Test match
The European Rugby Federation made a decision to create an U18 camp where the teams of Croatia, Bulgaria and Serbia would participate. The camp was realized in Zagreb last spring. At the end of the camp, a mini-tournament was held, where the Eagles won against both opponents. It was then agreed that these three teams will play each other until the end of the year. All matches are friendly and it is a matter of prestige who will win.
To remind you, we played a match against Bulgaria and won with a convincing score of 51-8. The European Rugby Federation believes that it is a great obligation and pressure for the Federations to perform at the European Championship in the format it was before at all costs. When we say pressure, we mean both financial and much more realistic pressure, which is the number of clubs and players in those categories. Let’s take the example of these three representations. In none of them do you have a U18 junior league with 4-5 clubs, where they would have matches every other weekend. The strength of the national team comes down to who has the better generation and the better players in the current years. No one has a wide selection where you really have a lot of choices, if you have 30-35 players from which you can select 23, you can consider yourself lucky. And this is the situation here in Serbia for the last 15-20 years.
To be honest, even Romania, which is a rugby superpower, whose national team is a participant in the World Cup, does not have a large selection of U18s. For example, they lost to Spain at the European Championship with a score of 102-0. But let’s go back to our situation. Here, the situation is such that the coaching staff had to choose between 30-35 players in the junior competition. Which we can consider as one of the better generations. For several years now, the competition has been played in the rugby 7s format, for the simple reason that there are not enough players per club to push through the season in the 15 a side rugby format. The good thing is that as many as five of our teams participate in the Serbian Championship for U18 juniors, namely RK Rad, RK Dinamo 1954, RK Kruševac, BRK Crvena Zvezda and RK Borac Starčevo.
Who has the right to perform at the match?
Players born in 2004 . and 2005. have the right to play in this match. Although players who were born in 2006 played for the Bulgarians and the Croats, the position of our professional staff is that players of the above-mentioned ages have the right to start the match. The vast majority of our players have been trained since the U12 level, so they have a lot of playing experience because they have been in the junior competition system for several seasons.
Match information
Sity, State: Zagreb, Croatia
Venue: Rudeš ground
Date: 23.10.2022. .
Kickoff: 14:00h
Weather: Cloud and dry, 19C
How to watch the game?
You will be able to watch the game live. A live broadcast will be streamed on the Facebook profile of Aleksandar Nedeljković Čobi. To watch the game, follow him just in case and wait for the stream to start. As for the official broadcast, we currently have no information if there will be one. But be sure that the stream will be of exceptional quality.
What is the Croatian U18s national team like?
Very solid and strong above all. Their defense is at a high level. They do not have a complex game system, but they are very precise and accurate to follow the coach’s ideas on the field. They base their game on strong ball carriers in the scrum, as well as strong contacts in central positions. Their wings and fullback are fast, but they didn’t have too many opportunities to show what they can do. Of course, we perform this analysis on the basis of recordings from matches that took place during the camp in Zagreb.
The core of the team consists of players from Nada from Split and Sinj, which are the two best teams in Croatia this year. Just a week ago, they played a rugby 7 tournament where Nada and Sinj were far ahead of Mladost and Zagreb. Sinj and Nada played a draw 24-24. In the end, Nada triumphed because she had a better point difference than Sinj. Knowing the rugby schools of Split and Sinjan, we can expect a tough and uncertain game. Let’s remind you that we won in Zagreb in a shortened match with a score of 7-5.
How good is Serbian national team?
Excellent for our taste. We have a very high quality generation that has already secured a place in senior rugby. As we have already said, our team consists of players from 5 domestic clubs. 6 clubs compete in our domestic competition, RK Čelik is a guest at all tournaments of younger categories. And we can freely say that anyone can beat anyone. The tournament is very uncertain and interesting. In such an environment, the pearls of Serbian rugby are honed. Someone once told us that our junior categories are not that good and quality. They are not qualified to win the 6 Nations Cup, but to be equal with their peers in the surrounding countries, they are very capable.
We can expect a fast game from Serbia with a slightly more complex game system. We have a very high-quality line and scrum, which can answer the challenges that the coaching staff sets before them. Since we have been playing rugby sevens for years, fitness is not a problem for us. We can experience the problem in statics, because the first and second lines did not have the opportunity to practice in the domestic competition. So expect fast phases and aggressive attacking play.
As for the defense, we believe that we will be extremely aggressive and strong in contact. We have no doubts about that. We have very good strikers who play collective defense, where two players each are able to put strong pressure on the opposing ball carrier. In the match played in Zagreb, the Croats were a bit surprised by our defensive game, where they didn’t have too many opportunities to score goals.
How Serbia should play
First of all, we need to play patiently and collectively. To create carefully, we build the game and play in the system outlined by the coaching staff. We must beware of a chaotic game, where everyone wants to give an essay, so there is also a grab for the ball. It’s a game at the level of the Roosters, and it’s Group B, and it shouldn’t happen to serious and trained rugby players. Everyone does their job, and we’ll be on the right track.
The U18s are disciplined and don’t commit a lot of fouls outside of rugby. Which is very important because discipline wins games. When the opponent receives a penalty, we immediately retreat ten meters away, there is no commenting on decisions, whining about missed opportunities and blaming the referees and opposing players. Rugby is a team contact game where those who are focused, smart and disciplined win.
Serbia squad
First of all, we must point out that several players are missing who would certainly make this national team even stronger. First of all, we are thinking of Milan Kuzmanović, who suffered a hand injury and whom we will not have the opportunity to see in this half-season. Then there is also Igor Švraka, a scrum player who is one of the pillars of the game both in the club and in the national team. And we don’t have Nemanja Milenkovic, who would be excellent in the first line and who is suffering from a shoulder injury for almost the whole of 2022 .
The players who traveled to Zagreb are extremely motivated and of high quality, so we expect a good game from them. the team also includes Uroš Pucar, a product of the Stade France academy, who is making his debut for the Serbian national team.
Squad:
- Matija Mladenović – 2005 – RK Kruševac
- Dušan Jovanović – 2005 – RK Rad
- Boris Milojković – 2004 – RK Rad
- Lazar Aleksić – 2004 – RK Dinamo 1954
- Uroš Jevđenijević – 2004 – RK Rad
- Vukašin Vasić – 2004 – RK Dinamo 1954
- Uroš Pucar – 2004 – Stade France (France)
- Danijel Stojanović – 2004 – RK Rad
- Momčilo Kralj – 2004 – BRK Crvena Zvezda
- Strahinja Adžić – 2004 – RK Dinamo 1954
- Aleksa Jovanović -2004- RK Kruševac
- Nemanja Lazić – 2004 – RK Kruševac
- Dragan Kokanović – 2005 – BRK Crvena Zvezda
- Matija Pelva – 2005 – RK Rad
- Marko Košpić – 2004 – RK Dinamo 1954
- Vuk Krivokuća – 2004 – RK Dinamo 1954
- Vladimir Brošćanac – 2004 – RK Borac Starčevo
- Nikola Pumpalović – 2005 – BRK Crvena Zvezda
- Veljko Mitić – 2004 – RK Kruševac
- Vasilije Gerdić – 2005 – RK Borac Starčevo
- Mihajlo Samardžić – 2004 – RK Rad
- Jovan Radovanović – 2005 – RK Borac Starčevo
- Ognjen Voštić – 2005- RK Dinamo 1954
Good luck Eagles!
