Lukić: My first contact with rugby dates back to elementary school. At that time, “Rugby Club” Kruševac was promoting rugby in schools throughout the city. When I tried the game for the first time at school, it was a completely new experience for me, as a kid, and I have to say that it won me over right away. I think it was the summer of 1994 . At that time I was 14 years old and already had 4 years of active karate training behind me, so I didn’t have too much time for another sport.
A year later, due to a combination of life circumstances, my parents were unable to finance a seminar at seaside where I was supposed to take the title of “Karate Master”, that is, a black belt. That situation awakened in me a revolt against the sport itself, so that I literally stopped training overnight.
At the same time, my best friend at the time and now my godfather, Ivan Pelaić, also a member of the national team, had already been training in the rugby club for a year and tried to bring me to training with his stories several times. Anyone who has been involved in sports for a long time knows that it is almost impossible to break the rhythm of training overnight without leaving a big void in a person.
So, at his persuasion, I finally agreed to go to that first training session.
And here I am, some 28 years later.
Rugby.rs: What was the key impression from the initial training that made you decide to continue training?
Bojan Lukić: The people themselves left a great impression on me, both those who were active rugby athletes and others who showed love and affection for the sport in different ways. I knew that contact sport was to my taste, but I did not expect that it could get under the skin so quickly and that a person feels from the first moment as if he had never done anything else before. I have to admit that from that first training until today, apart from breaks related to injuries, I have not stopped playing.
The nineties and the beginning of the 2000s, not only for me but also for a lot of people, were not such an easy period in life. So I drew that parallel between rugby and growing up: I’ve always said that life is a lot like rugby, when you get knocked down you have to get rise up and keep going…
Rugby.rs: In which positions did you play in the younger categories?
Bojan Lukić: I started my career as a center in the U16s selection of RK Kruševac. I spent the junior selection and my first contact with the senior team as a flanker in the backline.
Rugby.rs: You have had a more than successful rugby career in Serbia, can you tell us more about that?
Bojan Lukić: For me, rugby has always been more of a way of life than just a sport. Slaviša Milenković, one of the most important people in our region, and Nebojša Totić, who shaped us as kids into what we are today, have a lot of credit for that. I have to say that generations of national team members from Kruševac grew up with their work. I cannot but mention some of them: Aleksandar Mihajlović, Danilo Bulatović, Ivan Pelaić, Dragan Bogićević, Dalibor Antic, Milan Milićević, Aleksandar Farkaš and many others.
It was important for me to dedicate myself seriously to what I do and of course to have a goal. Of course, the goal was to play for the national team in the near future, which has come true.
Rugby.rs: In Serbia, you played for RK Kruševac and RK Pobednik, what were your experiences like?
Bojan Lukić: With RK Krušavac I went through almost all selections, I think I just didn’t play for the U12s. At that time, as it is today, the center of rugby in our country was in Belgrade, where the best quality rugby was played. Kruševac was not a university town, which is why many players continued their playing careers in Belgrade. I was a student at the Mechanical college in Trstenik, so I continued to play for RK “Kruševac” until 2002 when, together with Antić Dalibor, I got an offer to play for RK “Pobednik”, today’s RK “Rad”.
RK “Pobednik” was at that time and still today as “Rad” number one, if not the best club in the country. That was my first approach, for our conditions, to professional rugby in general.
With “Pobednik” we won the title of National Champion that year. I’m not sure if we also won the Cup or were second. Having the opportunity to play with the elite also gave me the chance to progress, to develop and improve my game. That was a very important period in my career for me. It was an opportunity for me to open the door to the national team.
Rugby.rs: What will forever remain in your memory from the period of playing rugby in Serbia?
Bojan Lukić: That was a time when we went to training in bad conditions, without our field, with ragged equipment, but regardless of all those problems, we were very motivated, team-oriented and inspired by the game, and we were happy to go to those trainings. There I made friends with whom I am still in contact today. The memory binds me more to the people than to the events of that period. Of course, there were many things that remained in my memory, but I’m not sure that I could single out any of them as special.
Rugby.rs: You were a part of the Serbian U19 national team at the World Championship that was played in Switzerland when the bombing of FR Yugoslavia began, how difficult was it for our young players in such a situation?
Bojan Lukić: For us, then young people, it was a great adventure full of uncertainty. I think that each of us tried to put aside the happenings in the country, for some it was less successful and for others it was more successful. The preparations themselves were hard, there were several candidates for each position so we didn’t have much time for other things than to concentrate on the game.
One of the most difficult moments was the very beginning of the bombing. The day before, in our Embassy in Geneva, they assured us that the bombing would not happen. By the way, we were placed in an underground shelter, coincidence or not? In the night between 24th and 24. and on March 25th, most of us stayed awake. That march 25th, we played against the Tunisian national team and, although sleepless and tired, I think most of us played the game of our lives. We vented all our frustration and anger in that physical but fair match. In the end, the result was not what we wanted, but the game itself was very important for us.
I remember that they asked us to take off the symbols of the national team because it was risky, which none of us even thought of, and of course we all refused.
Likewise, our people in Switzerland offered us to stay and not return, which was also unanimously rejected. I think only two of them stayed longer, but with their relatives.
Also, the first time the air danger siren was sounded, and the first explosion, will surely remain in our memories. What was very strange to me was that something like that could become the most normal thing so quickly…
As for that selection, several of them managed to reach the senior national team. I think it was a very promising selection and it’s a shame that we didn’t manage to keep more players.
Rugby.rs: You moved to Austria, to Vienna, where you continued your career with the Vienna Celtic RFC. Tell us a little more about the rugby culture at the club, or in Austria in general?
Bojan Lukić: In general, that rugby culture is the same almost everywhere in the world. No matter where you go, after a few days it’s like you’ve never gone anywhere else. It’s like you speak a language that only rugby players understand 🙂
My club, Vienna Celtic RFC, was founded in 1978 . It was founded by a group of foreigners from Ireland and Great Britain who worked in Vienna. For many years, the base of the club was made up of foreigners and a smaller part were Austrians. Now that has changed so that now the base is made up of domestic players.
Besides Vienna, which currently has four clubs, almost all major cities have clubs. As in Serbia, there is a very big difference between the first and second leagues. So for years we played those combined leagues with clubs from Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia in order to play as many games as possible at a better level.
Great emphasis is placed on development and work with younger categories, so today we work with kids in all categories. We managed to attract the children’s parents as well, because they took over a good part of the administrative, organizational and even the field work. Some of them now play rugby recreationally, which is how we built one big family.
Rugby.rs: Can you tell us something more about the balance of power in Austrian club rugby, and how your Celtics are doing?
Bojan Lukić: Since my arrival at the club, until today, I can’t say exactly, but I think we were the vice-champions of Austria some 11-12 times, in 2019 we won the Championship and thus ended the multi-year reign of RC Donau as the club with the most trophies in the country. It is important to emphasize that the Donau grew from the Vienna Celtic RFC.
The rivalry between Celtic and Donau can be compared to Partizan and Zvezda in soccer. In addition to our two clubs, it is necessary to mention Gratz and Stade Rugby, which also reached the final of the championship. This season we continue the season as undefeated as favorites to win the title of national champion.
Rugby.rs: What is the difference between Austrian and Serbian rugby?
Bojan Lukić: The biggest difference is the large number of foreigners. The headquarters of the United Nations is located in Vienna, so a large number of very experienced players from all over the world have passed through the clubs. We had players from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Great Britain, Ireland, France. It contributed and continues to contribute to the development of rugby.
Infrastructure is also a very important factor. In recent years, several new rugby fields have been built in Vienna, two of which have artificial grass at the 4G level.
My club currently has one grass pitch and one 4G pitch. We do a lot of work with young selections. We managed to tie a good number of parents to the club through active functions.
For several years, rugby in Austria has been treated the same as other professional sports. With that, we can count on the fact that, for example, an anti-doping agency can come and test us at any moment, and the penalties are the same as for professionals.
Rugby.rs: You are a member of the Serbian national rugby team, which match did you remember and why?
Bojan Lukić: Well, I think that I remember the game with Malta in 2005 the most. They had a team that year with only two players from Malta and the rest were from Great Britain and Australia. They had one player from Australia who was a great player.
I have to say that our national team had one of the best teams from our area. I had the great honor and privilege to share the field with the greats of our rugby. I will mention only a few: Gruja, Danga, Lili, Danilo, Jerko, Mićko, Kapor, Pop, Sale Đukić…
I think there were about 5000 spectators, Malta did not expect that Serbia would be such a difficult opponent. So we managed to beat them on their court with a score of 24:13.
On the way back to Vienna, there was an article in the daily newspaper on the plane with the headline: “Powerful Serbs dent Malta’s qualification hopes”.
Rugby.rs: What is the reach of the Serbian national team in your opinion?
Bojan Lukić: I think that Serbia could be placed much better. We are a sports nation with great potential, which can be seen from other team sports in our country. In my opinion, the biggest problem is that our awareness of rugby as a sport has not yet developed, so that rugby itself is not developing and therefore remains as an amateur sport in our country.
I don’t think it’s enough to see rugby as a hobby. Many sports in our country are paid at lower levels. In order to keep young and promising players, we would have to offer them a better version where they could make money from it.
Rugby.rs: You are a player who is always maximally prepared, which proves your longevity in rugby, how important is it for a player to work on himself?
Bojan Lukić: Rugby is a very demanding sport, so it is very important to constantly work on yourself. Good physical and mental fitness are very important factors in order to reduce the risk of injuries. This means that you are much better able to concentrate on the game itself. I would compare it to RAM memory, the bigger you can do more operations at the same time. The most important fact is that by working on ourselves, we can enjoy the game much more and for longer, which is the purpose of the whole story.
Rugby.rs: What does your day look like when you train?
Bojan Lukić: The fact is that we are not professionals, when I say that I mean that we do not make a living from rugby. So I spend most of my free time on some kind of training. We currently have 2 to 3 club training sessions per week, depending on whether the game is played on the weekend or not. On the days between trainings, I usually go to the gym, although, I have to admit, I sometimes skip it, but I try to do up to five trainings a week.
I usually train large muscle groups in the gym, for example deadlifts, squats, flat bench and combine it with crossfit exercises.
As for club training practice, we train between 19:30 and 22:00. Usually, after warming up, we go into one fitness block. After that, the line and scrum are shared. In the following, team play begins and we usually end with some variant of touch rugby.
Rugby.rs: Do you plan to stay in rugby after the end of your playing career?
Bojan Lukić: I also have experience as a coach, of course there is that possibility. I try not to make long-term plans.
Rugby.rs: We wanted to ask you what you do in your spare time, so we saw that you play the drums, fly a paraglider, alpinism... is there anything you don't do?
Bojan Lukić: You’re probably right that it’s easier to list what I don’t do. I have always been attracted to adrenaline sports. I served in the army in 63rd Parashute Brigate, so I love anything to do with flying, alpinism, etc.
I started playing the drums almost at the same time I started playing rugby so for me music and sport are closely related.
I personally am interested in many things, the biggest problems are time and money.
Rugby.rs: Are you planning to go to the World Cup?
Bojan Lukić: It’s not planned but not ruled out either:-)
Rugby.rs: Who will you support at the World Cup in France in 2023 ?
Bojan Lukić: From my first contact with rugby there is only one option (of course after Serbia) and that is New Zealand.
Rugby.rs: What would you say to young players in Serbia?
Bojan Lukić: I would tell them to work hard on themselves, to play as many games as possible, because that’s the only way they gain experience. I think it’s important to constantly push your limits.
And most importantly, dream big and enjoy the game.
