EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP: Greece v Luxembourg

05.05.2012
Greece v Luxembourg in Luxembourg (ENC 2D)

Venue:

Referee: Karlis Sarkans (Latvia)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
CYPRUS	6	6	0	0	350	41	309	6	0	30
GREECE	6	3	0	3	135	100	35	2	2	16
BULGARIA	7	4	0	3	92	252	-160	0	0	16
LUXEMB.	7	2	0	5	93	178	-85	0	1	9
FINLAND	6	1	0	5	50	149	-99	0	1	5

 
Preview
Greece is in a safe enough position to avoid any thoughts of relegation. For Luxembourg the situation is very different. They need a win, or at least a bonus point, to steer them clear of Finland. As there is only one relegation playoff in this pool (and it is looking like a Bosnia-Herzegovina (Top ENC 3) v Finland (last at present in ENC 2D) playoff ) Luxembourg need to stay well away from the bottom of the points table.

Recent form would suggest that the Greeks will be strong enough (although we don’t know their lineup) to hold out the home side for a win.

Greece lost to Finland last year.

Previous Encounters
02.04.2011 Greece 30-18 in Athens (ENC 2D)
13.03.2010 Greece 17-9 in Athens (ENC 3C)
25.04.2009 Greece 17-14 in Luxembourg (WCQ Europe R1; ENC 3C)

Greece Last Five
05.11.2011 v Bulgaria W 47-7 in Thesalonika (ENC 2D)
11.06.2011 v Finland L 7-11 in Helsinki (ENC 2D)
02.04.2011 v Luxembourg W 30-18 in Athens (ENC 2D)
20.11.2010 v Cyprus L 13-33 in Athens (ENC 2D)
06.11.2010 v Bulgaria L 22-25 in Pernik (ENC 2D)

Luxembourg Last Five
21.04.2012 v Finland W 26-3 in Luxembourg (ENC 2D)
22.10.2011 v Bulgaria L 16-19 in Pernik (ENC 2D)
08.10.2011 v Cyprus L 7-48 in Paphos (ENC 2D)
07.05.2011 v Cyprus L 0-50 in Luxembourg (ENC 2D)
02.04.2011 v Greece L 18-30 in Athens (ENC 2D)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table-Greece 35th, Luxembourg 37th

IRB Ranking points do not apply as Greece does not register.

Prediction: Greece by 6 points.

Teams

Luxembourg Squad
Saman Rezapour (RCL)
Adam Marcus (BELSIZE Park, UK)
Kim Zimmer (WALFERDANGE)
Zelito Neves dos Santos (WALFERDANGE)
Niko Rivallen (LONGWY)
Stuart Kelly (RCL)
Scott MacKinlay (RCL)
Julien da Col (Walferdange)
Nigel Sharplin (RCL)
Tim Seite (Walferdange)
Thibaud Sacaze (Walferdange)
Bryan Fage (Walferdange)
Damien Bessieres (RCL)
Cedric Handschoewerker (Walferdange)
James Clarke (RCL)
Christophe Balthazard (RCL)
Steve Clarke (RCL)
Jan Louw(RCL)
Yared Ketema (RCL)
Philippe Vimond (RCL)
Bertrand Cohen-Sabban (RCL)
Adrien Timmermans (RCL)

* RCL = Rugby Club Luxembourg
RCL play in Bundesliga 2 Sud (Germany)
Walferdange play Regional Belgium Rugby

http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4076

The Greek squad is as yet unknown.