The Eagles attack the Trophy 2 group

The junior U18 national team of Serbia is participating in the European championship in the Olympic discipline of rugby 7, which is being held this year in Poland, i.e. in the city of Zabka, next to Warsaw.

The first competitive performances of the national team this year

It used to be unimaginable that the first official appearances of the U18 junior selection would only be in July. But we used to have a rugby 15 national team that had preparatory matches as well as a high-level competition within the European championship. The players were going through a serious work system and were at a very high level. Now there is no such thing. The only thing left for us to do is take part in the rugby 7s tournaments that take place well after the end of the season.

As last year, the tournament is held in Zabka, a small town near Warsaw. Unlike the previous tournament, when 14 teams were divided into three groups, where the tournament lasted three days, this year the European Rugby Federation decided to divide the teams into two groups. Trophy 1 consists of the teams that were relegated from the championship last season and the teams that took from 3. to 8th place in the previous tournament. The teams that were from 9th to 14th places compete in the Trophy 2 division, which is the lowest level of competition in Europe. Unfortunately, we are in that group, because we finished 11th last season. place. A bit of an unfortunate decision by the European Rugby Federation, but what’s the matter, we have to play by those rules.

Photo: Tijana Vesović

For us, it is a bit disappointing that a generation like the class of 2006, which until three years ago had two levels of competition in Serbia, A and B group, with 8 clubs that had teams in those categories, which participated in U16 cadet competitions where played a league with 6 clubs, it got to the level that in junior competitions we have barely three teams and that in rugby 7, and where in European competitions we compete in the lowest group. A very interesting topic for discussion and analysis.

What is the range of the national team, what is the competition schedule and what are the opponents?

A total of 6 teams participate in the Trophy 2 group. It is played according to the system of everyone with everyone. It is played according to the system of everyone with everyone. On the first day we play 3 matches and on the second day we play two. Our team prepared quite well in the previous period. Unfortunately, some players had to cancel their participation due to injuries, but we still have a very strong team. In terms of range, we are definitely one of the favorites of the bunch. We are not saying this arbitrarily, but we are very aware of the way our team plays and the way other teams play, which we are quite familiar with since last year. We do not know how many teams from the Trophy Group will move into the Trophy 1 Group at the end of the competition.

First day ׀ Friday 12.07.2024. .

10:00 a.m. ׀ Serbia – Andorra ׀ The first match we play against Andorra, which we played last year in the match for the 11th. won the place with a score of 24-10. That match was one of the few where we were really good, and we managed to win it without too many problems. We expect this year to be confident and start the competition with a good result. Compared to last year, the Andorrans have only two players in their team.

2:00 p.m. ׀ Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina ׀ Neighbors, almost the entire team consists of the Čelika team, which is very familiar to us because it participated in all our competitions until this half-season. We are very familiar with the players and the way they play. As many as 9 players play in Čelik, one player plays in RK Herceg from Mostar, while they also have one international who plays for Abu Dhabi Harlequins. It is interesting that they have only 11 players in the team.

17:06 ׀ Hungary – Serbia ׀ The last match of the first day will be perhaps the most important in the tournament. Our assumption is that one of these two teams will take the first place in the group. The Hungarians beat us last year 19-12 in the 9th round playoff. to 12th . We did not celebrate in that match, our northern neighbors were physically dominant, which ultimately brought them victory. This year will be interesting because our team is almost the same as last year.

Second day ׀ Saturday 13.07.2024. .

3:44 p.m. ׀ Serbia – Monaco ׀ Monaco did not celebrate last year, but achieved a very good result. He beat Hungary 33-14, but it wasn’t as convincing as the score at the end. They have 4 players who played last year, and come in with only 10 players in the squad. And that’s one of the reasons we don’t give them a chance to compete for the very top. However, if anyone can interfere in the fight for the top of the table, it is them.

7:32 p.m. ׀ Austria – Serbia ׀ We beat the Austrians in the group with a score of 19-12. Although we were generally better, Austria fought until the very end and sold their skin dearly, which is what the result says at the end of the day. We should not expect to have too many problems against them, we must be concentrated and focused.

We must not underestimate any opponent, we must enter every match focused and concentrated. The competition system is such that every defeat costs dearly. You have to be smart, scout the opponent’s game well, and we think that the game of all teams will not change drastically compared to last season. If we are motivated and focused, I don’t think we will have too many problems in the tournament.

How to watch live?

Unfortunately, there is still no link to the YouTube channel of the European Rugby Federation. However, you can follow all matches live on the website of the European Rugby Federation. First you need to register on the site, log in and watch the stream. You can follow the stream at this link.

Serbian national team squad

The composition of the Serbian national team is quite interesting. What pleases us the most is that, compared to last year’s tournament, we only have 3 new players. Yes, you read that right, as many as 10 players who performed last year will also perform this year. Last year we had a fairly young squad. This year we have a very experienced team with players who played in the senior competition for the Serbian national team.

Here, above all, we think of Lazar Jelisavčić, who was the first from the class of 2006 to play for the senior national team of Serbia. The selector Mišel MIlović saw his capacity and included him in the team for the match we played against Bulgaria. Rugby 7 is not a discipline that suits this two-footer, but he will be an important cog in the team of coach Aleksandar Nedeljković.

Tijana Vesovic

The mainstays of our team will certainly be Igor Gajić and Milan Vesković. The junior duo that performed at the European Championship of Conference 1 in Belgrade. And not only did they perform, but they had a huge role in the game. After all, Igor was the starter and the most effective player of Serbia, while Milan was very lethal. In that competition, Milan was injured, but he managed to recover so that he will perform in Zabka.

In the scrum, we expect a lot from Ognjen Siljanovski and Vuk Simić. High pace players, who are confident ball carriers and very active defensive players. Along with them, we can also expect good roles for Matej Petrović and Bogdan Miković who, along with Aleksa Milanković, can contribute a lot on the field.

In the line, the great emphasis will be on Pavle Pelva and Filip Vidaković, who are excellent in the field, very breakthrough players who can make a huge difference in two steps. Along with them will be the excellent Mateja Caran, an offshoot of the Vrsac rugby school, who has been playing for Dinamo from Pancevo for several seasons, as well as Strahinja Glišić, a player who can perform in literally any position on the field. Finally, there is the youngest Uroš Vukašinović, representative of the class of 2008, from whom we can also expect good playing time.

We have a very strong team, which is at its peak, where we have 10 players who already have playing experience from last year. Unfortunately, we will not find out what the real range of this team is among stronger opponents. In order to get there, you need to plan a lot in the past, but rugby in Serbia is not at that level, so this generation of excellent rugby players will be deprived of strong and excellent matches.

Serbia squad:

1. Igor Gajić ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

2. Milan Vesković ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

3. Pavle Pelva ׀ 2007 ׀ RK Rad

4. Uroš Vukašinović ׀ 2008 ׀ RK Rad

5. Mateja Caran ׀ 2007 ׀ RK Dinamo 1954

6. Ognjen Siljanovski ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

7. Filip Vidaković ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

8. Aleksa Milanković ׀ 2007 ׀ RK Rad

9. Strahinja Glišić ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

10. Bogdan Miković ׀ 2007 ׀ RK Rad

11. Vuk Simić ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

12.Matej Petrović ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

13. Lazar Jelisavčić ׀ 2006 ׀ RK Rad

Head coach: Aleksandar Nedeljković

Manager: Ljubomir Bukvić

Doctor: Teodora Jerina