Changing the competition system in the European Rugby Federation
There has been a major change to the system of all groups within the Rugby 15 competition. With the expulsion of Russia from the Championship due to the war in Ukraine, there was quite a stir. The Championship is the highest competition within the European Rugby Federation, first below the 6 Nations Cup. As many as 8 teams are participating this year, which will be divided into two groups of 4. After the matches in the group, the first two teams from both groups play the semi-finals, while the last two teams from both groups play the playoffs. And in this season we get a final ranking of 1. to 8. place. It is precisely because of this that the European Rugby Federation decided to lock the groups for two seasons. Then they will somehow calculate who will be the last placed after two seasons and fall into the Trophy.
What can we expect in the Championship? We can expect very great results, because representatives of different levels will meet. Rugby is not football or basketball, in rugby you have to be very careful when putting together competitions. No one wants to have result 100-0 at any level. It looks nice on the eye when you see 8 teams in the competition, but we are not sure how nice it will be on the field. The only thing that makes us happy is that it will be the Final match and that should be promoted as much as possible.
Below the Championship, we have the Trophy group which consists of five teams. Below the Trophy groups we have Conference 1 which is divided into South and North where we also have five teams each. Below we have Conference 2 south and north, which count four teams each, where we are also. And finally we have the development group, for which nothing has been announced.
System of competition in Conference 2 south
It was originally announced that it will be played in a double round robin format, where the competition will be played in two seasons. Then the European Rugby Federation published the competition calendar, which only concerns the 2022/2023 season. Also, they stated that the groups are locked for two seasons, where the best team in those two seasons will advance to the group above and the last placed to the group below. In our group, Conference 2 south, Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia participate.
Balance of power in Conference 2 South
A very interesting question that opens up an even more interesting discussion. Judging by the previous cycle, we can say that Serbia is a slight favorite. We must never underestimate any national team, we must respect each one and go into every match with concentration. But judging by the previous cycle where we achieved good results, we can hope to continue in the same rhythm. We will try to give a short analysis of all the teams in our group, so that you can follow the competition as well as possible.
Serbia
With great impatience, we are waiting for the match against Montenegro, which is on the program on the 8th. October, at the Kralj Petar Prvi stadium, starting at 2:00 p.m. The professional staff consisting of: Mišel Milović (selector), Marko Janković, Marko Žeravica and Ljubomir Bukvić (coaches), as well as the team manager Miroljub Bukvić, will have the job of preparing the team as best as possible for the upcoming matches. Let’s remind you, a week later, that is, on the 15th. On October we have a match against Turkey in Trazbon, which will start at 11:00 a.m. our time.
Mišel Milović is a coach who forces a fast pace and fast game in attack. The team is expected to respond to the challenges set by the coaching staff. In the past cycle, we had the opportunity to see for ourselves the capabilities of our national team. We won three games and lost a close match against Bulgaria at the very beginning of the cycle with a score of 14-11. Where the result was a little bit different. We enter the new cycle as slight favorites. And we hope to live up to that epithet.
We have quality players both in Serbia and abroad. Special emphasis should be placed on young players coming from the junior team. There are some very good players who in 2004 age and who, if nothing else, should join the training sessions of the national team, to feel the level of play and the atmosphere. First of all, we are thinking of Danijel Stojanović (RK Rad), Milan Kuzmanović (RK Dinamo 1954), Nemanja Lazić (RK Kruševac) and Momčilo Kralj (BRK Crvena Zvezda) They are players who make a difference for their clubs in the junior competition. Also, there are players who have taken on a role in the seniors and represent the future of rugby in Serbia.
The players who play in domestic clubs are in very good shape, which we could also notice at the matches of the Serbian Championship. Several matches have been played since September, so coach Milović can dictate a high tempo both in training and in the game. This is the season where we should expect the total application of Milović’s work, if we say that last year was an adaptation, then we expect a lot from this year. We do not mean specifically the result, but high tempo and fast play. We have players who are capable of implementing the coach’s ideas.
Of the foreign players for the match against Montenegro, four of them have been announced. As for the match with Turkey, we will wait for the announcement of the Rugby Union of Serbia and see which of the players from abroad will perform.
Boško Jovanović has been a member of the national team for a number of years, he plays in France for ESSS Rugby, who plays in the Regional 1 competition. Boško plays in positions in the first line, he is primarily a pillar, he can also play well on the counter.
Kaspar Strugar has been playing for Henley Hawks since this season, who play in National League 2 East, which is the fourth level of competition in England. Kaspar is also a long-time member of the Serbian national team, an all-rounder who can cover several positions in the line.
Boris Martić plays for Vichy in France, which plays in the Federal 2 competition. Bora was a long-time player of BRK Crvena Zvezda and has been in the Serbian national team for more than 16 years. Last season he played in the post, but this year he returned to his natural position as a stopper.
Antoine Jovovich, debutant from France. He plays for Merignak rugby, which plays in the Federal 2 league. This season he played one game in the B team. He is 24 years old and plays as a defender. He can play very well in other positions in the line.
What can we expect from Serbia? Well, we predict all victories, of course. But above all, we expect a strong tempo, a fast and dynamic game. In defense, we expect firmness and fast closing of the opponent. In particular, we expect special attention to be paid to discipline, because discipline wins games. We have to be patient, build attacks hard and wait for our opportunities. Opportunities will certainly come, because hardly any team at this stage can defend against a high tempo, they should be concentrated and take advantage of the opportunities presented.
Montenegro
Danijel Keserović’s team has grown into a very good team. We must mention that they are intensively preparing for the match with us, which is scheduled for this Saturday. And for a long period of time, so we must not underestimate them. Just to warn you, the Montenegrins have been beating us in the rugby 7 format on our ground for two years now. It’s a totally different game from rugby 15, but you have to keep in mind that we didn’t have a weak team.
In the past few seasons, there was no official league in the rugby 15 format in Montenegro. Rugby 7 was played, and soon rugby 10. We can say that rugby is increasingly popular and that a lot of work is being done on promotion. They also have a Southern Region team that competes in rugby 13, so we can say they have quite a bit of experience. Last year they played a test match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica and won. In the development group, they lost convincingly against Slovakia away from home with a score of 65-0.
As far as international players are concerned, the best known to us is Aljoša Marinković who plays for the RK Vojvodina. As far as we know, Montenegro has several players who played abroad in various leagues. But the core of the team will definitely be made up of local players. We can expect a good scrum where Mijušković, who plays in the positions of the third line, will be the main speaker, a very fast and penetrating player. In the line, special attention should be paid to the central positions where Vučićević and the aforementioned Marinković can play. Vučićević is a sure ball carrier, and perhaps the most penetrating player. Special attention should be paid to Popović if he starts in the opener, a very experienced player with a very good tactical shot.
All in all, Montenegro is a very good team, which can only improve. They lack experience in competitions and this cycle will benefit them in gaining experience. Ariel Radović will have a lot of work to do in preparing the team, as well as analyzing the matches. Maybe Serbia is too much for them at the moment, but it is definitely a game that motivates them, where they will give their all. We will be happy to watch all the matches of Montenegro in our conference.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
On the debut of the new coach Kapić, Bosnia and Herzegovina won against Turkey with a score of 25-13. It wasn’t a game to remember, but a win is a win. The Bosnians lacked several players from abroad, with whom they would certainly have been safer and more convincing. Although, to be honest, the victory is not in question and the team successfully did the job against the chaotic Turks. With 4 points, they are currently at the top of the table.
Also, there is no rugby 15 competition in Bosnia either, but RK Čelik, which is the taste of the national team, competes in the Regional League. Čelik also invests heavily in the work and development of players of younger categories, where they perform in our competitions and in tournaments in the region. Every year, several players leave the youth school and become seniors. What hurt the eyes in the match against Turkey was that Bosnia and Herzegovina only had 21 players . In the previous cycle, they recorded two defeats against Bulgaria and us, a victory against Andorra and a draw against Turkey, where they took fourth place in the final standings.
BiH has a lot of quality players abroad. If everyone could show up for every game in the season, that would be a formidable team. Just imagine that you have Stanković, Lekić, Gufurović, Kus, Oruč and others in your lineup. That would be a team that would be in the upper house of Conference 1. During the season, they were decorated with scrum play, where, especially against us, they had supremacy in static pushing, which fortunately for us they did not use in the best way. They have a good system of play based on strong ball carriers who are exceptionally penetrating. Let’s just remember how much trouble Lekić gave us. Against Turkey, they were decorated with discipline, where they did not start chasing each other on the field, but played their game patiently and carefully. Which in the end brought them a positive result. Only 12 players who played against Turkey also played against us, i.e. 8 from the first team.
Our assessment is that we will get the winner of the group in the matches between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The match is scheduled for the 29th. of April next year, most of the competitions in France and England will be over, so we expect plenty of players on both sides to be available. After all, the matches between these two rivals are always very interesting. Serbia will host Bosnia again, someone asked us when the last match between these two teams was played in Serbia, we couldn’t remember.
Turkey
As we mentioned, they lost the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina with a score of 25-13. Although they were defeated by a small margin, we must point out that it could have been much worse for them. They have a very strange game system, we’d dare say it’s not a game system, but they’ve been playing like that for years. In the last cycle, they recorded three defeats and one draw, and they took the last place in the group.
We met Turkey for the first time in rugby 15, way back in 2019. . We were then shocked to see that the team was playing rugby 15 as rugby 7. From their 22 meters, they took penalties and played instead of kicking out and winning space. Even with such a game they gave us 15 points. Last year we defeated them with a score of 37-14, where they repeated such a game and gave us 14 points. We note that the Turks have very physically prepared players, very strong and fast, and that they may see a chance in the fast game to do something more. We fight with ourselves to call this kind of game a system, instead of a rampage. The match against Bosnia was a shock for us, when at the end of the match where the score was breaking, the Turks took a throw-in in their 22 meters, where the ball reached the center who kicked the candle 5 meters in front of his goal. Luckily, they got a penalty after that, but in 4 out of 5 situations, the Bosnians would have picked up the ball and had a chance.
They have several internationals playing rugby in France and England. However, it is much more interesting how many players will force from the U18 junior national team, which took 2nd place this year. place in the rugby 7s tournament that took place in Riga. 7 players who played against us in Starčevo played against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also one player is from the U18 team that won silver in Riga. It seems that the Turks have rejuvenated the team, which has the task of gathering experience in the next matches. After all, we will see which team will play against us in Trabzon on the 15th. of october. We cannot expect them to join the fight for first place. Some of our predictions are that Montenegro will decide who will be third in the group.
