The winning streak continues
Now no one can say that it is a coincidence, Serbia continues with positive results since Michel Milović was put at the helm. Last Saturday, Andorra also fell at the stadium in Starcevo, with a result of 24-18. Although the result was uncertain, the Eagles were evidently two spears in quality above their opponents from the Pyrenees. The quality of great teams and teams is that they win even when they are not given one.
Serbia can go in group above
Winning the match is very important, because Serbia remains in the game for placement in a higher rank The first-placed team in our group will automatically go to the group above, while the second-placed team will play with the second-placed team from Conference 2 North to fill another seat. Namely, due to the war in Ukraine, Russia and Ukraine will be left out of the 2022/2023 season, so there will be some upward movements of the teams in order to fill the vacancies.
Eagles dominates in first half
The match did not start as the Eagles had imagined. After a novice mistake, Andorra in 2. minute from the penalty spot for the score 3-0. And then in the 19th minute thundered the attack of Serbia. After the missed penalty, Andorra badly kicked the ball from its 22 meters, the ball came to Aleksandar Djordjevic who put pressure on the middle of the field. The ball then reaches Julien Matijasevic, who breaks through the line of defense and employs Nikola Stankovic with a great offside, who scores an try for 5-3. In 30. In the minute, a dejavu effect was seen, again Andorra kick very badly from its 22 meters, the ball came to Julien Matijašević who broke through the line of defense and find Aleksandar Andrić with an excellent offload who scored an try for 10-3. The same player converts the conversion to 12-3.
Serbia put great pressure on Andorra’s lineout throughout the match, and even when the Pyrenees won the lineout, they were in a defensive position in order to secure the ball. In the last minute of the first part, our lineout was competitive, Andorra somehow won the same with the opening of an uncertain ball towards the line, where the opponent’s mistake was forced. The ball was quickly opened to the wing, where Velibor Srećković broke through several players and scored a try for 17-3. Andrić is safe from the conversion for 19-3 and a very good Serbia in the first part of the match.
Serbia strugle in second half
The continuation of the match brought an almost crossed out beginning. The Eagles made a penalty in the middle of the field, from which Andorra in 45. reduced the lead to 19-6. Although the Eagles were good at the opponent’s lineout, in 63. minute the Pyrenees form a mole from when they score an try for 19-11. A great fight was fought at the end of the match. The first is Serbia in 74. minute scored an try through Aleksandar Madjanovic who got the ball after the offensive Matijasevic who broke through the opponent’s defense. The third assist for Matijašević, which he adds from the offload. Result were 24-11. However, Andorra did not give up and towards the end of the game they scored a converted try which turns to reduce the score to 24-18. Then an uncertain match followed, where the opponents had an outing within our 22 meters. However, ours defended themselves, and in the end deservedly celebrated.
Match information
Date 16.04.2022.
kickoff: 14:00h
Venue: Starčevo stadium
Match replay: European rugby federation
Referee: Florin Bonea (Romania)
Assistant referee: Nikolae Fratila (Romania)
Assistant referee: Emanuel Gorodea (Romania)
Conference 2 south: Table, results
Serbia nationat team squad:
Serbia: Boris Martic, Istok Totic, Predrag Vranes, Relja Pecanac, Damien Bozic, Aleksandar Madjanovic 5, Predrag Keglic, Milan Marinkovic, Aleksandar Andric 9, Aleksandar Djordjevic, Velibor Sreckovic 5, Julien Matijasevic, Nikola Stankovic 5, Uros Babic, Igor Dejanovic , Uros Joncic, Vladimir Djukic, Petar Hinic, Alen Cosovic, Lazar Tatomir, Ivan Vostic, Stevan Nikolic, Uros Martinovic.
Captain: Boris Martić
Headcoach: Michel Milović
5 impressions from the match
Discipline and positioning in defense
The old problem of the Serbian National Team. Discipline is the key, discipline creates points, discipline wins matches. We gave too many penalties to the opponent, which resulted from poor discipline and poor defense. After a poor start in the first half, the discipline improved drastically. While sticking to the game plan in defense, we scored 19 points without receiving any. In the second part of the game, we further relaxed with discipline, we gave Andorra a chance to even return to the game at the very end of the match. Definitely a segment to work on in the future.
Dominant scrum
We do not remember when Serbia had such a dominant scrum in European matches. The opponent literally had no chance. Andorra suffered serious pressure on its scrum, where it lost many of them, but with almost every scrum, their attack must return. It was definitely necessary to use the superiority in the scrum and push until winning the penalty, then to conquer the space from the penalty and then use a good out.
Lineout very good, second line for the future
Throughout the game, the lineout worked great. The impression was spoiled towards the end of the game when we lost three lineouts, but the general impression is very good. Istok Totić, Damien Božić and Relja Pećanac clicked, so we were very good in our lineout but also very dangerous in the opponent’s lineout The best way to put pressure on an opponent is to attack his lineout by jumping. With Božić and Pećanc, players born in 2002. and 2001. year, Serbia got a bright future in the positions of the second line. Great in statics, great in defense and in the open game. Both players are about two meters tall, physically very strong and mobile. A huge pledge for the future.
Slow ball and weak support
Serbia’s game needs to be accelerated, during the entire game, the ball slowly came out of the rucks, which allowed the opponent to consolidate after our breakthroughs. We lost a lot of balls due to poor support in rucks. We gave too many penalties to the opponent and brought him back to life just before the end of the game. Andorra is not a very fast team, but it is not slow either, which means that we have to be fast and precise in stages in order to catch a better rhythm and break the opponent.
Effective center pair
Zulien Matijasevic played his doctorate in the position of the first center. The man awarded three offload assists for achieving tries. He made a big difference on the field and it can be said that he is a real reinforcement. He had an excellent partner in Nikola Stanković, who also scored his first try The two of them caused the most problems for Andorra, with breaking through the line of defense. When the opponent is attacked with quick and effective action, it is very difficult to defend. In defense, they were up to the task.
