Test Rugby.ENC Round 2 Begins

12.09.2009
Poland v Ukraine in Kiev (WCQ R4; ENC 2A)

Venue: Stadium Spartak

Live-Video On-line 16-00 LT(15-00 EUT) (14-00 GT) http://prl.org.ua/translations/
(Thanks to 'Zhulavskyy' http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3195)

Preview
Round two of the European Nations Cup gets underway in Kiev, Saturday. Both Poland and Ukraine are contenders for the next round of World Cup qualification.

All teams in Division 2A will have to wait for the outcome of Division 2B. The winner of 2B will later play Lithuania who qualified from Round 3. The Round 4 final will be between the winner of the 2A division and the winner of 2B v Lithuania. But first we have to find a winner of 2A.

At the halfway stage of ENC 2A both Poland and Ukraine share top place with a loss and 3 wins each. Ukraine achieved a narrow 1 point win against Poland in Poland in the very first game in 2A in October last year. The scene is set for an opening game in Round 2 that could well decide the eventual division winner.

Poland has a long association with France. There are many Poles living in France. The Polish rugby team has drawn a number of France-based players into their squad for this game and the warm-up match, lost 9-38 against French regional side Roussillon.

Poland v Roussillon/foto: Krzysztof Lewandowski, www.rugby.info.pl/

The Ukraine does not the advantage of a pool of foreign-based players. Their team is based around champion club Olimpia with a sprinkling from other clubs, a player based in Russia and the other based in Tiraspol, the breakaway region of Moldova.

Some comments from FIRA-AER forum
"Some people think that having the national team with majority of players from a single club is an advantage, because the players know each other well. I don't think so however. Notably absent are any players from RC Obolon (Khmelnitsky), which is the national champion in Rugby-7 and could probably provide some quick backline runners." Rugger IA

Poland ENC 2A Round One Results
04.10.2008 v Ukraine in Lotz L 12-13
15.11.2008 v Czech Republic in Ostrava W 13-7
16.05.2009 v Moldova in Chisinau W 30-28
30.05.2009 v Belgium in Gdansk W 14-3

Ukraine 2A Round One Results
04.10.2008 v Poland in Lotz W 13-12
01.11.2008 v Belgium in Brussels L 8-9
21.03.2009 v Czech Republic in Odessa W 20-10
09.05.2009 v Moldova in Kiev W 32-0

Last Five Encounters Ukraine v Poland
04.10.2008 Poland 13-12 in Lotz (WCQ Euro.R4)
25.10.2003 Ukraine 24-13 in Lotz (ENC 2A)
19.10.2002 Poland 20-11 in Kiev (ENC 2A)
19.05.2001 Ukraine 9-3 in ? (FIRA B)
01.05.1999 Ukraine 37-18 in Kiev (FIRA Pool E)

GWC Rugby Rankings: Europe Table-Poland 13th, Ukraine 14th

Prediction: Poland by 2 points

Teams

Ukraine Squad
Vitaliy Dotsenko (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Serhiy Garkavy (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Vladyslav Grabovsky (RK Sokol)
Volodymyr Kashlyuk (RC Aviator)
Mykola Kirsanov (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Vadym Kolyshkyn (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Oleg Kosarev (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Vyacheslav Krasylnyk (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Maksym Kravchenko (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Oleksandr Lomakin (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Oleg Lytvynenko (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Oleksandr Lyubyy (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Dzhaba Malaguradze (RC Kredo 63)
Pavlo Masyukov (RCKredo-63)
Andriy Melnykov (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Dmytro Mokretsov (RK Sokol)
Oleksandr Myshynev (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Vadym Mysyk (Olimp-Electronmash, Tiraspol)
Vitaliy Orlov (Enisey-STM Krasnoyarsk, Russia)
Oleksandr Polyansky (RC Kredo 63)
Vyacheslav Ponomarkenko (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Serhiy Sukhykh (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Oleksandr Tsapenko (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Serhiy Tserkovny (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Maksym Tyurikov (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Serhiy Yanchyy (RC Aviator)
Vitaliy Zadvirny (RC Argo-NAU)
Ivan Zaliznyak (RC Olymp-RSC KhTZ)
Head Coach:

http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3195

Poland Squad
Dawid Banaszek (Villeurbane, France)
Olivier Barbier (Maisons Laffite, France)
Aleksander Bartoszewicz (Orkan Sochaczew)
Romuald Berthe (Bobigny, France)
Kamil Bobryk (Epernay, France)
Jurij Bukhalo (Posnania Poznań)
Grzegorz Falk (Juvenia Kraków)
Donald Gargasson (Toulon, France)
Krzysztof Hotowski (Nevers, France)
Grzegorz Janiec (Lechia Gdańsk)
Piotr Jurkowski (Lechia Gdańsk)
Stanislas Krzesiński (Mazamet, France)
Kacper Ławski (Budowlani Łódź)
Yann Lewandowski (Cahors, France
Stanisław Niedźwiecki (Budowlani Lublin)
Tomasz Nowak (Posnania)
Eric Piorkowski (Castres, France)
Tomasz Rokicki (Lechia Gdańsk)
Bastien Siepielski (Marmand, France)
Tomasz Stępień (Budowlani Łódź)
Cedric Vaissiere (Albi, France)
Marcin Wilczuk (Ogniwo Sopot)

Head Coach: Tomasz Putra

http://www.pzrugby.pl/seniorzy.reprezentacja.html