Emerging Nations: Rugby Europe Championship
Underdogs and Upsets
NED VS ESP
The excitement started early Saturday afternoon for the Rugby European Championship as The Netherlands hosted Spain in Amsterdam. The Dutchmen had a monumental task at hand to overcome the regular Championship contenders but with a home crowd they looked eager to give their fans a performance to get behind. The two teams started with a playing style as polar opposite as possible. Spain opting for the pragmatic approach of easy exits from their own half and simple plays to creep over the gain line. Counter to that The Netherlands looked ambitious to attempt risqué moves which often resulted in mistakes that stymied their attacks. In the first half both teams were creating an equal amount of opportunities only Spain was able to capitalise on, through individual skill over their opponent, and turn them into points. An early yellow card for a high shot also hindered The Netherlands from getting a foothold in the first half as they headed into the dressing rooms down 6-20. Spain made use of the strong wind at their backs putting high pressure on the Dutch but would have to face it in the second half.
It took sixty minutes before the Dutch managed to get their first try of this years tournament in the form of a pick & go from Lock, Van Dijken. This seemed to shock the Spaniards into some form of paralysis as they only managed one more visit to the Dutch twenty-two for the rest of the game and unlike the first-half, left with no points. The last ten minutes saw the Spain coach, Santiago Santos completely unloaded his bench in a last ditch attempt to hold onto a nine point lead. The substitutes however had the daunting task of defending their own try line which after several attempts, Netherlands other Lock, Bloemen, managed to break through to score. With the conversion good, that left the Netherlands only two points behind with three minutes on the clock. A timely turnover from Dutchman, Tim De Jong, on the eightieth minute gave the Netherlands a slither of hope to get their first win against Spain but the angle proved too wide for kicker Du Plessis and the penalty was missed.
An incredible second half from the Dutchmen and an inspiration to see them stick to their ambitious playing style throughout which brought them so close to a victory. The Spanish will need to bring a bit more creativity to the party if they’re hopeful to beat pool leaders Georgia. Playing the percentages and taking your opposition for granted will become suicidal move in this tournament.
BEL VS POR
Later on Saturday evening, Portugal visited Mons to play Belgium in a packed Stade Charles Tondreau. What this game lacked in points it certainly made up for in excitement. Portugal opened up the scoreboard early on with an easy penalty kick but after a failed attempt to equalise with their own penalty kick, Belgium Fly Half, De Francq, found the space to breeze under the posts with the game’s first and only try. With the conversion slotted, the Portuguese were clearly on edge as this was a game they wouldn’t have expected to be trailing. Portugal then imposed immediate try line pressure, resulting in a yellow for the Flemish, Hendrickx. Poor lineout throwing however meant a missed opportunity to capitalise on the one man advantage.
The subsequent play included a large fracas which highlighted a few problems with the REC upgrading some but not all of its practices. The refereeing throughout all four games have been high quality to match the rugby on display. Although it now boasts uniform television production, it still lacks the ability of TMO. This altercation started between a player from each team which then escalated to virtually all players on the field. With a lack of available replay not only did the referee just sin-bin the two players who, he thought, started the fight but also carded the wrong Belgium player. If the REC aims to continually modernise then this problem needs to be looked at. I was watching the game on a laptop, so surely an iPad per refereeing team for this tournament should’t be difficult. It would also take the responsibility away from the stadia to have adequate big screens. Replays on the big decisions need to be done quickly and correctly and that’ll be harder to do with the naked eye as the emerging nations continue to professionalise.
Back to the game and its Belgium up by four points but down two players while Portugal still held the one man advantage. The score deficit remained the same though as both teams slotted a penalty kick before half time. Incredibly the second half remained scoreless with the only point of note being that Belgium received a third yellow card of the night, this time for not wrapping in the tackle. Belgium held out right to the end until they were awarded a penalty on the eightieth minute and a chance to send Portugal home without a bonus point. The kick is missed but with the game in the bag, the Belgians and their Head Coach Mike Ford were ecstatic for a win over a team who only a few months ago beat Fiji in a Rugby World Cup.
GER VS GEO
Germany versus tournament favourites Georgia was the most predictable game from the weekend but we didn’t see the trouncing that was expected. Germany not only finished within eleven points of Georgia they also denied the Lelos a bonus point. In this tournament’s rules, a team needs to score three more trys than their opposition to earn a bonus point, which no team managed this whole weekend. This put the top two teams of each pool all on level pegging with four points.
The biggest takeaway from the game itself was the overwhelming power of the Georgians scrum. At ten minutes in it earned them a penalty try and it looked like it was going to be a long day at the office for Germany. They fought back though and after twenty minutes Bachofer managed to power the ball over the line for a try, Stella getting the conversion equalised the score. Ten minutes before the half and Germany got a penalty kick to go ahead but the lead was short lived. After some brave goal line defending from the Germans, Spanderashvili pounded his way over to get their noses in front. As they headed into the sheds its 10-14 and the expectations of both sets of fans were clearly subverted. The second half consisted of two converted trys for the Georgians which afforded them a comfortable lead but the Germans had more to say. An intercept from Scrum-half, Paine, then a well gathered chip, and chase from Full-back Klewinghaus, gave him the space to score the final try of the game.
Germany facing the Sisyphean task of scrummaging against Georgia. Photo: Rugbyeurope.com
POL VS ROM
The excitement came to a close on Sunday night in Gdynia where Poland played Romania. Another stalwart RWC nation against a European underdog and another expected win but unexpected scoreline. Romania left Poland with only a twelve point deficit and without the elusive bonus point they would’ve been aiming for. This weekend saw all the higher ranked nations playing away so maybe this affected their ability to perform or maybe the lower ranked countries are drastically improving? The coming weeks will tell. Although Poland kept the score respectable against Romania they also didn’t unload the bench until the last five minutes, suggesting they were quite reliant on their starting fifteen but lacked depth or experience from their replacements. Performance wise, Romania went through the motions and it seemed as though they were building on their systems and plays to bring out in the bigger games to come.
Round 2
The upcoming weekend brings the compounding challenge for the Netherlands as they travel to Tbilisi to face Georgia. Romania have their second week on the road and face a Belgium that will be buoyed by their win and in front of their extensive home crowd again. Portugal will want to rectify the embarrassment they suffered as they head from one end of the continent to the other to play Poland. Spain on the other hand have the short trip across the boarder from Holland to Germany, no doubt looking to end their away campaign unbeaten.
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