Czechia are now unbeaten at the top of the Rugby Europe men’s Championship Trophy standings after a thrilling 32-30 away win against Poland on Saturday.
Both sides went into the match in the six-team tournament with two wins from two under their belts and, as such, a cracking tie was expected.
And a cracking tie was had at the Narodowy Stadion Rugby in Gdynia, Czechia just edging out the now second placed hosts by two points.
Poland, cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd, got off to the perfect start when second-row Jakub Malecki swatted off a number of defenders to score a try under the posts. Full-back Wojciech Piotrowicz converted and it was 7-0.
Czechia responded almost immediately when a great run by centre Samuel Dupuy also saw him score under the posts with full-back Martin Cimprich converting for 7-7.
After a frantic start, the next points did not arrive until the 28th minute when winger Adam Koblic came infield off his flank superbly to cut through the defence for Czechia’s second try. Cimprich again converted for 14-7.
Five minutes later a Piotrowicz penalty made it 14-10 and then Poland took the lead at half-time as, just before the break, centre Jonathan O’Neil scored their second try. Piotrowicz nailed a tricky conversion and it was 17-14 to the home side.
The first points in the second period came in the 55th minute when Koblic showed good pace to bag his second try of the game. It was not converted, but Czechia were 19-17 up.
A penalty by Piotrowicz made it 20-19 to Poland with 18 minutes to go, but almost immediately try number four came at the other end for Czechia.
It came after Poland dropped the ball while attacking and Czechia winger Adam Miracky pounced on the loose ball and ran in the score. Cimprich’s conversion made it 26-20 to the visiting team.
With nine minutes left a penalty from Czechia stand-off Tristan Horak stretched that lead to nine points before, with seven minutes to go, a Piotrowicz penalty for Poland made it 29-23.
With five minutes remaining, another Horak three-pointer gave Czechia a 32-23 advantage before, in the final seconds with the clock in the red, Poland scored a try via winger Kacper Wrobel with Piotrowicz converting, and the visitors had won 32-30.
- There were two Rugby Europe women’s Conference matches at the weekend too.
On Saturday, Georgia got the better of Romania 43-0 on the road in Snagov for their first official match in Rugby Europe competition and then, on Sunday, Austria beat Czechia 20-7 in Vienna.
By Gary Heatly
Photos: Wojciech Szymanski (Poland v Czechia) Barbara Lichtblau-Zakrzanska (Austria v Czechia) and Marian-Valentin Burlacu (Romania v Georgia)
