POLAND v MOLDOVA: WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B

05.04.2014

Venue: Stadion Polonii, Warsaw

Referee: Alexei Bryzgalin (Russia)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
GERMANY	8	6	0	2	277	149	128	5	0	29
MOLDOVA	7	5	0	2	199	171	28	5	0	25
POLAND	8	5	0	3	169	133	36	0	1	21
UKRAINE	8	4	0	4	190	171	19	2	1	19
SWEDEN	9	3	0	6	173	262	-89	1	1	14
CZECH REP.	8	1	0	7	93	215	-122	0	1	5

Preview
Poland and Moldova would appear to be the only teams likely to challenge Germany for the top position in this competition. The winner of ENC 1B will have to face the Netherlands in early May in the next round of World Cup qualifying. The winner of that game faces Russia in the first of the playoff games to find the team that goes into Pool A of the 2015 Rugby World Cup Finals. That is a long way off!

Poland’s heavy defeat to Germany last November would make their task to win this competition now very difficult. Moldova has a game in hand and unless other results come into play Poland’s chances look slim. Their position in ENC 1B looks secure so perhaps the building up of a winning team begins today. Poland has also a revised policy regarding the large number of Polish heritage players based in France and is looking to more Polish-speaking players from local leagues.

Polish team in training. Image thanks to http://pzrugby.pl/?p=11179

Moldova looks the team that is going places. With a large number of the squad playing outside Moldova in either Romanian or Russian leagues the team has been going from strength to strength. They look like the most likely to challenge Germany for the title. Many foresee an eventual Russian-Moldovan encounter to decide the European team in the World Cup Playoffs. But in the meantime I expect a huge effort from Poland in this game. They will push the Moldovans right to the finish. I’d love to be there. It’ll be a cracker!

Last Five Encounters
13.04.2013 Moldova 24-20 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
12.11.2011 Drawn 17-17 in Chisinau (ENC 1B)
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 Sochaczew (WCQ Europe R3; Pool A)

The 2006 fixture was the first time these two teams met.

Poland Last Five P 5, W 2, L 3
09.11.2013 v Germany L 14-43 in Berlin (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
01.11.2013 v Sri Lanka L 25-26 in Colombo (IRB Serindib Tri-Nations)29.10.2013 v Madagascar L 21-25 in Colombo (IRB Serindib Tri-Nations)
12.10.2013 v Czech Republic W 30-10 in Warsaw (WCQ Euro.R4; ENC 1B)
07.09.2013 v Sweden W 30-9 in Warsaw (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)

Moldova Last Five P5, W 5
16.11.2013 v Germany W 30-15 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
09.11.2013 v Sweden W 50-20 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
13.04.2013 v Poland W 24-20 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
07.04.2013 v Ukraine W 38-18 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
16.03.2013 v Czech Republic W 37-12 in Chisinau (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table: Moldova 13th, Poland 15th

IRB Ranking Points
Moldova 55.11, Poland 52.77

Prediction: Moldova by 3 points

TEAMS

Poland Squad

Craig Bachurzewski (Glasgow Hawks, Scotland)
Dawid Banaszek (Arka Gdynia)
Mateusz Bartoszek (Glasgow Hawks, Scotland)
Kamil Bobryk (CS Vienne, France)
Adrian Chróściel (Pogoń Siedlce)
Tomasz Gasik (Pogoń Siedlce)
Rafał Janeczko (Lechia Gdańsk)
Grzegorz Janiec (CASE Rugby St. Etienne, France)
Piotr Jurkowski (Orkan)
Sławomir Kaszuba (Lechia Gdańsk)
Emil Kowalewski (Budowlani SA Łódź)
Rafał Kwiatkowski (Arka Gdynia)
Robert Kwiatkowski (Lechia Gdańsk)
Dawid Lorentowicz (Lechia Gdańsk)
Cyprian Majcher (Lechia Gdańsk)
Michał Mirosz (Budowlani SA Łódź)
Stanisław Niedźwiedzki (Budowlani  Lublin)
Robert Pawelec (Pogoń Siedlce)
Karol Perzak (Arka Gdynia)
Marek Płonka (Lechia Gdańsk)
Radosław Rakowski (Arka Gdynia)
Tomasz Rokicki (Lechia Gdańsk)
Rafał Szrejber (Arka Gdynia)
Łukasz Szostek (Arka Gdynia)
Mariusz Wilczuk (Lechia Gdańsk)
Rafał Witoszyński (Lechia Gdańsk)

Reserves
Szypura Bartosz (Posnania)
Adrian Ignaczak (Budowlani SA Łódź)
Sebastian Łuczak (Budowlani SA Łódź)
Marek Przychodzki (ogniwo)
Piotr Psuj (Pogoń Siedlce)
Szymon Sirocki (Arka Gdynia)
Michał Wierzejski (Pogoń Siedlce)
Łukasz Żórawski (Budowlani SA Łódź)

Head Coach: Marek Plonka

Adapted from http://pzrugby.pl/?p=11179

Moldova Squad

Props
Cobîlaş Maxim (Krasnîi Iar, Russia)
Leon Victor (CSM Bucureşti, România)
Cobîlaş Vadim (Sale Sharks, Aviva Premiership)
Titica Veaceslav (Krasnîi-Iar, Russia)
Dorogan Ruslan (Dinamo, România)

Hookers
Orghianu Igor (Steaua, România)
Dascăl Ion (Lupii Albi-USEFS)
Vasilachi Dumitru (Lupii Albi – USEFS)

Locks
Romanov Andrei (Krasnîi-Iar, Russia)
Mahu Andrei (RCM Timişoara, România)
Gargalîc Maxim (Enisei-STM, Russia)

Back row
Prepeliţă Oleg (Krasnîi-Iar, Russia)
Castraveţ Sergiu (Lupii Albi – USEFS)
Buşilă Ion (Lupii Albi- USEFS)
Rotundu Roman (Dinamo, România)
Purcel Nicolae (ŞSSRAR-USPEE)

Scrum half
Chirilă Nicolae (Lupii Albi-USEFS)
Caburgan Nicolae (Lupii Albi – USEFS)
Murzac Victor (Sporting-ASEM)

Fly half
Manoli Octavian (Lupii Albi – USEFS)
Felston Craig (UK)

Centres
Baltag Andrian (Lupii Albi-USEFS)
Cavcaliuc Ion (Dinamo, România)
Olari Andrei (Toulouse Olympique XIII, France)
Leca Ştefan (Lupii Albi-USEFS)

Wingers
Bulgac Alexandru (Lupii Albi-USEFS)
Cebotari Andrei (Dinamo, România)
Toderică Eduard (Olimp-Electromaş, Transnistria)
Lotcă Ilie (Lupii Albi-USEFS)

Fullback
Golubenco Mihai (Steaua, România)
Petrache Dorin (Lupii Albi–USEFS)
Artîc Mihai (Lupii Albi-USEFS)

For lists of all Poland and Moldova test rugby results go to www.rugbyinternational.net