Rugby in Sweden and Europe

The rainy weather played a part in the low scoring in both games this week. But the standard as a whole was not particularly high. I´m not sure there is any team at present worthy of the Swedish title, although one of Pingvin, Exiles or Enköping will be crowned in a few weeks´ time.

Troján had a number of useful players from Kalmar and they had put together a useful team for their home game against Exiles. The visitors had selected four starters from the bench of the week before and this raised their playing standard considerably. Both teams were throwing the ball around and Troján were holding their own initially. Exiles were, however, gradually getting the upper hand and on 12” flanker Nika S. went over after a forward drive. Ian Gowland, who was playing at standoff and taking the kicks, added the two points. Exiles continued to attack but were driven back continually by penalties where the offense committed was not always apparent. It took until.59” before Theo with a trademark run went over. And two minutes later Dave Hill went down the wing, kicked ahead and got the touchdown. Ian put over the two kicks and it was 21 – 0 to the visitors. Exiles were of course desperate to get a fourth try and a bonus point but Troján came back and on 63” Niclas Crona från Kalmar sliced through the centre for a lovely try.  Niclas usually plays as a flanker and is someone to keep an eye on. The minutes flashed by with Exiles on the offensive, but it was not until 85” on the clock that centre Nika K. finally found a way over the line. A welcome 5-pointer and Exiles still with a chance of taking the title. They had a bit more spark this week but will still need to raise their game for the final challenges; two at home to Enköping and Troján, one away to Pingvin.

The match down in Trelleborg was a pretty dull affair, although a lot was at stake. I can´t be the only one who finds it annoying that many of Pingvis´s games are played at snail´s pace with their pack walking slowly from set-piece to set-piece and with long discussions before each lineout. Every scrum is also reset several times, although Pingvin clearly had the upper hand. Both teams jumped well however when the ball was finally thrown in, despite at times heavy rain. I felt that Enköping were much more alert and the better team on the day, but they failed to register a try after three extended periods on the Pingvin line. Pingvin, however, true to form, scored their eighth consecutive try (in their last five matches) after a kick to the corner and a forward drive. They were helped once again in the last minute by the kicking skills of James Campbell. 10 – 9 to the home team and they are still in the driving seat towards the title. In the run-in they have Trojan and Exiles at home and, finally, Enköping away. A tough loss for Enköping, but they´re not entirely out the picture. They have a home match in hand against Troján, in addition Exiles and Troján away and the final game at home to Pingvin.

I´m not sure the standard of play in the Superseries has been all that high at times, nut it has been exciting with many close games. It could take until the final round before the final distribution of medals is decided after a hard-fought season.

Round 9 of the Superseries and possibilities are shrinking for the competing teams. I don´t have my finger on the pulse this week as my family and I are down in Cape Town for the World Seven´s Championships. We are also celebrating my wife´s 80^th birthday. Rugby connection? There are 16 of us in our closest family and, apart from Sylvia, 13 of the remaining 15 have at one time or another turned out for Stockholm Exiles. There are still seven active with an age range of 9 – 57 and six have represented Sweden at some level. We also have three Stora Grabbar, Hamish and the married couple Hunter Jr and Thérèse.  And, finally, a Chairman of Rugbyförbundet and two district chairmen. There are quite a few Swedish families with multiple rugby activities but I don´t think anyone has come near to matching Sylvia´s output.

Returning to current activities, Troján were unable to play last week because of Covid problems and one wonders how much their situation has improved in the last seven days. I haven´t seen any team lists and don´t know what team Exiles are sending down to Norrköping tomorrow but they have plenty good players and still have an outside chance of retaining their title. Nothing less than 5 points from the visit will be acceptable to them.

Big match of the day is of course Enköping´s trip down to Trelleborg. Enköping need to win to keep their title hopes alive; they beat Pingvin 31 – 7 at home a few weeks ago but as I said at the time Enköping got off to a flying start and thereafter the score was 7 – 7 for the remaining 60 minutes. Pingvin played well last week to beat Exiles but almost their only scoring move is the pack driving over from lineouts. Enköping have sharper backs but if Pingvin have the same pack as last week they could cause problems for the Enköping forwards. Both teams have strong defences and we could well see a low-scoring game with kicks deciding. A win for Pingvin and their grip on the title becomes stronger.

Decisive game in round 8 with Pingvin deservedly beating Exiles in Stockholm by 17 – 11. Pingvin played their best game of the season after looking pretty shaky the week before in Norrköping. They now stand on 29 points with Exiles on 24 and Enköping 20 with a game in hand at home to Troján as a result of Covid. When that game is finally played Enköping could well have another 4 – 5 points and could be alongside or a point ahead of Exiles. For the last four games Pingvin  have Enköping, Troján and Exiles at home and Enköping away. Enköping in their last four scheduled games will play the other three teams away and, finally, Pingvin at home. Exiles have Troján home and away, Enköping at home and Pingvin away. I won´t attempt to predict any results but if Pingvin were to win two of their remaining games that would probably be enough to take the title and three wins would definitely do so. If Enköping beat Pingvin twice and win twice over Troján including the postponed game that could just be enough to snatch the title. Exiles would have to win all four games but still be dependent on other results if they are to remain Swedish champions.

Key matches in every round with the big one next week being Pingvin vs Enköping.

With 2/3 of the title race over it has to be said that Exiles do not really deserve to take an 11^th title in a row. They just scraped through the first three games, threw away the next two, won the 6^th although conceding 36 points at home to a weak Troján team and then played well to beat Enköping away in round 7. Had they won at home to Pingvin yesterday they would have been clear favourites to remain Champions. But it has to be said they never looked like winning.

A little bit of background information. Exiles this year have a new coach, Neill Erasmus and a new captain., Theo Karlsson. Neill stated in writing before the start of the season that only those who trained regularly would be selected. Whether they were stars of the National team or not. He has stuck religiously to this all season and we have regularly had top-class players on the bench or not selected at all. I respect this stance, you can´t get a decent team without regular team training together. But in an amateur sport where people have families and have to earn a living it´s a question of how strict you can be in applying attendance rules. On Saturday we had five internationals on the bench plus a very good Australian scrum half. At least five of these players were better than Exiles´ starters. Yet they were only brought on in the last 20 minutes and by then it was too late. Had they all started I am pretty sure Exiles would have won.

Another aspect is leading on the field. Theo was made captain this year in recognition of the fact that he is perhaps the best Swedish player to appear in the last five years. But that doesn´t make you a master tactition and I think Theo probably needs some guidance as to speed of decision making on the field. We never take fast penalties or ones with planned moves. We have three good back row players and a scrum-half who should be planning moves to give Theo space for his devastating runs; often he picks up and is immediately swamped. We have three of the most powerful running backs in Swedish rugby who hardly got the ball against Pingvin. We must vary numbers at the lineout to confuse the opposition.

Exiles dominated the rucks and mauls against Enköping but against Pingvin the ball was passed out for ten backs to face ten defenders.

Pingvin had perhaps their best team on show and they played a limited but disciplined game. They have very little try- scoring potential in the backs but take every chance to kick to the corner and drive over. In their last four games they have scored seven tries; all seven were from the forwards driving over after lineouts (and dare one mention it, five were scored by Georgians). Unfortunately, this is modern rugby at all levels; those who master it will win games.

In general. However, Pingvin were the better team. They just had the edge in hard-fought scrums and were far better in the lineouts where Exiles were still found wanting. Exiles had the sharper backs, but strong defence kept them out. Pingvin are now favourites for the title but there may be more twists before the final countdown.

Finally, with Hamish involved with Exiles B, Henrik van Nykerk, now General Manager for Exiles, stepped in as commentator for Exiles vs Pingvin. And an excellent job he did too. Admittedly in English but he was very knowledgeable about the players from both teams and gave a completely unbiased analysis of the game throughout.  I look forward to hearing more from him in future.

Elsewhere, Exiles Ladies won easily over Uppsala as they continue to build a younger side. They had to lend Uppsala three players to make it 15-a-side. Exiles B crashed to a heavy defeat to Uppsala whom they had beaten earlier in the season. When Exiles B can use the reserves from the first team they are pretty strong, witness the narrow defeat to Erikslund 17 – 22 the week before. But when 23 good players are involved elsewhere as was the case on Saturday and they themselves were missing 6-7 regulars, they can find themselves struggling. They went to Uppsala with 15 men, but were down to 14 after 30 seconds and were no match for a useful Uppsala team.

Spartacus won all 8 of their games in the South-West Allsvenskan with Göteborg finishing second with the same points as Lugi Lions.

Skåne Ladies continued their winning ways against what I saw as a more skillful Göteborg team. I would guess that Skåne don´t train much together but they have two or three runners who can sprint away from anywhere and anyone. The other main contender is Enköping who have been running up huge scores against some of the weaker teams.

Pingvin skulle ta sina fem poäng utan alltför stora problem mot Troján och efter Exiles röriga säsong var Enköping knappa favoriter att ta hem segern på hemmaplan. Nu blev det inte så. Trots en lång skadelista och förlusten av deras försökmaskin Alex Melander efter 15 minuter var Troján det klart bättre laget mot serieledande Pingvin.  Troján gick upp i ledningen 8 – 7 några minuter in i andra halvlek, släppte in ett försök till 8 – 12 efter drygt 50 minuter och därefter bombarderade Pingvins mållinje för resten av matchen. De var mycket mera på alerten från start och det var verkligen en grov orättvisa att de inte tog hem segern. Men man måste ha lite tur att vinna titlar och det har Pingvin haft i år. För Troján spelade klunghalvan Philip Axelsson utmärkt, han låg bakom varje anfall och var nära mållinjen åtskilliga gånger. Pingvin verkar vara lite på tillbakagång efter en rivstart i serien, De gjorde 17 försök på sina fyra första matcher och 5 på de tre sista. Och nästa match om två veckor blir borta mot Exiles. Ändå leder de serien fortfarande med 25 poäng mot dagens motståndares 3.

Starkt regnväder var prognosen för Enköping vid tretiden och så blev det i stora drag. Det blev naturligtvis en del tappade bollar men som helhet höll båda lagen en godtagbar standard.  Båda lagen hade sina chanser de första 20 minuterna men Enköpings anfall stötte på patrull mot en mycket stark försvarsmur. Enköping har gjort många försök genom att driva över efter inkast men efter flera ansträngningar började det gå upp för Enköping att de inte skulle komma någonvart i dag. Exiles drev Enköping tillbaka flera meter vid varje klunga medan Enköping tog  hand om flera inkast där Exiles hade ont om hoppare. Exiles hade dock ett övertag i första halvlek där Ian slog in en straff och Theo gjorde försök. Vid 0 – 8 efter 30 minuter då Enköping fick en straff inom Exiles 22 valde de att framgångsrikt sparka mot mål, ett tecken på att de inte riktigt trodde på sin förmåga att driva över linjen.

Exiles svarade omgående med ett nytt försök av Erik Strandberg och 2 poäng till av Ian.  Hannes Nylén slog in en ny straff från nära håll och halvtid kom med en Exiles ledning på 15 – 6. Matchen blev jämnare i andra halvlek, men Enköping envisades med att ta lättare straffar i stället för att attackera mod bollen i hand. Till och med när de låg under med 9 – 15 och en kvart återstod. Det blev 12 – 15, men Ian kontrade och slutresultatet blev 12 – 18. Märkliga beslut av Enköpings ledning.

Poängplockarna Ian, The och Erik hade alla bra matcher och klunghalvan Liam Kearney blir bättre för varje vecka som går.

Tabellen är nu Pingvin 25, Exiles 23 och Enköping 20 och serien är fortfarande inte avgjord. Det känns emellertid som om det har skett en positiv vändning för Exiles med flera förstärkningar som snart återvänder. Kan de slå Pingvin när de kommer till Stockholm om ett par veckor kan man kanske börja prata om att de ligger bäst till att försvara sin titel.

Jag fick följa matchen i TV (ingen kommentator?) p g a sviterna efter Covid, men fick dock noteringar från Hamish i Enköping. Eftersom de är mycket bättre än mina kommentarer bifogar jag dem in toto:

“A number of Exiles´ players and groupings can be proud about their contributions to the win.

It all starts at the front. The Exiles pack was superb throughout, but especially in the first 60 minutes where they systematically pushed ERK off the ball. Being awarded a put-in in the scrum for the white clad home team was not much of an award. Every scrum led to a massive Exiles push. A fair amount of indignation and surprise was noted on the touch line at one point when referee Rami Aro penalized the Exiles scrum after having pushed ERK back 15 meters. The pack were ultimately rewarded with a pushover try, where although Theo completed the touchdown, the try should have been shared between all 8 forwards who forced the ERK pack backwards over their own line.

The nr 8/9 constellation were excellent together under difficult (wet) conditions. Theo had one of his best games as a ball carrier and Liam distributed and kicked well from the base of the scrum/breakdown.

Second generation Exile Erik Sandberg had perhaps the game of his life, where he contributed to the scrum dominance from the boiler room of the second row, was essentially the sole lineout option, took an off-load pass at speed to race to the line for Exiles second try and at a pivotal point of the game – with only a few minutes to go and ERK battering at the Exiles line – he drove an ERK ball carrier straight back certainly 10 meters, giving his team mates breathing room.

Ian Gowland continues to impress at an undisclosed age, currently contributing as playmaker and goalkicker from the flyhalf position. 2022 in his 15^th season with Exiles, where he remains a vital cog in the team.

The center pairing of Rikus and Nika were dangerous throughout and rock solid in defense. Rikus is the classic ball carrying nr 12, who creates a solid base for further attacks with his straight-line power running and also offloaded for the second score. Nika had a very nice line break in the first half and looked strong throughout.

The importance of Tim Johansson and Robin Fransson to the success of ERK cannot be overestimated. Perpetually involved as strong ball carriers as well as well-positioned defenders. ERK is a strong team as a whole, but Tim and Robin are just one or two notches better than the group as a whole.”

Damerna fick spela en av sina sällsynta matcher uppe i Vänersborg som är starka hemma och svaga borta. Denna gång var de hemma och inte för första gången var det nog Minonna som var skillnaden mellan lagen. 27 – 12 till Vänersborg. Lätt seger för Göteborg över Uppsala, 39 – 5 och Skåne förblir obesegrade med 52 – 21 över Hammarby som dock blir bättre och bättre. Nio pingvinare i Skånetruppen. Svårt att uppleva mycket entusiasm för en serie om 8 lag som spelat sammanlagt 15 matcher på fyra månader.

På herrsidan gick det sämre för Göteborg i Allsvenskan, De hade förlorat 20 – 13 mot Spartacus tidigare i år men denna gång hade de en relativt betryggande ledning på 17 – 8 då en kvart återstod. Men även denna gång kunde Spartacus skärpa sig med två försök och en straff, 17 – 25, för att vinna matchen och serien. Gratulerar.

Erikslund är i stort sett i samma situation i Norra delen av Allsvenskan. Obesegrade medan de tre andra lagen har alla minst två förluster. Är Spartacus och Erikslund mogna för Superallsvenskan nästa år? De har gjort framsteg, men jag tror inte riktigt det. Som vi har sett i år är det inte bara spelandet utan även skador och resor som tar på krafterna. Men det vore trevligt om vi relativt  snart kan nå upp till den kompetensnivån för minst sex lag.

I avvaktan på det allt senare beskedet om laguppställningar inför Superallsvenskan kan det vara värt att kåsera mera allmänt om rugbysverige. Jag fick viss kritik av Pingvinsanhängare förra veckan för att jag envisades med att påpeka hur många georgier de hade på plan och vilken viktig roll de spelade. Nåväl, de hade 7 av sina 23 i truppen, 4 startande och tre på bänken. Jag hävdade att alla 7 var på plan i andra halvlek mot Enköping då Pingvin dominerade. När jag kollar noggrant tror jag att jag hade fel, det var aldrig fler än 5-6 på plan, jag vet inte ens om nr 23 Meshvelashvili var närvarande. Och jag vet inte när kratsaren Mergalitadze gick av planen, det framgår inte av Matchförloppet som inte fördes på ett tillförlitligt sätt. Det som dock inte kan förnekas är att nästan varje gång Pingvin gick till anfall i andra halvlek var det en georgier som var bollbärare.

Jag vet inte om skribenterna vill göra gällande att jag är rasist. Låt mig därför påpeka följande: Jag känner inte så många av våra georgier men den allmänna uppfattningen hos mig och alla andra i Exiles är att dessa är en fin grupp av unga män. De arbetar hårt, är pålitliga, plikttrogna, vänliga, och ställer alltid upp när hjälp behövs. Vi är med andra ord väldigt stolta över att ha dem i Exiles och hoppas, familjemänniskor som de är, att de stannar och bygger upp ett nytt liv i Sverige, som jag och många andra Exiles har gjort under de senaste 60 åren. Vi är inte bekanta på samma sätt med Pingvins georgier men det finns ingen som helst anledning att tro att de är annorlunda funtade. Svensk rugby har fått en värdefull injektion, både mänskligt och sportsligt.

Alla som följer svensk rugby vet att vi är halvvägs genom SM-serier, att tre lag är inom ett par poäng av varandra och att ett lag, Troján är akterseglat. Det kan tyckas märkligt att Troján i den stora segern i maj mot Tjeckien hade 10 spelare i den svenska 23-mannatruppen. Och 7 av dem var på plan mot Exiles i lördags. Kanske någonting för dem som tar ut landslaget att tänka på. Att Troján bara fått ut 2 poäng ur serien mot c:a 20 för de tre andra är visserligen sant. Men att titta på hur många försök som har gjorts under de sex första omgångerna får vi en delvis annorlunda bild:

Totalt:  Pingvin        23  – 20

              Exiles.         26 –  20

             Enköping    19 – 14

             Troján         17 – 31      

Exiles har ju flest försök för, främst tack vara 11 mot Troján förra veckan; Pingvin har också rätt många för, huvudsakligen mot Troján, men båda två har släppt in över tre försök per match. Enköping har bara gjort två fler försök än Troján  men de är klart bäst när det gäller insläppta försök, med ett försök per match mindre än de två huvudkonkurrenterna. Tar vi Troján ur bilden får vi följande:

            Enköping   13 – 11

            Exiles.        12 – 12

Pingvin.     12 –  14

Mycket jämnt som synes och allt tyder på att det blir kamp in i kaklet.

Sent på fredag kväll fixk vi äntligen Superallsvenskans fyra laguppställningar. Troján som möter Pingvin hemma i Norrköping har fått ytterligare försvagningar. Jonas Zengler, Trojáns bäste forward, fick bicepsfästet avslutat mot Exiles och har nog gjort sitt för denna säsong. Mycket olyckligt för honom och för klubben. Även Christopher Sidgwick är borta, vilket inte lämnar mycket kvar vid inkasten. Troján har dock fortfarande fyra landslagsmän i backarna och de vållade rätt mycket problem för Exiles förra veckan. Pingvin har en stark klunga med fyra bra georgier och fyra bra svenskar fast Erik Sjöberg som pelare tyder på vissa bekymmer. Deras backar är inte så imponerande och Troján kan bjuda på en match i en halvlek. Därefter är det nog risk att Pingvin drar ifrån.

Enköping, som tar emot Exiles inför utlovade regnstormar har fått stuva om en del i klungan och kan få svårigheter mot Exiles uppsättning vid klungorna.. Enköping har sitt vanliga anfall medan Exiles har ett par förstärkningar i kedjan. Det blir nog en spännande match  som förhoppningsvis inte störs alltför mycket av det dåliga vädret.        

There has certainly been plenty of debate about the demands of the Super Allsvenskan but it cannot be denied that at the halfway stage this has been the most exciting championship for years. With six rounds played the top three teams have each won four games and lost two with the bonus points system giving Pingvin 21 points, Enköping and Exiles 19 points each. Troján started off not badly but injuries and lack of commitment have seen them amass six defeats and only two points. This with almost the same squad as gave them silver medals in the last two years. The other three teams have also had injuries and other minor crises but have had the strength in depth to keep going. At least so far, with six tough games in eight weeks to go.

The two games yesterday were vastly different. Superficially, Enköping beat Pingvin comfortably at home, 31 – 7, but the score did not reflect the closeness of the game. Enköping got off to a great start against a very tentative Pingvin and were three tries and 24 – 0 up after 16”. Both teams then went for it hammer and tongs but it was 52” before Pingvin pulled it back to 24 – 7. On they went until Tim bullocked his way over for a second and bonus point try on 63”. Thereafter it was mainly Pingvin with seven Georgians on the field who pressed, but Enköping stood firm. This was probably the best game of the season so far, among a number which have been less than inspiring.

Exiles´ match at home to Troján was unfortunately one of the less inspiring ones. Troján turned up with 15 players but scored after a minute and were still ahead with 20 minutes to go. By this time they were down to 13 men and 12 by the last minute. Exiles finally got their act together, albeit with a couple of extra men, and scored six goals to win 73 – 36. Exiles are still fielding an A/B team and will have to raise their game to retain their title. Some positive signs in the last 20” but rugby games last 80” not the 40” or so we´ve seen from Exiles so far this season.    

After avoiding Covid for 2 ½ years my wife and I caught a mild version and had to stay in quarantine in Italy for a week. So no great desire to write about week 5 of the Super Series, especially after Exiles for the second week in a row made a complete mess of their game. When I saw the Pingvin team coming up to play us on week 5 my immediate assumption was that this was a pretty poor team and that Exiles would win comfortably. Pingvin had two good players red-carded and rumours that a few Georgians did not wish to travel seemed to be confirmed. After 20 minutes Exiles had scored three tries and were leading 17 – 0. From our vantage point in Italy we relaxed and expected an easy win. In actual fact, despite a fairly strong team Exiles added no more points for the next 60 minutes, conceded two goals and a penalty and watched as James Campbell dropped a goal with a minute to go to win 20 – 17. Exiles rushed down the field and were given a penalty 7 meters in front of the posts. Instead of taking the draw Exiles ran aimlessly and gave away a penalty a yard from the line. An outstanding achievement by Pingvin who lost 4 – 5 players to injury but never gave up. If Pingvin win the title and Exiles lose it, this is the match they will both point to as decisive. A second poor display in a row by Exiles who must take 5 points from Troján in round 6.

Turning  to the half-way house, Pingvin make another trip up North to Enköping who won a five-pointer in round 5 down in Norrköping. The standings after 5 rounds are now Pingvin 21, Enköping and Exiles 14 with Troján out the picture on 1 point. A win for Pingvin would start to make them look like favourites while a win for the two teams on 14 points would keep the top three teams within 2 – 3 points and all to play for.

The big game is obviously in Enköping which let´s hope attracts a decent crowd. Enköping have Cameron King back again, now as captain, and he and Oscar Proos will be facing the top class pairing of Honou and Mamulashvili who will be moving up to replace James Campbell, perhaps having a well-earned rest from last week´s endeavours. Bebiashvili who got the decisive try against Exiles last week is also now a starter on the wing. The red-carded hooker Margalatvili returns this week and will be looking to repeat his try-scoring feats of previous rounds. Oscar Larsson is still banned and a couple of good Georgians still seem to be missing. Pingvin is, I  would say, only marginally better than the one against Exiles, but they managed to get away with four points from that one.

Enköping are a bit short in the forwards, missing Elias Granath, but are close to full strength in the backs. I can see this going either way although for obvious Exiles´ reasons I´d like to see the old-timers in the Enköping backs pull it off.

Exiles are not quite getting it right this season, although it didn´t help that they lost six first team players in match 2, only one of whom Ian Gowland has returned. Four of those injured in that match had a total of nearly 50 SM-titles which I quite a volume of competence. Exiles has a strong back division on show and a solid pack including a couple of 2 meter Mabons.

Troján are obviously struggling at present with not too much of a bench. Melander is turning out again, this time at full back and Sami Paulsson continues in the centre. Any less than a five-pointer for Exiles would have to be classed as a catastrophe, but after the last couple of weeks, who knows?

Det fastställdes redan innan att Superallsvenskan skulle vara ett uthållighetsprov och detta har bekräftats med råge. Redan efter tre omgångar och SM-sjumanna gick åtminstone Troján på knäna medan Exiles hade halva A-laget skadat. Det var kanske ingen tillfällighet att dessa två förlorade. Troján kämpade modigt och jämnt i 60 minuter men med bara 18 spelare, av vilka 7 kom från farmarlaget Kalmar Södra, orkade de inte fullfölja. Exiles hade visserligen många reserver men spelade ändå som om de till sist skulle vinna men visade ingen gnista alls mot Enköping.

Nu efter en tredjedel av turneringen verkar Troján vara avhängd medan de tre återstående kämpar fortfarande om titeln. Men det är många gropar kvar. Många av skadorna är långsiktiga och det är tveksamma om det blir så många mirakelåterkomster till hösten.

Pingvin kan vara nöjd med sin säsong hittills. En serieledning på 17 poäng med 20 – 13 i försök på fyra matcher ser bra ut även om det innehöll en förlust på hemmaplan mot Exiles. Men nu kommer den riktiga prövostunden; fyra bortamatcher i rad, alla långa sträckor, inkl två mot regerande mästarna Exiles. Detta är en orimlig schemaläggning som skulle kunna knäcka vilket lag som helst. Men det är bara en av många orimligheter som vårt helt inkompetenta Rugbyförbund gjort sig skyldigt till i år. En normal prognos, bortsett från skador, är att Pingvin i första hand skulle vinna en av dessa fyra matcher, de är ju kända för att inte vara så starka på bortaplan.

Det andra bekymret för Pingvin är deras giorgier. Flera av dem är duktiga spelare men deras disciplin är bedrövlig. På fyra matcher har de fått 5 gula kort och ett rött. Det röda kortet fick kratsaren Margalitvishi som gjorde fem försök på de tre första matcherna men som försvann efter 20 minuter i den fjärde. Han är nu borta i veckans match mot Exiles. Georgierna bor i Helsingborg som är 10 mil till Trelleborg och det kan inte vara lätt att vara tränare på de villkoren. Några av de bättre giorgierna har suttit på bänken de två senaste matcherna, men de har kommit raskt tillbaka i andra halvlek när laget hade problem. Även hoppexperten Oscar Larsson är också avstängd i helgen, vilket kan ge problem vid inkasten.

I skrivande stund har Exiles fastställt sitt lag, och de har 5 – 6 förstärkningar jämfört med förlusten mot Enköping. Exiles förlorade den matchen efter en enastående uppsättning misstag och avsaknad av vilja och åtgärder för att avhjälpa dessa. Vi får se hur starka Pingvin är i sitt första framträdande på Gubbängen och hur angelägna Exiles är att behålla sin titel för 11:e året i rad.

Det är svårt att förutsäga resultatet i den andra matchen i Superserien. Alex Melander gör oväntad comeback i center tillsammans med Sami Paulsson och flera andra reguljära spelare är tillbaka vilket ger Troján ett betydligt starkare lag än mot Pingvin. Christopher Nilsérius är dock avstängd efter incidenten där han stämplades grovt av Oscar Larsson. Att ge igen är aldrig en bra idé, även om man tycker synd om Christopher i det här fallet. Sidgwick sitter oväntat på bänken, kanske en mindre skada, men nu är det bara två spelare från farmarlaget som finns bland de 19 angivna.

Enköping har haft ett relativt stabilt lag hittills i år och halvbackskombinationen Oskar Proos och Cameron King var ett klart lyft omgången innan. King är dock inte med denna gång, en klar försvagning. Troján har klart starkare backar nu och de har fått tillbaka några av sina tunga forwards. Det är last-chance saloon för de två senaste årens silvermedaljörer från Norrköping och det kan skapa en drivkraft som kanske ger Enköping problem.

Full omgång i Allsvenskan där Göteborgslagen åker ned till Skåne och antagligen hämtar poäng från Malmö and Lugi. Spartacus har förvisso ambition men matcherna i SM-sjumanna tydde på att de har en bit kvar till Superserien. Erikslund har visat sig vara bättre än de tre andra lagen i Norra Allsvenskan men även här är glappet stort till den högsta nivån. Täbylaget åker upp till Uppsala och bör kunna förlänga sin segersvit. Hemmaplan för båda lagen i Stockholm då Hammarby tar emot Exiles B. Exiles vann första matchen men mitt i sommaren är det inte så lätt att få ihop ett starkt B-lag. Det är inte otänkbart att Hammarby vinner sin första match för säsongen.                                  

I wrote in my blog before this week´s games that a lot of teams were troubled by injury. I didn´t say that having one league game in the middle of a nine week holiday period was not a good idea, though this seems to have been at least as important. Many of the players in the Super Series on Saturday didn´t seem fit, motivated or involved and their performance was thereafter. Having watched both the games I would say the worst four teams of the season were on show. I said earlier that Exiles had the best in depth squad in the tournament but you wouldn´t have thought that if you´d seen them this weekend. This was the worst Exiles´ team I have seen in decades. They dropped scoring passes, dropping scoring tries over the line, kicked the ball straight out all three times when kicking for the corner, failed to take more than the odd lineouts (although the referee failed to react to the ball being knocked out of their hands) and only just held their own against a pack which they had running backwards previously. They moved slowly towards their many penalties, kicked aimlessly to touch and lost much of the lineouts, had no set penalty moves and failed to challenge the line despite having two of the most powerful runners in the business. They got to 14 – 21 in their deficit but continued with very poor play and finally lost 14 – 24. They won the penalty count 14 – 5 against a team whose backs were offside the whole game and didn´t attempt to kick penalties from any of the eight which were in the opposition 22.

Enköping are a pretty modest team this year, although they had a decent half-back combination and they strode through several times against a minimal defence. They had at least a semblance of a team, which was more than Exiles had on offer. Full marks to Dustin though for his efforts. The streaming functioned well until the last ten minutes and the clock seemed to miss out five of the last ten minutes to cut the game short. You win some you lose some.

The game in the South was not much better. I don´t think Troján reported their team in advance and one could easily understand why. Nockmar, Zelmer and Sami Paulsson were all missing from the pack and the backs were very weak. Despite this they still lead at half time and it was only when the Georgian bench came on for Pingvin that they managed to pull away. Pretty desperate stuff.

A good day for Pingvin and Enköping, the points are now Pingvin 17, Exiles 13, Enköping 9 and Troján 1. Best if we all forget this weekend and concentrate on the hopefully eight tough games in the autumn.

To all our rugby-playing Georgian friends in Sweden, congratulations on the national team win today against Italy by 28 – 19. Three tries to one in a wonderful new stadium in Tbilisi.

4 th round of the Super Series and as always a lot to play for. Points at the moment: Exiles 13, Pingvin 12, Enköping 5 and Troján 1. All six of the games have been pretty close so far and the points do not really reflect the differences in quality among the teams. Exiles have played and won all three of their games, all played away for scheduling reasons and now play all the others at home, taking us up to the half-way mark in the Championship. This week Exiles receive Enköping while Troján travel down to Pingvin. The forecast that injuries could play an important part in this demanding Championship seems also to be correct, all four of the participating teams have key players injured, some of them long-term. But that´s the way things go nowadays, with rugby changing from a contact to a collision sport. To name but a few, the brothers Alex and Dennis Melander, Sweden´s two fastest sprinters, are both out for a spell. Several of the Exiles´ stars of a few years ago, still very competitive, are also struggling and a number of the Troján backs plus utility man Sami Paulsson have also missed games. Enköping´s best import, Cameron King, has not been seen for a while and perhaps the worst injury, entirely accidental, was sustained by Pingvin´s Nathaniel Cickovski with a jaw broken in two places. Let´s hope the numbers do not continue to mount up at the present rate.

Exiles will not be fielding their strongest team against Enköping on Saturday, but they are the only club regularly fielding two teams every week and have probably the greatest strength in depth of the four clubs. They reckon they have about 30 players who can turn out for the Firsts without substantially reducing the quality of the squad. Enköping have a big pack with a decent lineout, but they have been pushed around in the set pieces for most of the season and that could well be the case this week as well. In their backs Oskar Proos returns after suspension but Tim J. will be missing due to a family celebration. The other key player, Robin F. seemed to be nursing an injury at the Sevens last week; without him in good shape their backs will be struggling, although King is down to return. I don´t normally bet against Enköping but I think Exiles will be too strong for them on Saturday.

The other match presents several similar question marks. Star try-scorer for Troján Alex M. is missing, but on the other wing Setanta Macaodha showed that he is also an exciting runner. Sami P. looks set to stay at standoff and they will probably have 3-4 reinforcements from Kalmar Södra. Troján played pretty well last week with Jonas Zengler going from strength to strength and this could be a very tight game. There is supposed to be an agreement that all four clubs will field their teams on Thursday evening, but this isn´t always done. Early on Saturday morning I still don´t know who Troján are fielding.

Pingvin play their cards pretty close to their chest. In their first two games it was their 6-7 Georgians who dominated but in their third match against Enköping they “only” had four starting Georgians including one back. Admittedly they had three more on the bench but none of the seven scored any of Pingvin´s five tries. In the first two games they scored 7 of the 9 tries. Make what you will of that. This week there are only two front row Georgians starting but there are three more including two good backs on the bench.  Troján shaped up well in the Sevens last week as mentioned and I´d like to see them spring a surprise and take the  points. It´s not quite clear what is happening in Pingvin, they are starting with a very young back division and this game could go either way.

This is a decisive weekend. If Troján and Enköping lose they will be around 15 and 10 points respectively behind the leaders with 30 odd points to play for. If they win, all four teams will be fairly close together before the summer break.  

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