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RUGBY EUROPE Nations Championship : Review of 1st Round in Division 1A
11/02/2015 - 30/09/2015
A total of 25 tries got scored in the first round of the Rugby Europe Championship, which kicked off at the weekend in Madrid, Lisbon and Heusenstamm, in Germany, with the winning teams, Georgia, Romania and Spain acquiring try-bonus points for scoring four or more tries. The match in Heusenstamm was preceded by a ceremony, with the Champions Georgia returning the Rugby Europe trophy, as the new competition was about to kick off. Chris Thau reports:
Germany 8 – Georgia 64
Scorers:
Germany - Liebig try; Te Huia dg
Georgia - Zhvania (3), Penalty try (2 ), Todua (2), Khmaladze, Nemsadze, Khutsishvili, Cons: Khmaladze (4) Malaguradze (3)
Georgia was the first team, followed by Romania and Spain, to acquire a try-bonus-point in the first round of 2015/16 Rugby Europe Championship, but unlike their fellow first division contenders who had to work hard for the extras, “the Lelos” were on their way to the four-try target even before half time, thanks to a hat-trick of tries by their hooker Zurabi Zhvania , for the amateur of statistics, possibly the fastest hat-trick scored in international rugby by a hooker. And, mind you, he is not even a hooker by trade. He plays for his Parisian club Stade Francaius as loose-head prop, and made his international debut at hooker in Germany, at the suggestion of Head Coach Milton Haig and his forwards coach Didier Bes. To say that the experiment was successful would be an understatement.
Swamped by props of international class, the Georgian coaching staff had to make amendments for the fast approaching RWC and Zhvania, on his weekend display, is going to fit the bill nicely. To start the match against Germany with a front row which includes loose-head Nariashvili of Montpellier, Zhvania of Stade Francais and Clermont tight-head. David Zirakashvili and with a formidable trio Mamukashvili of Sale Sharks, Chilachava of Toulon, and another Stade Francais customer Kubriashvili on the bench, one could well described this as an embarrassment of riches.
The ability to contain the formidable Georgian pack in the tight was the main worry of the German coaching staff before kick-off and in the event their concerns proved to be founded. The German Head Coach Kobus Potgiter is a former prop, who has been aware of the unbridgeable gap between his largely amateur fifteen and a very strong professional outfit. Furthermore, for a team like his, which suffers from a chronic shortage of talent in depth, the injury of some of their players of genuine class of the likes of Robert Mohr and Benjamin Danso, not to mention play-maker Ray Parkinson, who could have made a difference, seriously disrupted their playing pattern. Aware of the impending debacle Potgiter has started his regular captain Sean Armstrong on the bench, giving youngster Tim Menzel a run. The Perpignan Espoirs scrum-half did not do too badly, but between his performance behind a beaten pack and the confident game of his Georgian counterpart Vasil Lobzhanidze, who made his international debut behind Georgia’s dominant forwards, was the gulf reflected ultimately in the final score.
Spain 43- Russia 20
Scorers:
Spain: Tries: Recuerda, Heredia, Martin (2), Poggi, Villanueva, Nava; Cons Snee (4)
Russia : Tries Ostrikov, Galinovski; Pens Kushnarev (2); Cons: Kushnarev (2)
The answer to the question whether Spain could bring four years of narrow defeats at the hands of Russia to an end, in Madrid last weekend, was an emphatic “Yes“. It was Spain’s third win since 1994 when Russia replaced the Soviet Union as their regular opponent in the FIRA Championship and probably one of the most satisfying, though in 1996 “Los Leones” coached by New Zealander Bryce Bevin ripped “the Bears” apart 52-6 in Madrid, in a one sided contest, which probably still gives the current assistant coach of the Russian team Vitaly Sorokin, who played centre in that match, nightmares.
A significant factor in the success of the Spanish was team selection, driven forward by Head Coach and former Spain Captain Santiago Santos Munoz with extreme efficiency. Aware of the limitations of the Spanish domestic league, Santos, like his predecessors, looked for eligible players across the Pyrenees, in France and beyond. The majority of the Spanish squad play for French clubs, from the Top 14, to ProD2 and Federale 1, 2 & 3, which is definitely a higher standard that what the domestic Spanish league could offer, with New Zealander Daniel Snee, who spent more than three years in Spain, eligible through residence. The team selection should not obscure the fact that the team was well prepared, ready for the task, which they implemented with ruthless efficiency.
On the other hand, the Russian team, the new Head Coach Alexander Pervukhin explained were not quite ready for the intensity of the Spanish onslaught. “Basically, Spain were better prepared than us, both physically and tactically. Our clubs used to start preparations for the new season much earlier, but now they only started on January 12, which was too late for this match. Simply, our defence could not handle the high intensity game they played. There may have been errors in selection, but there was a bit of bad luck as well, as no less than 10 players went down with flu during the camp. In fact two players started the game with high fever. Mind you, though they were leading 24-13 at half time, we could have bounced back in the second half, had our kicking been better.”
Portugal 10 – Romania 27
Scorers:
Romania Tries: Dascalu, Macovei, Botezatu, Apostol; Pens: Calafeteanu (3) Cons: Calafeteanu (4)
Portugal: Try Costa, Pen: Avila, Con: Avila
The predicted Portuguese fight-back did not materialise until late in the second half, allowing the Romanian forwards to dominate the proceedings before the break with authority. The pressurised Los Lobos into giving away three penalties in the first twenty minutes, which the Oaks scrum-half Valentin Calafeteanu slotted through with confidence, answering in style the concerns generated by the absence of Romania’s kicking prodigy Florin Vlaicu. In fact, the accuracy of the Timisoara Saracens kicker, in superb form, was a feature of the match as he sailed to a 100% record with 17 points from three penalties and four conversions.
In ther first half, the Romanians further capitalised on their dominant pack with two tries, one from an intercept by centre Robert Dascalu and the other by skipper Mihai Macovei, who went over at a scrum near the Portuguese line, with both Portugal fullback Duarte Marques and wing-forward Julien Bardy showed earlier yellow cards by RFU referee Luke Perarce. Uncharacteristically Portuguese centre Pedro Avila, whose place-kicking is usually of the highest calibre, failed with one of his kicks at goal, for a half-time score of 3-23. Soon after the break, the Romanian scored another try thorough their left wing Ionut Botezatu, touchdown converted by Calafeteanu.
Somehow, after this, the Portuguese players remembered the half time sermon of Head Coach João Luís Pinto and started to attack in numbers. A clever break by Nuno Penha Costa, saw the CDUL fly-half under the posts, with the conversion duly landed by Pedro Avila. They carried on in the same vain, hotly supported by the crowd who sensed the change of gear. It was one-way traffic for about a quarter of an hour, with the Portuguese attacking with the ball in hand, but a great defensive effort by the Romanians kept their line intact. In fact, a brisk counter-attack, saw replacement winger Adrian Apostol going over in the corner, with Calafetaenu duly adding the conversion points.
"Though we are a young team, we are quite ambitious” said Portugal captain Vasco Uva, who won his 94th cap on Saturday.” In fact, as long as I am captain of the National XV, winning remains one of our main ambitions. Losing, is just not part of the DNA of Portugal rugby team," he said.