GERMANY v UKRAINE: World Cup Qualifying, Europe Round 4; ENC 1B

26.10.2013

Venue: Komsomolsk

Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
POLAND	7	5	0	2	155	90	65	0	1	21
GERMANY	5	4	0	1	191	89	102	4	0	20
MOLDOVA	5	3	0	2	119	136	-17	3	0	15
SWEDEN	7	3	0	4	142	177	-35	1	1	14
UKRAINE	5	2	0	3	122	122	0	1	1	10
CZECH REP.	7	1	0	6	83	198	-115	0	1	5

Preview
This is the first game of the new season for these two sides. Germany is in a very strong position on the points table, trailing Poland by 1 point with two games in hand.

The Ukraine, relegated from the top division at the end of 2012 are struggling at this level as well. They appear to be well away from the relegation zone, that position belonging to the Czech Republic, but some good showings are essential for the rebuilding programme.

Previous Encounters
27.10.2012 Germany 46-28 in Berlin (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
19.04.2008 Germany 13-5 in Hannover (ENC 2A)
21.04.2007 Germany 22-14 in Kiev (ENC 2A)
12.10.2003 Ukraine 6-3 in Kiev (ENC 2A)
24.11.2002 Drawn 26-26 in Heidelberg (ENC 2A)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table: Germany 13th, Ukraine 14th

IRB Ranking Points
Germany 55.96, Ukraine 50.97

Prediction: Germany by 11 points

TEAMS

Germany Squad

Heidelberger RK: Benjamin Danso, Arthur Zeiler, Raynor Parkinson, Steffen Liebig, Kehoma Brenner, Anjo Buckman, Alex Widiker, Sean Armstrong, Pieter Jordaan, Ansgar Ruhnau.
RG Heidelberg: Manuel Wilhelm
SC Neuenheim: Lars Eckert, Paul Weiss
TSV Handschuhsheim: Alexander Hug, Marcus Bender
SC Frankfurt 1880: Chad Sheperd, Mark Sztyndera
TV Pforzheim: Rob May, Timo Vollenkemper, Chris Howells, Carlos Soteras-Merz
Hannover 78: Phil Szczesny

Standby: Rafael Pyrasch, Pierre Mathurin (both Heidelberger RK), Alexander Hauck, Jannis Läpple (both SC Frankfurt 1880), Jörn Schröder (TV Pforzheim), Benedikt Scherrer (Heidelberger TV) & Tim Biniak (RK Heusenstamm).

Ukraine Squad

Forwards :
Eduard Vertiletsky, Vitaly Kramarenko, Eduard Kozyr, Alexander Polyansky, Evgeny Chayka, Viktor Gulenko, Sergey Nikitin (all "Kredo-1963", Odessa)
Alexander Tsapenko, Alexander Lomakin (both "Olymp", Kharkiv)
Dimitry Mokretsov, Nikolay Aleksandryuk (both "Bulava Taganrog", Russia)
Alexey Novokreshchenov ( "Kuban Krasnodar", Russia)
Vyacheslav Krasilnik ("VVA-Saracens", Russia),
Alexander Khomenko ("Epoch-Polytechnic", Kiev),
Vladislav Demetsky ("Obolon -University ", Khmelnitsky)

Half-backs :
Sergey Yanchy ("Bulava Taganrog", Russia),
Sergey Tserkovniy ("Olymp", Kharkov).

Backs :
Miroslav Shuljak ("Obolon-University", Khmelnitsky),
Taras Marchenko, Paul Masjukov, Artyom Kulik, Dennis Masjukov (all "Kredo-1963", Odessa),
Vyacheslav Ponomarenko, Oleg Kosarev (both "Olymp", Kharkiv)
Vitaly Krasnodemsky ("Agro-Strela Kazan", Russia),
Maxim Tyurikov ("RC Novokuznetsk", Russia)