EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP: Poland and Moldova Clash

12.11.2011
Poland v Moldova in Chisinau (ENC 1B)

Venue: Stadium Dynamo

Referee: Petrescu (Romania)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
BELGIUM	6	5	0	1	178	88	90	2	1	23
MOLDOVA	5	4	0	1	115	91	24	2	0	18
POLAND	6	4	0	2	142	125	17	0	1	17
CZECH R.	7	3	0	4	115	175	-59	0	1	13
GERMANY	5	1	0	4	109	117	-8	0	3	7
NETH.	5	0	0	5	74	138	-64	0	1	1

Preview
This is a crucial game for both teams. Locked together near the top of the points table, they are just below the pace setter Belgium. A win could propel them closer to Belgium. A loss would dampen their promotion prospects.

Moldova is in the better position on the points table. They have a game in hand. They also have the home advantage. This didn’t help them in 2009 when Poland won by 2 points!

Moldova sees the return of their Sale Sharks player Vadim Cobîlaş. He is crucial to the power of their forward pack. They also have their Russian-based players available. This looks like a strong team.

Poland are missing two of their France-based backs, Vassiere and Chartier. A number of other players that are available are based in France.

Poland has the advantage of already playing together as a team this season. Back in October they defeated Czech Republic 20-13.

This should be a close game.

Previous Encounters
13.11.2010 Moldova 36-25 in Gdansk (ENC 1B)
16.05.2009 Poland 30-28 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 2A)
08.04.2006 Moldova 27-13 in Sochaczelo (WCQ Europe R3, Pool A)

Poland Last Five
15.10.2011 v Czech Republic W 20-13 in Nowy Sacz (ENC 1B)
16.04.2011 v Netherlands W 32-18 in Gracovie (ENC 1B)
12.03.2011 v Belgium W 22-17 in Gdansk (ENC 1B)
20.11.2010 Germany W 22-17 in Frankfurt (ENC 1B)
13.11.2010 Moldova L 25-36 in Gdansk (ENC 1B)

Moldova Last Five
30.04.2011 v Netherlands W 22-15 in Chisinau (ENC 1B)
02.04.2011 v Germany W 28-15 in Chisinau (ENC 2B)
19.03.2011 v Czech Republic W 24-16 in Chisinau (ENC 1B)
12.02.2011 v Belgium L 5-20 in Brussels (ENC 1B)
13.11.2010 v Poland W 36-25 in Gdansk (ENC 1B)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Poland 12th, Moldova 14th

IRB Ranking Points
Moldova 54.10, Poland 53.57

Prediction: Moldova by 2 points

Teams

Polish Squad (22 to be selected for the match)

Budowlani Łódź – Merab Gabunia, Łukasz Żórawski, Tomasz Stępień, Grzegorz Dułka (reserve: Michał Mirosz);
Lechia Gdańsk – Grzegorz Janiec, Sławomir Kaszuba, Yuriy Bukhalo (reserve: Karol Hedesz, Piotr Jurkowski);
Budowlani Lublin – Stanisław Niedźwiecki, Piotr Psuj (reserve: Wojciech Król, Adrian Chróściel, Wojciech Piotrowicz);
Posnania Poznań – Paweł Najdek, Tomasz Hebda, Mateusz Adamski;
Arka Gdynia – Łukasz Szostek, Marcin Wilczuk;
AZS-AWF Warszawa – Wojciech Łukasiewicz

Players outside Poland: Michał Krużycki, Jean Boutes, Kamil Bobryk, Kacper Ławski, Mateusz Bartoszek, Krzysztof Hotowski, Tom Jankowski.

http://pzrugby.pl/?p=3761 and thanks to ‘http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3939

Moldovan Squad

Props:
Cobîlaş Maxim – „VVA –Monino”,Rusia
Cobîlaş Vadim – „Sale Sharks” , Marea Britanie
Leon Victor – „Dinamo Bucureşti”, România
Ursu Dumitru – „Sporting-ASEM” , MDA

Hookers:
Vasilachi Dumitru – „USEFS”, MDA
Dascăl Ion – „USEFS” , MDA

2nd Row:
Romanov Andrei – „VVA-Monino” , Rusia
Mahu Andrei – „Sporting –ASEM”, MDA
Arhip Victor – „Enisei”, Rusia

3rd Row:
Perpeliţă Oleg – „Spartac”Rusia
Castraveţ Sergiu - „Spartac”Rusia
Gajion Gheorghe – „UTM”, MDA
Lozinschi Veaceslav – „USEFS”, MDA

Scrum-halves:
Chirilă Nicolae – „Imperia – Penza”,Rusia
Caburgan Nicolae – „USEFS”, MDA

10s:
Manoli Octavian – „UTM”, MDA
Găgăuz Alexandr – „Agrouniversitet”, Rusia

Centres:
Voloşciuc Gheorghe – „USEFS”, MDA
Baltag Andrian – „Spartac”,Rusia
Leca Ştefan – „USEFS”, MDA

Wings:
Gherghieş Mihai – „UTM”, MDA
Bulgac Alexandru – „USEFS”, MDA
Toderică Eduard – „Taganrog” , Rusia

Full Backs:
Chicu Eugen – „USEFS”, MDA
Murzac Victor – „Sporting-ASEM”, MDA

http://www.rugby.md/index.php?pagina=7&articol=458 and thanks to ‘Quentin’ at http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3939