SWEDEN v POLAND: REC 1B

12.09.2015

Venue: Enkoping, Sweden

Referee:

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	B	PT
BELGIUM	5	5	0	0	189	75	114	2	22
MOLDOVA	5	3	0	2	155	83	72	4	16
UKRAINE	5	3	0	2	108	81	27	1	13
NETHERLANDS	5	2	0	3	81	74	3	2	10
POLAND	5	2	0	3	103	146	-43	2	10
SWEDEN	5	0	0	5	49	226	-177	0	0

Preview
This rugby tests kicks off the second part of the Rugby Europe Championship. This second part determines who is promoted and who is relegated. The championship is contested each season.

Both teams languish at the bottom of the points table in Division 1B. Poland’s position looks reasonably safe but with a full squad of players Sweden will be desperate to avoid relegation. A loss today for the Swedes would virtually seal their fate.

’This looks to be as strong a sides as the Swedes could put out. The disharmony between players and the union that led to players from lower level clubs having to be picked instead of Exile players seems to be over. The Swedes have also been able to bring in Andrew Daish who plays in England and stood up well in their match against the Netherlands in May. The only notable exceptions would be the Exiles pair of Daniel Chamberlain at lock (unavailable) and back row Chris Bradley (injured).’

‘The flanker Aleksander Nowicki and lock/back row Tomasz Hebda have not been released by their Federal 1 clubs. The union web site also mentioned that neither has Thomas Pretkowski which is interesting given that he is one of the grandfather rule French players brought in during the Putra regime. The current coach has turned his back on the French nurtured players in favour of those domestically raised, however the dearth of top quality props in Poland may have required a U-turn on this policy. I remember Pretkowski playing a few games for the national side, and although unspectacular he did a solid job and that fact that he seems to start at tight head for Federal 1 Lille most weeks seems to be enough to try and get him back in the set up.

Other omissions include the injured lock Kruzycki and the number 8 Zeszutek. An interesting inclusion is Grabowski, the Lodz centre, who's brother plays in the back row for the Ukraine. He has Polish roots and also qualifies on residency and looks to be called in as Poland try to beef themselves up in the midfield as well as prop.

I travelled to Enkoping 4 years ago to watch this fixture when Poland were still chasing promotion and a bonus point win. Instead of kicking easy points they fell prey to a disciplined Swedish performance and came away with nothing which effectively led to the end of the Putra regime and the selection of French bred players. Since then Poland has slipped down the rankings. They have improved enormously off the pitch promoting the game, the international matches are held in I would say the best stadiums for the division, trainers from South Africa have also been brought in but the wins are just not coming. Poland seem to be able to score tries and have a good kicker, but defence has been a big issue. Let's see what they can do on Saturday. One key match up will be Bartoszek against Daish in the battle of the back rows.’

Thanks to ‘Polter’ at http://t2rugby.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=637

Last Five Encounters
06.09.2014 Poland 29-17 in Warsaw (REC 1B)
07.09.2013 Poland 30-9 in Warsaw (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
01.06.2013 Sweden 19-11 in Stockholm (WCQ Europe R4; ENC 1B)
11.10.2003 Poland 36-0 in Gdansk (ENC 2A)
05.10.2002 Poland 14-7 in Lund (ENC 2A)

Sweden Last Five P 5, L 5
30.05.2015 v Netherlands L 14-24 in Amsterdam (REC 1B)
28.03.2015 v Belgium L 10-71 in Brussels (REC 1B)
22.11.2014 v Moldova L 8-57 in Chisinau (REC 1B)
18.10.2014 v Ukraine L 0-45 in Enkoping (REC 1B)
26.09.2014 v Poland L 17-29 in Warsaw (REC 1B)

Poland Last Five P 5, W 2, L 3
09.05.2015 v Ukraine L 17-20 in Warsaw (REC 1B)
18.04.2015 v Belgium L 23-53 in Brussels (REC 1B)
15.11.2014 v Moldova L 25-48 in Chisinau (REC 1B)
18.10.2014 v Netherlands W 9-8 in Warsaw (REC 1B)
06.09.2014 v Sweden W 29-17 in Warsaw (REC 1B)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table: Poland 19th, Sweden 20th

IRB Ranking Points
Poland 49.84, Sweden 46.05

Prediction: Poland by 4 points. Score 21-17

TEAMS

Poland

15		Patryk Reksulak	Budowlani Łódź
14		Radoslaw Rakowski	Arka Gdynia
13		Tomasz Gasik	Orkan Sochaczew
12		Marek Grabowski	Budowlani Łódź
11		Tomasz Rokicki	Lechia Gdańsk
10		Dawid Banaszek	Arka Gdynia
9		Łukasz Szostek	Arka Gdynia
8		Paweł Dąbrowski	Arka Gdynia
7		Mateusz Bartoszek	SMRC Saint Médard, France
6		Marek Płonka jnr	Lechia Gdańsk
5		Paweł Poniatowski	Skra Warszawa
4		Stanisław Powala-Niedźwiecki	Ogniwo Sopot
3		Radosław Bysewski	Arka Gdynia
2		Kamil Bobryk (Capt.)	SC Vienne, France
1		Mariusz Wilczuk	Ogniwo Sopot
16		Adrian Chróściel	Pogoń Siedlce
17		Grzegorz Janiec	USRP Romans, France
18		Cyprian Majcher	Budowlani Łódź
19		Piotr Karpiński II	Budowlani Łódź
20		Dawid Plichta	Orkan Sochaczew
21		Rafał Szrejber	Arka Gdynia
22		Sebastian Gruszczyński	Posnania Posnania Poznań
23		Grzegorz Buczek	Lechia Gdańsk
		HEAD COACH: Marek Plonka

http://t2rugby.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=637

Sweden Squad

Alexander Rappestad Norrköping RK Trojan
Alexander Johansson Vänersborg RK
André Eriksson Pingvin RC (Trelleborg)
Andrew Daish Old Albanian RFC (England)
Dustin Eaton Stockholm Exiles RFC
Erik Arvidsson Pingvin RC (Trelleborg)
Grant Duffy Stockholm Exiles RFC
Henrik Ek Norrköping RK Trojan
Ian Gowland (Capt.) Stockholm Exiles RFC
James Darbyshire Stockholm Exiles RFC
Jonas Zengler Norrköping RK Trojan
Karl Linderoth Stockholm Exiles RFC
Mark Beveridge Stockholm Exiles RFC
Matt Mitchell Stockholm Exiles RFC
Måns Derk Södertälje RK
Neil Erasmus Stockholm Exiles RFC
Oliver Callaghan Amstelveense RC (Holland)
Rikus van Niekerk Stockholm Exiles RFC
Robin Fransson Stockholm Exiles RFC
Sean Burke Stockholm Exiles RFC
Tim Karl Johansson Stockholm Exiles RFC
Tobias Röstam Pingvin RC (Trelleborg)
Mak Jelek Dozo Stockholm Exiles RFC

http://t2rugby.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=637