Rugby match Ukraine - Poland today

Ukraine national rugby-15 team continues performances in the European Nations Cup and on Saturday, March 30, in Gdynia will hold its first official match in 2013 (Division 1-B) with the team of Poland.

This group is headed by the German team. First place provides access to Division 1-A and opens up the prospect of participation in the qualifying round of the World Cup - 2015 - the most prestigious rugby competition. Ukraine is in second place - last year the team lost to Germany and won over Sweden and the Czech Republic. Poland has one point less, but before that played only two matches, and is the only team that had not lost.
  
Poland is considered to be the favorite, winning last year over the teams of Czech Republic and Germany. Half of the players of this team play for clubs in France, where the national championship is in full swing. Observers note teamwork of Tomasz Putra players, the team has class performers and today is in peak form.
  
Ukrainians are not so good, though they say that they are in good physical shape. The team was disbanded after the game with the Czechs in November, it did not conduct a full training cycle and with this came to the first official match of the new season.

Now they hope for the core team of Ukraine. This is players from Kharkiv "Olymp" - the leader of the last 10 years in the Ukrainian rugby. The club is alive and well thanks to the financial support of Aleksander Yaroslavskiy, ex-owner of FC "Metalist". Because of this the players have adequate match practice and fit. The national team, created on the basis of "Olymp", had the highest achievement - a few years ago it appeared in the elite division 1-A.
  
Optimists give statistics of past years - up to a dozen victories over the Poles, the optimal composition of the Ukrainian team is called one of the trump cards. Observers estimate that in the last matches the Poles got results mainly in the first half of the game, whereas Ukrainians led in the second half. Consequently, the task of Oleg Zalizniy`s and Zurab Kikacheishvili`s wards in Saturday's match is hold the tide in the first half of the game and with the physical superiority to snatch victory in Gdynia in the second half.
  
But then there are a few "buts". Ukrainian team was actually gathered three days before the game. On Thursday, they went from Lviv by bus and got to the north of Poland at night in bad weather. After a night of exhausting 700-kilometer crossing - trainings on Friday and Saturday - important match. Here`s a clear mistake of judgment. It would have been more reasonable to get to Gdynia by air on Thursday so there would not have been a sleepless night before the game.
  
But we should not get ahead of ourselves. Let's hope for the physical endurance of the Ukrainian team players and for "Olymp".

sport.ua