Rugby 7 is a game that requires you to do everything faster and more efficiently. Above all, it requires you to be very disciplined both in attack and defense. Playing without the ball is just as important as playing with the ball, as timely positioning gives you an advantage over your opponent. It is played very fast and in a fast rhythm.
Some will tell you that it is a different sport to rugby league. As far as we are concerned, it is. The game is totally different, more emphasis is placed on racing skills than physical strength. You have 7 players on the court and any mismatch situation can result in a goal or a turnover.
In Serbia, we don’t have rugby 7’s specialists, because here everyone plays everything, and rugby 15’s is practiced at training sessions. We have players who excel at rugby sevens and who can easily be quite lethal if directed in the right way. That is why it is very important to choose players who can answer the challenges in the right way.
Guided by these parameters, we have created our list of players, who we think can be very good 7s players. We didn’t intend to be politically correct, but in the end it worked out that way, so it looks like we’ve evenly distributed the players across the clubs in terms of placement. But it’s not like that. These 12 players would be selected for our team if they were to make it.
Player list
Aleksandar Mađanović
YOB: 1993
Club: BRK Crvena Zvezda
Aleksandar is definitely in his best rugby years, which he shows on the field. He is a high-tempo player with great mobility and almost perfect accompaniment, which is a huge advantage for a third-line player. He is very fast, he can make a very effective sidestep, that is, a quick change of direction. Explosive player who can make a key advantage over the opponent in the first few steps. Excellent in contact, he has a very good technique, so that at any moment in contact he can offer off-loud or make a quick presentation in ruck. Excellent in marking opponents in defense, he positions himself very well. His good reading of the game helps him anticipate the opponent’s move.
He is not a 7s player who will run over the opponent 1v1. He is a player who makes a serious difference from the second plan, i.e. from the support. When he gets the ball offside and sees space, you can be sure he will make the most of it. That’s why the opponent will have to adjust their tactics and tie more players to the crab, which opens up additional space on the other side of the field.
Stefan Ivković
YOB: 1991
Club RK Kruševac
If they had an extremely physically dominant wing with the constitution of a second line player in their team, then we could say that you would be the favourites. Stefan plays on the wing, he is characterized by speed and durability in contact. When you add to that excellent technique, primarily we mean control of passing the ball, you get a great rugby sevens weapon. Given his physical constitution, his pad technique, he is a very difficult target to tackle, especially in rugby sevens. He is deadly when he finds himself in a matchup position, where he can tie several defensive players to himself during penetration. Excellent in defense where he is decorated above all with good scoring. He reads the game very well, he positions himself well. In the rugby 7’s format he can play equally well in the scrum and the line. A player who can respond very well to the challenges of the game in the air.
Milan Kuzmanović
YOB: 2004
Club: RK Dinamo 1954
Do you want a player who plays at a high tempo? Do you want a player who puts pressure on the opponent’s defensive line non-stop? Do you want a player who punishes every wrong set-up of the opponent? Do you want a player who feels comfortable playing right in front of the opposing defensive line? Well, stop looking any further. This is Milan Kuzmanović. During most of his tenure in the junior categories, he performed in the position of scrum, which gave him the experience of forcing the game at a high pace. A very intelligent player that many teams would love to have in their ranks. Now imagine having a player in the middle of the field who will punish every wrong set-up and exploit every hole in the defense. That leaves a lot of room for playing on the wings. In addition, he excels in accompaniment and communication. He is very strong in contact on both sides of the court. He has an excellent tactical shot. His arsenal of attacking weapons is very diverse. A player who works a lot in the field, who does a lot of work that is statistically invisible, but which few can do.
Nikola Stanković
YOB: 2000
Club: RK Rad
There aren’t many new things to say about Nikola. He is already a standard representative of Serbia both in rugby 7 and in rugby 15. We have already written about him and his qualities a thousand times. But you will have to get used to it, because he is only 23 years old and we have the impression that he has been there for at least ten years. He has yet to enter his prime years for the sport. He is a player who is unstoppable in penetration and who is very difficult to beat when he gets the ball in a full run and in space. Very fast and physically strong who can outrun the opponent in a few steps in 1 on 1 situations. He has a very good technique that he is able to demonstrate in a full race, so he is very lethal. Excellent in support, a player who is no stranger to being the team’s playmaker. He has a very good and strong shot. A high-tempo player, who can implement demanding game plans.
Ljubomir Đerić
YOB: 1992
Club: RK Vojvodina
Ljubomir had an excellent tournament, where he demonstrated an even better overview of the game. When you add speed and explosiveness to that, you get a very effective player. He used almost every opportunity and was very effective in penetrations. A very hard player to beat. If you don’t stop him in the first few steps, you will have a big problem. Which he showed because he had several 1-on-1 situations that he handled very well. He showed it best from the position of wing and center, where he cuts towards the middle of the field and catches opponents on the wrong foot. He is excellent in positioning, which gives him an advantage when he receives the ball from support after an offload. And if you manage to mark him, you have to deal with his physical strength and speed, which is not an easy task. If we had our own team that would participate in the competition, we would definitely want Ljubomir to be in it.
Danijel Stojanović
YOB: 2004
Club: RK Rad
If anyone played rugby sevens in the younger categories, it was the guys who were U18 juniors in the last three or four seasons. The most positive performance of the week is that the scrum players, whether they wanted to or not, became very mobile. Even more. Terribly mobile. One of them is Danijel, a man who at the age of 17 became a standard first-team player for Rad and who showed what he knows and can do on the field. It is also his debut for the national team, so he is a player to whom special attention should be paid. As we said, he is very mobile and fast, very strong in contact, he has excellent technique as well as an overview of the game. He is equally lethal in support as he is as a ball carrier. And in defense, he is a player who tries to win in every duel. It is not only important to knock down the player, but also how you will knock him down, and in that way create a situation for yourself or the assistant of the knockdown player where he has an advantage in the breakdown.
Ivan Voštić
YOB: 2003
Club: RK Dinamo 1954
Even though Ivan got injured in the second match and missed the whole tournament, we just couldn’t leave him out of the conversation about the best players because he is the prototype of a true modern 7s player. We are very sorry that he got injured and that he will most likely have to take a break for some time, thus he will miss the rest of the season. After all, we will see what the forecasts say in the coming period. That player that almost no one can contain in 1 on 1 play in the field. Very fast, extremely explosive, has excellent technique, rugby intelligence and game overview. He is already an experienced national team player in both Rugby 15 and Rugby 7. He is excellent on both sides of the field. A high-tempo player, a very effective executor of a complex game system, which he is able to perform to the maximum. His time is yet to come.
Jovan Krsmanović
YOB: 2003
Club RK Kruševac
Another young player who can play at a high level. He is characterized by speed and explosiveness, but also a very good vision of the game. Given that he plays primarily in the position of a demi, he is no stranger to finding a hole in the opponent’s defense and quickly breaking through in the best way. He is very tricky when he finds himself at full speed because he can change direction quickly, so in most situations the penetration ends in an try. He moves and positions himself well in attack and defense. He is a natural playmaker and likes to create attacks for his team. He is not characterized by a physical game, he prefers to play in the field and loves space, where he employs his teammates with timely passing and puts iḫ in try chances. He has a good shot and anticipation of where the ball will fall after the shot.
Dragan Kokanović
YOB: 2005
Club: BRK Crvena Zvezda
Although he is the youngest on our list, Dragan has gathered a lot of experience this season. We can absolutely say that he made significant progress compared to the previous year. You can see the difference when a player has a considerable number of games in his legs compared to when he only has a few. He showed that in the tournament where the biz is extremely efficient. The combination of explosiveness, speed and physical strength is definitely a level higher than the competition. Which can be seen on the example of the list of scorers where he ranks first. We were amazed by the explosiveness, body position and technique in contact. A player for high-tempo play, who wants to follow the quick execution of actions. An excellent support player, where he is especially dangerous from the second plan. He is not afraid to take responsibility, which is quite a rarity in senior rugby at his age.
Aljoša Marinković
YOB: 1996
Club: RK Vojvodina
Aljoša is slowly entering his best rugby years when he can make the best use of his physical predispositions and acquired experience. Very fast and explosive player, who is very strong in contact. He likes the high tempo of the game and can handle 1v1 situations effectively. He changes direction quickly, has very good technique and hand play. We can safely say that he was the main player of Vojvodina at the tournament where he excelled in making decisions on the field itself. Excellent positioning in attack and defense. A safe feller who really uses all techniques and types of felling in the best way. It is especially interesting how he takes down from behind when the opponent is in a full run. But still if we could single out his specialty, we would say that he loves to use the space between two defenders when he judges that the distance between them is too big. Such an action usually ends with an try.
Aleksa Jovanović
YOB: 2004
Club RK Kruševac
Aleksa has definitely grown into an excellent rugby player. For us, he is a second-line player because he has grown to almost two meters, but he still plays on the wing. He is very fast with his size, now he is even stronger, so he is very difficult to knock down. Imagine the frustration of a defensive player when a two-meter opponent runs over. Makes great use of the change of direction and buffer option in contact. He always attacks the opponent from various angles, making him a harder target to take down. He loves situations in transition and in counter attacks, when he can be very good in support and in 2 on 3 and 1 on 2 situations. We see him in the week as a scrum player tasked with spreading the line of defense with his penetration. He is excellent in contact and in the ruck, almost always making a long presentation that allows a quick ball to his team.
Nemanja Stošić
YOB: 2002
Club: RK Rad
If you need someone who will do all the tasks in the field, both in defense and in attack, someone who will put his head where no one can put his foot, then take Nemanja. Now we would write that you will not see him in flashy actions because he does all the dirty work in contact in the middle of the field. But we would be wrong, because he does all the work in the middle of the field, but he is also in brilliant actions when scoring tries. Because he still plays in the position in the back. Joking aside, one of the most complete players in the tournament, who does absolutely everything well. First of all, he excels in solid defense where he controls pressure and positioning. In attack, he likes a high tempo, his specialty is finding holes in a small space and being able to withstand stronger contact during penetration. He has very good technique, plays well with his hands. He has an extremely good kick. Tactical kicks and goal kicks are extremely accurate.
