INTERNATIONAL TEST RUGBY: Poland Face Up To Belgium

24.04.2010
Poland v Belgium in Brussels (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 2A)

Venue: King Baudouin Stadium

Referee: Villegas (Spain)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	PT
UKRAINE	7	5	0	2	122	80	42	17
CZECH REPUBLIC	8	3	1	4	136	142	-6	15
BELGIUM	7	3	1	3	79	89	-10	14
POLAND	6	3	0	3	81	89	-8	12
MOLDOVA	6	2	0	4	105	125	-20	10

Preview
The winner of this division will face Lithuania next month in the first of the playoffs to find the third European team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals.

Poland will play its first game following the death of their President two weeks ago. On that occasion, the match v Moldova was called off as a mark of respect. The Polish rugby coaches brother was also killed in the plane crash. It may be a difficult ask but the team will need to put that behind them and win this game.

The Poles are near the bottom of the table and must win today against Belgium and then against Moldova to ensure they remain in Division 2A.

Belgium has been up and down in this competition which explains why it holds middle position on the table. They began with a roar, defeating favourites Ukraine 9-8 in the first match. Then they slid dangerously close to the relegation zone. This year they have improved. However a loss to Ukraine in the return match ended their chances of taking the vital top spot.

Previous Encounters
30.05.2009 Poland 14-3 in Gdansk (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 2A)
16.10.1999 Poland 43-14 in Brussels (FIRA C)
28.03.1998 Poland 30-10 in Gdansk (WCQ Europe Pool 2; Rnd B)
28.10.1995 Poland 30-10 in Lodz (FIRA A2)
15.10.1994 Poland 50-13 in Siedlce (FIRA A1)

Poland first played Poland back in 1959. The Poles winning 6-0 in Katowice.

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table-Poland 16th, Belgium 17th

Prediction: Poland by 5 points.

Teams

Belgium
Thibaut André (Soignies)
Neil Andrew (Tournefeuille)
Aurélien Batardy (Soignies)
Julien Berger (La Rochelle, France)
Bertrand Billi (Soignies)
Christophe Debaty (Limoges, France)
Mika Demolder (Boitsfort)
Thomas Dienst (Lille, France)
Denis Eppe (ROC Ottignies)
Charlie Fourneau (Lille, France)
Denis Franquin (Boitsfort)
Damien Godefroy (Lille, France)
Sébastien Guns (Boitsfort)
Dirk Haghedooren (Agde)
Julien Hanchir (Milau, France)
Maxime Jadot (Frameries)
Simon Marote (ASUB)
Julien Massimi (St-Etienne, France)
Jaco McLachlan (Dendermonde)
Nicolas Meeus (Kituro)
Alain Miriallakis (St-Etienne, France)
Romain Orban (Kituro)
Frédéric Rongé (Kituro)
Mathieu Verschelden (ASUB)
Norman Wende (St-Etienne, France)
Alan Williams (Castres, France)

Head Coach: Richard McClintock

http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3444

Poland Squad
Dawid Banaszek (Villeurbanne, France)
Mateusz Bartoszek (Albi, France)
Kamil Bobryk (Epernay, France)
David Chartier (Bayonne, France)
Karol Denisiuk (Arka Gdynia);
Lukasz Doroszkiewicz (Lechia Gdansk)
Charles Hedesz (Lechia Gdansk)
Krzysztof Hotowski (Nevers, France)
Rafał Janeczko (AZS AWF Warszawa);
Grzegorz Janiec (Lechia Gdansk)
Piotr Karpiński (Budowlani Łódź)
Sławomir Kaszuba (Lechia Gdansk)
Emil Kowalewski (Orkan Sochaczew)
Robert Kwiatkowski (Lechia Gdańsk)
Michael Krużycki (Lyon, France)
Stanislas Krzesińska (Mazamet, France)
Kacper Ławski (Budowlani Łódź);
Yann Lewandowski (Cahors, France)
Wojciech Lukasiewicz (Orkan Sochaczew)
Michał Mirosz (Budowlani Łódź);
Stanisław Niedźwiecki (Budowlani Lublin)
Wojciech Piotrowicz (Budowlani Lublin).
Piotr Piszczek (Lechia Gdańsk)
David Poplawski (Albi, France)
Marek Przychocki (Ogniwo Sopot),
Kazimierz Raszpunda (Portsmouth RFC, England)
Bastien Siepielski (Marmande, France)
Kamil Simionkowski (Arka Gdynia)
Tomasz Stepien (Budowlani Łódź)
Mariusz Wilczuk (Lechia Gdańsk)
Martin Wilczuk (Portsmouth RFC, England)Konrad Jarosz (Juvenia Kraków);

One to be omitted

Head Coach: Thomas Putra

Adapted from http://www.rugby.info.pl/artykul_2074_w ... y_z_belgia