Rugby is a collective sport that perhaps values individuals the most, where everyone is a specialist in their own position. The same is the case after the end of your playing career, when you get involved in the work of a club or association as a coach, as a sports worker, as a volunteer or perhaps as an official at a match. Radivoje Ćosić is a perfect example of what a man whose blood runs through rugby looks like. A man who spent a significant part of his life with his favorite sport, which for him is more than a sport, which is the case for all of us rugby fanatics.
That’s why we think it’s amazing when you have a man in your environment who lives rugby, which is part of his everyday life. Thanks to Radivoj and other rugby players from Starčevo, a veteran section was first established, and later a club was formed that works with younger categories. All that energy has led to the fact that in Starčevo you have a club that has its own field and that has even won three Serbian Championship titles in the last 5-6 seasons in the younger categories. As Artistotel used to say, job satisfaction creates perfection in work. Everything that Radivoje, together with the other members of the club, is doing for rugby in Serbia and Starčevo is a huge thing. Because of all the above, we are extremely glad that Radivoje took the time to answer our questions.
Rugby.rs: When did you start playing rugby? What attracted you to rugby?
Radivoje Ćosić: Like most children at that time, I started playing football. However, the day after the football match, a junior match was played between Borac and Partizan in Starčevo. A guy who was 5-6 years older than me played for Borac, who annoyed me, and in that match they broke his head, which I really liked. Seeing the smile on my face, Jovan Stavrov, the first team player of Borca, approached me and asked if I like this sport, I said yes, and he came to training on Monday, and that’s how the love for rugby was born.
Rugby.rs: What was your first training session like?
Radivoje Ćosić: The first training session was total chaos. All the greats, all know something, and I feel like I fell from Mars. The then coach of Borca was Milivoje Pejić Pićok, who told me that he could teach me anything if I had the heart and will. Turns out I have.
Rugby.rs: You are the first man in the history of rugby who first played a game for the seniors and then for the U14s?
Radivoje Ćosić: Yes, you are right. It was played in Zenica, against Rudar. Due to the large number of injured players, Borac started the trip with 16 players and myself. At the end of the first half, another Borac player was injured, so I was left alone on the bench. About ten minutes before the end of the match, another injury occurred and the coach spoke to me at that moment and brought me into the game. At the tajac stadium, everyone watches in disbelief as a 13-year-old boy enters the game. They let me go a little, but not to score an try. In the end, Borac lost, but I was praised for having heart and being brave. I met some of those players at the celebration of 50 years of Čelik from Zenica, where they teased me as I grew up with their recognizable Bosnian humor.
Then Borac closed, all the players moved to Dinamo from Pancevo, and I returned from seniors to my age category, i.e. U14s. I think it is a precedent not only in our, but also in world rugby.
Rugby.rs: After Borac went out of business, you moved to Dinamo from Pancevo, where you played for the younger categories. How strong was Dinamo in those years?
Radivoje Ćosić: Dinamo had enviable results in the younger categories in those years. There were quite a few of us in various representative selections.
Rugby.rs: How much did Starčevci leave a mark on Dinamo during those years?
Radivoje Ćosić: The players from Starčevo left quite a mark. As many as three players, including me, were Dinamo captains.
Rugby.rs: Everyone had their game of life in the younger categories, what was yours?
Radivoje Ćosić: I don’t know exactly, I like them all, it’s like asking a parent which child he likes more. However, I must mention the first match in Romania, against Timisoara, with whom we played a draw.
Rugby.rs: You did your junior rugby days while there were sanctions, but you played friendly matches. Can you tell us more about that?
Radivoje Ćosić: As for the juniors, those were really thin branches of our rugby. We played a couple of friendly matches against Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.
Rugby.rs: How competitive were Dinamo's seniors in those years in domestic rugby?
Radivoje Ćosić: At the moment when I entered the seniors, there was a change of generations. The champion generation was leaving and we came, some new kids, got relegated and quickly returned to the first league.
Rugby.rs: Which match will be forever etched in your memory in senior rugby?
Radivoje Ćosić: Definitely the game in Novi Sad that we played against the Irish policemen, which we lost, but we learned a lot about what is on the field and what you won’t read in textbooks.
Rugby.rs: Now, back in 2009 you started the veteran section of Borca. How important is the inclusion of veterans in rugby?
Radivoje Ćosić: Yes, back in 2009 it was first game against veteran Dinamo. Otherwise, the best rugby is played by veterans. They represent an important link in our club because they help physically, with advice and materially.
Rugby.rs: They have been organizing a veteran tournament in Starčevo for many years. How important is that event for rugby in Starčevo?
Radivoje Ćosić: The veterans’ tournament in Starčevo is very important for our club, as well as for our place, because it is a promotion of rugby where everyone from 5 to 105 years old comes and someone new or someone falls in love with the egg ball all over again. After the tournament, someone new always comes to training, which is very important to us, because Starčevo is a place with 10,000 inhabitants and every new member of the club is very important to us.
Rugby.rs: You are also active on away games. Which veteran tournament will you always remember?
Radivoje Ćosić: Everyone has fond memories, but Zenica is close to my heart.
Rugby.rs: You founded RK Borac Starčevo in 2016 year, and you started in 2017 with competition. How big was the reactivation of Borac at the rugby auditorium in Starčevo and Pančevo?
Radivoje Ćosić: We came up with the idea to form a club after we went to Timisoara to watch a game in the Challenge Cup, where the host team played against an English team. At halftime, the teachers came out with about a hundred children, who were there to give a rugby presentation. Radivoj Tasković Tale, Igor Tomašić Cipi, Aca Kontić Piroćanac and I looked at each other and said this is great, let’s try it. And it worked. Over the past few years, about a hundred children have gone through our rugby school, and those children have won a handful of medals and cups, some in Serbia and some abroad. Eight of them played for the junior national team of Serbia. One girl plays for the senior national team, which is also the only female referee in Serbia.
And as soon as there is success, there are rewards. You yourself know that nothing is accepted as success in our country. Also, the motorcycle club is well received in South Banat. One more child on the field, one less on the street.
Rugby.rs: What success of RK Borac from Starčevo are you particularly proud of?
Radivoje Ćosić: We are most proud of the three titles of the Champions of Serbia in the younger categories. It all started in 2018 when we won the Serbian Championship for U12s. A year later, we were the best in the U16s competition. While we are in 2020 celebrated in the U14s.
Rugby.rs: You are one of the few clubs in Serbia that can boast of a very good infrastructure. You have a pitch with fixed posts. What are your infrastructure plans for the future?
Radivoje Ćosić: Yes, we are the only club in Serbia that has its own field dedicated exclusively to rugby. We are very active in the works on and around the field, almost every day. We have fenced off the field on three sides, there is one more side left to complete the gate. At the moment, work is being done on installing the reflectors, so far the whole project is at approximately 40%. We need reflectors for training, since children from other places in the territory of the city of Pancevo also train in Borac, and because of their school obligations, they cannot make it to training.
By the way, FK Borac comes out to meet us a lot, because they provide us with dressing rooms and other facilities, necessary for the functioning of the club. As for further plans regarding the infrastructure, the plan is to complete the remaining side of the fence, to create a watering system for the field, to complete the lighting project and to build a grandstand with changing rooms.
And let me mention that the Serbian national team was hosted in Starčevo 4 times and everyone was delighted with the organization and conditions for the game, and especially with the response of the audience. We also organized a couple of Serbian Cup finals. The people of Starčevo love rugby and our dream is to become the rugby center of Serbia. We also have a name for that stadium, just so that someone recognizes it besides the Rugby Union of Serbia and Vojvodina and our local community.
Rugby.rs: You participated as a coach in the work of national selections in younger categories, how much does that experience mean to you in further coaching work?
Radivoje Ćosić: Every match is a great experience, and working for the national team is an honor. And that’s where the coach is happiest when no one gets hurt and the results come by themselves.
Rugby.rs: You were at the Rugby World Cup, tell us who you supported and what were your impressions?
Radivoje Ćosić: We were in Marseille for two ¼ final games, Wales against Argentina and Fiji against England. The experience cannot be described in words, it has to be experienced, especially when you walk around Marseille with our flag and every second or third person stops and says Džokovič! Djokovic sounds better to me, but the fans of these selections know us well. My favorites were New Zealand and Ireland, but unfortunately the schedule was not good and these two teams found themselves in the ¼ finals.
Otherwise, it is fascinating that there is more garbage left at the half-time matches of our clubs than where there are 70-80 thousand people.
Which players from the World Cup left the biggest impression on you?
Radivoje Ćosić: South Africa Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk is a beast. I was especially impressed by the England captain Owen Farrell, who was thrown phones on the field by the fans, and he neatly picked up each one and took a selfie, returned it and so on for 45 minutes. With all due respect.
Rugby.rs: What do you like to do in your free time, what are your hobbies?
Radivoje Ćosić: I don’t have too much free time, mostly everything comes down to rugby and rugby and the club. However, when I grab a few free moments, I go on the Danube, on a raft, otherwise it’s heaven for the soul. My hobby is collecting beer mugs, labels, as well as notaphilia, i.e. collecting old paper money.
Rugby.rs: What do you have to say to young rugby players in Serbia?
Radivoje Ćosić: Rugby is not a sport, it is a way of life that consists of 6 things: blood, tears, sweat, order, work and discipline. When you figure that out, you’re a champion!
