This was definitely not a season to remember. Here we are primarily thinking of senior rugby, which does not have too many good things to praise. However, one should be positive, learn from experience, be entrepreneurial and find a model for overcoming difficulties. In this article, we have singled out 15 observations that left the biggest impression on us from the past half-season in domestic rugby. When we look at the bigger picture, of course the main impression would be the World Cup as the most important rugby competition in the world which is played every four years. However, we did not deal too much with events abroad in this article, we concentrated more on domestic events.
The winning streak of the Serbian national team ended
Before the match with Moldova, the Serbian national team had a streak of 6 victories. However, what is more important than anything, we have become a team with a winning mentality, that loves to compete and that wins even when it doesn’t shine on the field. Well, it’s true that we didn’t have sound opponents, although that’s not exactly the case. It’s not like we recorded a lot of wins against Bosnia and Herzegovina or Andorra. Let’s just remember when we met with Andorra back in 2019 when we fought in the playoffs for placement in a higher rank, so they destroyed us on the home field by 30 points. So we can take all those victories for granted.
Mišel Milović balanced the team’s lines, drastically accelerated the game and led to the fact that we play very beautiful and efficient rugby, where all players have their role in an open game. We can’t really boast in history that we played at such a level. It is very exciting when your national team, which has not had much success, goes on a winning streak. And these are not victories in the sense that we have a bigger scrum and that we are physically stronger, butchery rugby. Our game system is very attractive and very pleasing to the eye, where it is simply a pleasure to watch us play.
It’s far from the fact that we embarased ourselves in Moldova. But without statics you don’t have the ball, and we had big problems in the scrums and lineouts. In the end, the result was perhaps too high, although we reached in 54th minutes to 6 points behind 17-11, where we missed shots that would have even given us the lead. Our winning mentality encouraged us to compete with the Moldovans. Still, in 54th minute was the turning point of the match, when the Moldovans used their advantages and took control of the match.
We analyzed the game of Moldova, which you could read in three of our articles, here, here and here. We even wrote two months before the game where there would be problems in the game. However, we failed to be competitive. Hand on heart, our composition was quite weakened. As many as 8 players from the first line-up that played in Bosnia were not in this match, when we add the bench with reserve players we reach the number 12. Why this is so, and why we did not have the strongest team at our disposal, we need to analyze and learn lessons, so that such situations do not repeat themselves in the future.
The stagnation and crisis of senior club rugby
Rugby is not the only team sport that has a lot of problems, mostly all team sports are stagnant or in decline. And in order to understand this problem, we have to take several aspects into account. First of all, the very bad economic situation in the country where people are forced to do extra work in order to have enough means of living. Also, the negative thing is that a lot of people go to work abroad, so the clubs lose their standard first team players. When you add decades of infrastructure problems and a generally bad atmosphere, then what we have is a real treasure.
This kind of situation is not new in rugby, nor is it the worst in rugby ever, as some like to apostrophize, we have been in worse situations. If it were easy to run a rugby club in Serbia, there would be 30 clubs that have all age categories. The fact is that none of the clubs had 23 players in their squad this season, and they all had considerable problems with putting together teams. A lot of matches were postponed and handed over. Big difference in A group between Rad and other teams. In the B group of 7 planned tournaments, four were held, in the remaining three there were not enough teams to be held at all.
What is even more problematic is that the teams have stopped training. When we look at the held training sessions of the senior teams, they would come to a very problematic situation. In Group A of the Serbian Championship, everything has been known since March, so players and clubs have lost motivation to train. Matches are played to respect form, and players are further injured because they play without training.
Uninteresting and predictable competition format in the Serbian Championship
This season in senior rugby we had the scenario we were dreading. To remind, at the beginning of the season, four teams registered for the competition in the A group. A three-round robin competition system was planned, where all teams played against each other. Each team was supposed to play 9 matches. Before the start of the season, we included each club in the announcement articles. It ended up looking like we cursed them all with those announcements. Partizan very quickly lost two matches by the official score and was automatically disqualified from the league. The month of March had not yet passed and it was clear that Rad would win the title at the end of the season without any major problems. In fact, from then until the end of the season, the games were played without too much competition.
Serbia is the only country in Europe, maybe even in the world, where the playoff final is not played in the strongest club competition. In a situation like this, the playoff final would definitely bring some uncertainty at the end of the season. The players would have to train and prepare for that match. After all, when you look at the seasons of the best leagues in Europe, the finals are always covered by the media. In the end, we had the Final of the Serbian Cup, which ended with a convincing result, but we had the final, players and teams were preparing for the game. And that should be our way, and not only for seniors.
Disappearance from the scene of Serbian rugby giants Partizan and BRK Crvena Zvezda
Partizan played its last game on 20th of november last year in the ½ final of the Serbia Cup when they beat BRK Crvena Zvezda 18-7. Since then they have not played a single match in any form of rugby. BRK Crvena Zvezda also played the last match in rugby 15s in the ½ final of the cup. However, the red and whites played in the B league of the Serbian Championship, which is played in the format of rugby 10s. They performed in the spring part of the season in three tournaments, they also performed in the tournament of the Serbian Championship in Rugby 7, which took place on 21st of may this year and since then they have not recorded a single performance until now, during the entire autumn half-season.
These two clubs are the de facto foundations of Serbian rugby that have been consistent for almost 40 years, and it is a big problem for rugby if they stop competing. Partizan has not had a junior category for a long time, BRK Crvena Zvezda has and is still competing. Problems with the infrastructure are slowly taking their toll and the former giants may disappear from the rugby scene, which would be a first-class disaster for rugby in Serbia. We sincerely hope that it will not come to that and that Partizan and BRK Crvena Zvezda will manage to get back on their feet and return as important factors in the domestic competition.
A missed opportunity for promotion during the World Cup
Unfortunately, a great opportunity was missed by the entire rugby community in Serbia. The Union and the clubs have failed completely. Absolutely no marketing potential was used during the World Cup. However, it is not too late to do something about it. This winter is an ideal opportunity to invest more resources in promotional activities in schools. All World Cup matches were broadcast on Sport Club channels, and we believe that rugby was watched quite a bit. The ultimate image of its rugby glamor has been sent out into the world and it simply has to deliver. It will be very interesting to see how promotions will go in both primary and secondary schools.
A large number of people in Serbia who did not know about rugby had the opportunity to watch live and follow the entire tournament. We personally had the opportunity to talk to people who liked rugby after watching it for the first time and who became interested in rugby in Serbia. Which is a very positive thing. It was this wave that needed to be harnessed and reached to a significant number of people in order to make rugby more popular. The more popular the sport, the more young people will start practicing it.
Second grade of the Serbian Championship, from brilliance to despair
We have to say that second grade opened the 2023 season brilliantly. As many as 5 teams participated in the first tournament. And then the regression started. There were four teams in the second tournament, and three in the third. At the fourth, i.e. the last, tournament in the spring part of the season, not even two teams could get to play, so it was cancelled. The next two tournaments in the autumn part of the season have also been cancelled. However, the last tournament took place, in which three teams took part. The competition was won by the Rad B team. You can find out about the competition itself, the results of all tournaments, the table and the list of scorers via the page on our website.
It started very nicely, but ended somewhat tragically. Because out of 7 planned tournaments, 4 were held, even three were cancelled. You can imagine how thrilled we were when we had five teams in the first tournament. In the first tournament, 10 matches are played, think how that is awsome. How we will have an interesting and quality competition. But we got that it all collapsed very quickly. Why this is so, we do not have a concrete answer, except that all the clubs were very scarce with players. Perhaps 7 tournaments are too many activities for them, perhaps the competition should be rearranged in some way to make it more interesting and to provide opportunities for all participants to achieve a better result.
U18s competitions are boring, without strong matches and uncertainty
The U18s competitions were far from uncertain. Unlike some previous seasons, when the U18s were quite interesting. We even had several teams fighting to win the tournament in one period. That was not the case this half-season. RK Rad convincingly won all matches, with only one conceded try in a total of three tournaments played. You can watch the entire competition on our website.
Among the teams from Serbia, Dinamo from Pancevo and Kruševac took part in the tournament. This half-season we lost U18s teams of Borac from Starčevo and BRK Crvena Zvezda. The fact is that players are lacking, even for rugby sevens. Plus, it’s a big problem that rugby 7 is played, because that way we lose first and second line players, who don’t have the opportunity to improve and gain experience in their positions. It creates missmatch situations for them where they have to race against the backs.
An even bigger fact is that it is played quite a bit. Three tournaments in 3 months is nothing. Just imagine any other team sport, where you have one game or tournament a month. Of course, no one would come to do something where they don’t have the opportunity to perform. Now imagine a first line player who you have to motivate to train, where they will have a rugby sevens tournament once a month, and where they will have to chase the linesmen. Of course, the colors on the monitor will fade from the games.
When we look at the realistic situation, we cannot hope to play rugby 15 in the U18s if we play rugby 8 in the U12s, and rugby 10 in the U14s and U16s. Well, if we were to find Aladdin’s lamp and summon a ghost, we are not sure that he would be able to fulfill our wish for 3-4 teams to play rugby 15s in juniors. That is why it is important to have a long-term plan and a vision of how the competition should look like and how to manage it. How to make it popular and interesting for all participants, because that is a recipe for bigger numbers.
Great potential of the U18s generation
Although there are not many U18s, we must point out that the players in the 2005 and 2006 generations are of very high quality. We would dare to say that they are the best in the region. We will try to elaborate and prove our hypothesis. This fall, our team played a match against the Bulgarian national team and won 15-5 on the road. RK Rad, which provides the most national team members, hosted Nadi from Split, which provides the most national team members of its country, and won 10-0. As far as we know, there won’t be a match between Serbia and Croatia this fall, but it was supposed to take place.
Don’t think it’s a coincidence that we have quality players. A lot of work, resources and time have been invested in them. Every year, the Prospective Sports Camp is held in Karataš, special camps were also held, and there were quite a few interesting competitions in youth categories. Let us remind you that in the spring of 2021 was a U16s league with 6 teams. Yes, you read that right, a 6-team league. Where players born in 2004, 2005 and 2006 played . With the fact that players who were born in 2006 played a U14s competition where leagues were played in the A league, and tournaments in the B league. In 2021 each team played 5 games, not tournaments, but regular 60 minutes games, plus the final on the final weekend. Such experience makes a difference on the field and creates value in the youth rugby. When in the younger categories you prepare and prepare for the final game, well, that’s the right thing.
Just a small reminder of how it all looked, you can watch the U16 cadet and U14 pioneer finals from the final weekend that took place in Vršac, organized by the local club GRK Vršac and the Rugby Union of Serbia. When you give the youth the final game, when you do the anthem ceremony, when they have a live broadcast, when they have photos from the match, the medal ceremony, when they play 60 minutes of uncertain and quality rugby, then tell us honestly, who does not want to be part of such an atmosphere ?
In the U16 cadet final in 2021 Rad and Dinamo played.
In the finals of U14s 2021 Borac from Starčevo and RK Rad met.
This generation needs a lot of challenges for players to further develop and gain experience. You don’t often have a situation where you have the best generation in the region. The opportunity should be used to further sculpt and develop quality. In particular, we need more matches like the one against Bulgaria. Thus, a match against Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can be organized.
The U16s show a lot of promise, but the problem is the number
Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer U16s teams. In the autumn part, we had four teams in the competition. Of those four teams, three eventually managed to finish the competition. Of those three teams, only Dinamo and Rad are competitive, while Dorćol is slightly behind them. Those who have been to the tournaments could see for themselves how the cadets play and how intense the matches are. And we believe that, although the quantity is very limited, the quality is very high. A large number of guys have been practicing rugby for a long time, now they have grown even more and raised the level of their game. However, it is a worrying fact that there are no more than 30-35 U16s players in the generations of 2007 and 2008 in all clubs in Serbia. Someone will say that U16s are always a problem with us, but we will only refer to the text above under U18s where we stated that in 2021 had a league with six U16s teams.
In order for the teams and players to further develop, it is necessary to approach carefully when creating the competition. The easiest is to exclaim and say three tournaments, each with each. However, if we want to raise the quality to a higher level, we have to do things a little differently. In order to be able to do that and understand it, we must first of all be present at the tournaments and see for ourselves the quality of the team. Sometimes when you have three teams, you don’t have much room to create, but you should explore all options. If you want to know more about the U16s competition, you can see our page.
Lots of quality in the U14s, but no quantity
It is very interesting to follow and see the competition among the U14s. There are many clubs that are active in tournaments. There are some very interesting players worth watching. However, our biggest impression is the problem of numbers in almost all teams. All teams are very scarce with the number of players. We will only give an example of the second tournament of the Serbian Championship, which was canceled because almost no one had a regular team.
Also, the differences are quite large between the upper and lower houses. We believe that it is necessary to divide the teams into two qualitative groups, in order to avoid injuries and so that there are no high results. It is quite certain that Dinamo, Rad, BRK Crvena Zvezda have the quality for the higher group, and we can also comfortably include Čelik from Zenica, who participates in all our competitions. The teams that are not competitive and should play weaker matches in order to develop and advance are Dorcol, Žarkovo, Borac from Starčevo and Torpedo. Although Torpedo and Borac have several players who can easily match the strongest teams. You can follow everything about the U14s competition on our page.
It is imperative that clubs take this winter seriously and take advantage of the World Cup wave and make plans for school rugby presentations. You should take advantage of this opportunity that is offered every four years to fill your teams. If each team were richer by 5 to 7 players, it would totally change the image of U14s rugby in Serbia.
Clubs in U12s very constant
A little surprising season in U12s for us. First, who would have said that there will be only 5 teams in the competition this half-season, or 6 if we add Čelik. We expected a much larger number. Another thing, who would have said that all the teams, and that in U12s, will record all the participations in all the tournaments. Since the age grade have changed 1st of September and that hardly anyone managed to do quality promotions in schools, this is fantastic information. We think that the number will only increase drastically when the clubs make presentations over the winter and after the Winter League.
Players who were born in 2011, 2012, and 2013 can play this season for U12s . We did not have the opportunity to be present at any of these three tournaments, so we cannot write what the teams look like and what kind of rugby is played. It will be very interesting to see what the league will look like in the spring and what the teams will look like and how many clubs will be in the competition. If you are interested in more about roosters, we recommend our page where you can find information about the competition.
A potential problem surrounding the participation of the "so-called republic of kosovo" in European Rugby Europe competitions
You may think this is in the realm of science fiction, but it is not, and it is a very big problem that will escalate in the coming period. That problem is much closer than most people realize. We will only remind you that we are at the European Championship in Rugby 7, in the match for 8th place (yes, you read that right, the briliance of the European Rugby Federation that made the matches to be played for an even place in the general ranking) we could have lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina if the referee had not canceled their try in the last attack. If we had lost that match, we would have lost the right to organize the tournament in 2024 and would be relegated to Conference 2 where kosovo is located. Fortunately, that scenario was avoided, but there will be considerable problems in the future.
However, there is a very serious problem in rugby 15s, where kosovo beat Montenegro 27-0 this weekend. It could very easily happen that they include kosovo in our group, where there are 4 teams, for the 2024-2025 season. We can protest about that, and the Rugby Europe can rub in our faces the example of the Judo Federation of Serbia, whose fighters regularly compete with fighters from kosovo. What’s more, our competitor who won the silver medal fought a girl from kosovo, and she will definitely get a national pension. While people put a lot of pressure on our Union to prevent the admission of kosovans in the European Rugby Federation, other Unions have been regularly competing against them for a long time.
Incredible activity of Čelik from Zenica, additional quality to our competition
Kudos to Čelik from Zenica. In terms of sacrifice, rugby spirit, desire to play, organization, we can say that Celik is by far the best team in the region. They went to tournaments in four age categories in our country 9 times this fall. Take into account that they also travel to other countries, we get that they have perhaps the most activity of all the clubs in the region. We must point out that we have not seen such enthusiasm and desire for rugby for a long time. And we can freely say that they are a positive example, from which we should learn and emulate. That investment in younger categories is a pledge for the future.
Communication as one of the biggest problems in our rugby
Communication at all levels is a huge problem in our rugby. When communication is weak, there are misunderstandings, misinterpretations, constructions of events, conclusions, relations become strained and a very bad atmosphere is created. That is why direct, public and unambiguous communication is the best and solves most problems at the very start. It closes the door to speculation and constructing imaginary versions. That’s why a healthy and honest conversation is the best thing that can happen to you.
Professionals like psychotherapists first of all tell you that it is important to stop irrational beliefs and return to rational thinking. In order to avoid that, we must be very open and honest first of all with ourselves as well as with the interlocutor. Only in this way will we encourage everyone to return to the track of rationality. When we think rationally and when we communicate openly and often, then we are on the right track to repair the bad atmosphere and smooth out all the misunderstandings. And yes, that goes for everyone.
Promising perspective of rugby in Serbia
We left our main impression for last. Yes, rugby in Serbia is in decline, but every decline will be stopped at some point. Unlike 2014 when almost no one worked with the younger categories and when we had only three clubs in the competition, the situation is far from that now. It is true that those three clubs were Rad, Partizan and BRK Crvena Zvezda and that strong matches were played in the Serbian Championship. But don’t forget that at that time the Serbian national team had a huge series of defeats, two or three clubs were working with young people and that the financial situation was catastrophic with a huge debt. And then we got out of that situation.
What gives us confidence in a better tomorrow is the youth. There are 9 clubs in Serbia that have achieved placement in any of the four youth categories with at least one team. Think that’s bad? Well, it’s not. We will list the following clubs: RK Dinamo 1954, RK Borac Starčevo, RK Dorćol 1998, BRK Crvena Zvezda, RK Žarkovo, RK Rad, RAS Smederevo, RK Torpedo Mlava and RK Kruševac. This winter is a great opportunity for clubs to increase their activity in terms of school promotions in order to increase numbers. When this is combined with a good competition system, we believe that we will be on a very good path again and that we will make even more progress.
We are very optimistic about the senior competition as well, although the situation is more than worrying for us now. We believe that with good planning and, above all, understanding the situation, we will be able to stop the decline first and to slowly but surely start recovery. That is why professional and thorough planning and implementation towards the intended goal is first of all necessary. And that will be the most important thing to do in the next season, where you have to be very careful and create the format of the competition in the best way.
