Emerging Nations blog: Rugby Europe Championship (6)
Last Dance in Paris
POL VS BEL
The Seventh place playoff opened proceedings in this weekends “Super Sunday” as all eight nations of the Rugby Europe Championship clashed in Stade Jean-Bouin. Belgium were eager to prove their presence in this competition. Scoring early with fullback, Soenen, finding himself on the end of some rapid offloads. De Francq nails the conversion and a subsequent penalty after Poland are caught not releasing at the tackle. Belgium mimicked the misdemeanour near their own twenty two, gifting Poland the only 3 points they were to score that half. Tactical kicking from the Flemish afforded them an attacking lineout on the Polish five meter line and after a spirited maul defence from the Poles, the attackers worked the ball to the wing where Wallraf squeezes through for their second try. Undeterred from their first maul the Flemish try again and this time they split the Polish defence and took their third try. As the half came to a close Poland had their first visit to the Flemish twenty two however a lacklustre attack that was devoid of creativity meant the defence marched them back to the ten meter line with ease. There was a final attempt at a cross field kick from Poland but the ball went dead and the first half of rugby ended 3-22.
After receiving a scrum penalty in the opening minutes of the second half, Poland decided to go for posts. An unusual decision when you’re trailing by 19, and missing it only added to the confusion as the subsequent play saw them attack with purpose and speed. This energy in the right areas could have resulted in more substantial points for the team looking for their first win of the tournament. Despite Polands rekindled performance they were once again defending on their try line where Belgium's, Bastin, takes advantage of a poorly defended blindside to dive over for his try. A small scuffle gave the referee an excuse to make an example and sent both players for a ten minute cool down, claiming he’d continue to do so if behaviours persisted. The extra space on the field benefitted Poland at first as they finally found a way through the Flemish defence and with a three man break, scrum half Plichta claimed Polands only try of the game. Sticking to his promise, the referee sent another two to the bin after they decided to test his words and have another scrap. Belgium had the privilege of closing out the game with a final try from a scrum set piece where the defence parted for captain, Torfs, to score.
Having lost all their games of the tournament, Poland deservedly head to the Trophy division and rightly so. It will be interesting to see how they react to this experience and what teams in the lower division will be their biggest competition. Belgium keep their spot in the REC and have had a rollercoaster campaign but with a convincing win on their final game they proved that the Portugal win was not a flash in the pan moment and that there’s more to come from this exciting rugby nation.
POL 8 - 34 BEL
NED VS GER
It was a cagey start for the the fifth place play off as the game opened with three missed penalty kicks. One difficult for the Netherland's, Fortuin, but two sitters for Stella of Germany. Eventually the Netherlands manoeuvred their way into the twenty two and Du Plessis executed a perfectly weighted chip over the defence and Fortuin collected to glide under the posts. From the restart, the Netherlands dictated a high pace of play and retained possession. The pressure grew too much for the Germans to deal with and they eventually coughed up a penalty, this time Fortuin shot with success. Dutch scrum half, Schoonraad, who had been masterminding the lightning pace of the attack eventually benefited off of a static try line maul, managing to peel off and creep over the line, growing the lead for the Netherlands. The Germans were swiftly returned back to their try line and fumbled the ball in their own territory due to poor communication. They were lucky to escape without sacrificing any more points but soon enough, emotions peaked with pushing and shoving resulting in a yellow card per team. A poor exit kick and an easy turnover had the Netherlands on the attack again with captain and lock, Bloemen, selling the fullback a dummy to score the last try of the half after the siren sounded. 24-0.
The second half opened with Dutch winger, Wierenga, close to cashing in on a grubber through the defence but he tickled the ball forward for a knock on over the try line. Eager for redemption, he got himself on the end of well worked hands to find the edge of the German defence waking the scoreboard up again. There was an abrasive edge to the Dutch performance as another post whistle push from the orange team saw no punishment for the perpetrator but a yellow for the reaction from German flanker, Ball. The numbers were to be evened out again as moments later, Raymond, of the Netherlands saw yellow for a high tackle. Germany got a few glimmers of hope, getting awarded the odd penalty here and there, but struggled to get any ascendency in the game when they’d continually make mistakes, like missing the touchline on their penalty kicks. One missed touch resulted in full back Van Oord responding with a 50:22. This put Wierenga in for his second try from the subsequent lineout set piece. The spotlight would remain on Wierenga as he scored his hatrick soon after, beating his opposite man with speed into the corner. Happy with the lead and with his eyes no doubt on the next competition, Netherlands coach, Jones, emptied the remainder of his bench to close the game out. Although Germany showed some intent in their attack in the final ten minutes the remainder of the game remained scoreless for both teams. There was an inconsequential yellow for the Netherlands on the eightieth minute but the Germans still couldn’t find their way over the line.
The Netherlands topped the stats in ruck speed and scrum retention in the tournament which shows the other nations that they get their basics in place while also demanding a high speed of play. Dutch rugby is on an exciting rise and with an emphatic win like this and a close call against Spain, it signifies that the boys in Orange cannot be ignored. While captain of the German team, Schroder, was disappointed with the loss in the post match interview he was clear that they had reached their goal in this campaign which was to stay in the competition. Their one win against Belgium saved them from the dreaded relegation game but their basics in game management and individual skill set needs to be remedied if they’re to survive next year in the REC.
NED 45 - 0 GER
ROU VS ESP
Coming from two back to back losses, Romania entered the bronze final with the ambition to make amends. Semionescu is the first to score for Romania as he dots down the loose ball after hacking it past the defender. Kudos to flyhallf, Vaovasa, standing in for benched Conache, for the cross field kick that got the ball within his reach. Meliente excited the crowd when, after the Spanish were testing the Oaks try line defence, he intercepted their attack and ran half the length before giving Semionescu the ball to put them two trys up. The entire first half was a frantic back and forth display and Spain resorted to a quick tap and go to catch the Romanian defence sleeping to score their first try. Emboldened by this, Spains fullback, Wessel-Bell, managed to reclaim his own kick chase to put them ahead of the Romanians. While attempting to negate the two point deficit Romania got held up over the line then had a drop goal sail wide of the posts. Their luck would continue to diminish as they knocked the ball on attempting to exit their twenty two, gifting Spain the opportunity to pick and go until captan, Pichardie, crashed over to send the players to the break at 12-21 in Spains favour.
Pichardie didn’t break stride as the second half started and he powered over the line for his brace. Romania, struggling with the pressure had multiple penalties called against them during the Spanish barrage. Spain's next try would come from an immaculate lineout move that split the Oak's forwards from their backs and sent Gimeno stumbling over the whitewash and making it 35 unanswered points for Los Leones. In a one on one dash to chase a kick, Spanish, Imaz, gets the first yellow of the game for an off the ball tackle. This offered the Romanians a chance to get back into the game and after a couple of false starts, Tomane, bullied his way to scoring. The last ten minutes of the game would bring all the action as replacement Ovejero snipes a try from the back of a maul, scoring Spain's final points before Romania had their last ditch attempts to podium. Their efforts were made easier as Overjero, fresh from scoring, made an off feet tackle and was binned for his actions. Tomane got his second try after a series of tight plays offered up an overlap in the diminished Spanish defence. Adamant they weren’t finished, Romania kept the ball alive and 8-man Mitu managed to find another gear to blitz through. With Conache’s good kick, Spain restarted with a final few seconds to be played out. Now trailing by only 7, the Oaks received the ball deep and their final attack looked like it could be enough to effect a draw but a handling error ends the game and Spain take the bronze.
Even though the score didn’t go their way the performance from Romania suggested there are better things to come from the Oaks, predominantly from their youth. This team against Spain was the most affective I’ve seen them play at the tournament, managing to implement a more diverse range of attack, only being let down by defensive organisation and discipline. Spain refused to be silenced in not only the European rugby scene but also in world rugby. If they continue to finish top three in the next three REC’s then they’re well on track to being included back into the Rugby World Cup.
ROU 33 - 40 ESP
GEO VS POR
Georgia, with a view to continue their dynastic run in the REC, opened the final with a strangle hold on the the game. Dominating field positioning and expertly controlling the pace they made pains to not take their opposition for granted. When the opportunity came, the conservative decision to kick for three points prevailed, giving the Lelos a 12 point lead before the Portuguese could respond. Portugal managed to put themselves in the Georgian half but each visit resulted in them getting manhandled and turned over. After a failed scrum in the opening five minutes the ref addressed the front row, telling them “if you don’t want to scrummage I have a solution for you, but I don’t think you’ll like it”. Eight minutes before half time the scrum was folding again and the man in the middle followed through with his words, sending a prop from each team to the bin. The half time hooter sounded just after the Portuguese were awarded a penalty that was in front of the posts but nearing the half way line in distance. Camacho stepped up and ensured his team wouldn’t be opening the second half pointless. It was a kickers game as Matkava bragged 12 points all from the tee for Georgia compared to Portugal's 3.
The defending champions restarted the second half and reclaimed possession almost instantaneously. It was only two minutes of phase building before a cross field kick found the scoring machine that is Tabutsadze, to take Georgia beyond a two score deficit. Looking to play more traditional rugby, the Georgians take their next try from a rolling maul as the championship started to slip away from the grasp of the Portuguese. In the following play it became clear that there was an agreement between the referees on how to handle the fighting situations. Tempers flared, as they had done in the previous games and the result was uniform. Another two players sent for ten to think about their behaviour. I can’t help to think if the knee-jerk reaction is to always send a player each to the bin, the ref may miss situations where there’s a blame or a player that’s more guilty than the other. Portugal barely managed any extended attacks in the Georgian half without ending in a handling error. This played into the Georgians hands as scrums had them shifting the Portuguese swiftly into reverse gear. It was the scrum penalties that would march the Georgians up the field until Tabutsadze was once again let loose and stormed his way to a brace of trys. Broken and tired, the Portuguese defence started to leave doglegs that replacement scrum half, Alania, was all too happy to take advantage of. He ran an intelligent support line after a break to take his team 7 points closer to lifting the cup. Georgia would be seeing out the rest of the game with a one man deficit as Ivanishvili is yellowed for a tip tackle, however the game was firmly in the bag by this point. It was a consolation try for the Portuguese to see the game out but ultimately, your Rugby Europe Champions of 2024 are Georgia with the Portuguese as distant runners up.
This is the seventh consecutive REC Georgia have won, making it sixteen in total since the year 2000. With such dominance there’s always a lot of noise around Georgia joining the six nations but this is nearly an impossibility. The schedule is too busy to safely support a potential “seven Nations” and with the competition being governed by the unions involved, the idea of a relegation system would be comparable to turkeys voting for Christmas. As disappointing as Portugal was in this game, they have displayed far superior performances in the build up and with an improved tournament set up and increased teams in the REC, Georgia will be getting challenged more frequently and appropriately. Although there’s no news of it yet, the European Super Cup will presumably be returning in November where we will get an Autumnal check on the health of the unions with their franchise teams. Georgia’s Black Lions has won all three of those competitions but not at the gallup we’ve seen in the REC. Portugal’s Lusitanos have picked up a silver and a bronze, losing only by 3 points in the ’22 final. With the players getting year round exposure to high level international rugby, expect to see drastic improvements in these countries and potential upsets when they get future opportunities to face teams who rarely leave the top ten of the World Rugby rankings.
GEO 36 - 10 Portugal
