Rugby in Sweden and Europe

The Swedish XV lost the training match against Denmark 18 – 10 on Saturday, the first defeat by our neighbours in 16 years. Denmark play one level below Sweden in Europe. Since the present chairperson of the SRF was elected to her post, Sweden have now lost 20 internationals out of 21 and there is every reason to feel nervous about the game in three weeks time against Hungary.

It will be recalled that 37 Swedish players were called to a training camp last weekend in Malmö which was rounded off with the match against Denmark. It was immediately clear that 7 – 8 first choice players were not attending, but no explanation for this was given. Of those confirming attendance 28 turned up and a further four locals were added. Of the nine no-shows four were from Exiles and three from Pingvin, the two best Swedish teams who of course meet in the Championship finals for the next two weekends. This meant that about 12 of the first Swedish XV were not available against Denmark, which puts the result in perspective. It is unlikely that those not present will be selected against Hungary who, it will be recalled, were promoted from the lower European group after beating the likes of Denmark last year. This suggests the result of the Sweden – Hungary match is in doubt and we could even see Sweden being relegated for the second time in three years, an unthinkable situation not so long ago.
For the record: the present world rankings show Sweden at 61, its lowest ever ranking and a drop of almost 30 places from a few years ago, Hungary are ranked 70 and Denmark 86. That´s the company we´re keeping at present!

So where does the blame lie? I think for once the fault is not directly with the team administrators who have tried to get more or less the best players together. There are good players who refuse to play for Sweden under any circumstances because of the way they have been treated in the past, others because they are asked to pay to play and still others because the chairperson who arranges the fixture dates cares little for male rugby or players welfare and repeatedly arranges matches in direct proximity to the Swedish finals (where Exiles have qualified for the last 17 years).

As soon as I saw the first 37 selected I wrote that there was a serious shortage of front five power and, judging from the match report that seems to have been the main problem against Denmark. How that problem can be resolved I do not know as key players will now be devoting their attention to the finals and then it will be straight into the Hungary match.

The last four years have been a disaster for Male XVs in Sweden and it is obvious to me that changes at the top are necessary for there to be any lasting improvement.

Author: HM Senior

Sverige vinner sista matchen och slutar på 11:e plats av 12. Borde innebära nedflyttning men oklart vad som händer nästa år.

Redan före turneringen skrev jag att Sverige möjligtvis kunde slå Ryssland, som inte förefaller vara särskilt intresserade av denna turnering, och så blev fallet. 10 – 0 till Sverige i en match som inte går till hävderna men blir bra för spelarnas självkänsla. Det är dock fortfarande självklart att SRF aldrig borde ha satsat pengar på detta företag.
Annars var det en ganska rolig turnering med många jämna matcher och en rätt hög standard hos de bättre lagen. Gästerna från andra sidan Atlanten var inte så imponerande, de slutade USA åtta och Kanada femma. Ytterligare ett portugisiskt lag gjorde bra ifrån sig i denna turnering. De tog sig till semifinalen innan krafterna sinade. Ett tufft walesiskt lag kämpade sig till finalen, men där hade de inte mycket kvar att sätta emot suveräne England som vann 31 – 0. I likhet med andra engelska lag är de inte alltid så bra på själva sjumannaspelet men de är snabba och starka och med det kan man nå långt. Ta en titt på deras nr 7 (Ellie Kildunne?) en otrolig spelare som var bäst i såväl anfall som försvar.

This was the day when Enköping and Hammarby, after hard-fought first semis, would rise to the occasion, catch up and pass the relatively small leads which Exiles and Pingvin had established the week before. It didn´t work out that way and the favourites progressed comfortably to the finals.

First, it was surprising to see how easily Pingvin beat Enköping at home. But looking at the team lists it was clear that Enköping had a very young team and that both Tim J. and Robin F. were on the bench. Tim, who very much holds the team together, never appeared and Robin put in a symbolic closing 10 minutes. Pingvin appeared close to full strength and only had to help themselves.
Exiles had a stronger pack than the week before and this was apparent in 4” at the first scrum when it appeared that Exiles were far more powerful. Hammarby were not helped a few minutes later when lock Sidgwick injured a knee and had to leave for the day. Both teams were subdued initially and play was much in the middle of the field. Neill missed a relatively easy penalty on 16” while Dustin Jinka converted one for Hammarby a few minutes later. 3 – 0 to Hammarby, and the lead cut to 12 points, could Hammarby make further progress? They showed little signs of doing so and the score was levelled on 30” when Neill put one over from far out.
Another nondescript period of play was ended when Dustin put through a grubber kick which the defence fumbled and winger Ash touched down to keep up his record of scoring in every match. No luck with the kick, an attacking flurry by Hammarby which came to nother and at the break it was 8 – 3 to Exiles with an aggregate lead of 20 points.

The second half started with Hammarby charging down a kick but failing to collect to score. Hammarby seemed to have shot their bolt and it was Exiles who began to take control. On 46” the Exiles pack drove for the line and No 8 Franco picked up and went over. Neill missed the kick but it was 13 – 3 and the Hammarby hopes were fading fast. Exiles´ backs were now creating lots of chances but the Hammarby defence, with Fredrik Enstad att fullback just held on. Neill put over another couple of penalties and on 60” Exiles decided to call it a day. They brought all their bench on and concentrated on avoiding injuries. Hammarby were seldom over the halfway line, Torgils and Levan had strong runs and Exiles were just stopped on a number of occasions. Aggregate score 52 – 21 and a not too exhausting day´s work for Exiles who had one eye firmly on the finals. The Exiles scrum dominated throughou, with Bevo back in action, and Casper was hitting his target better in the lineouts. Sean took a lot of ball. Matt, Dustin, Neill and Rikus were dangerous in attack and rock solid in defence. Pingvin will have a fight on their hands in the finals.
Good game for referee Rami, who kept the game flowing.

Over to the Ladies who won all six of their games in the Northern group with a points difference of 466 – 27. 300 points against Berserkers, but an average of 40 points against the other two teams as well.
In today´s match, Exiles faced a strong pack in Enköping,but they gradually gained controll as the game progressed. Their tackling was strong and they restricted Enköping to three penalty goals. 6 – 22 at half time and 9 – 46 at the finish. Captain Jenny Öhlin returned after injury and French girl Juliette Sorett showed up well, as did Canadian Jessie Biggar.

The girls will now meet Pingvin away in the first semi on 30 September, two hours before the Men´s first final. Certainly the girls should be favourites.
Ridiculous that the miniscule season only has one final, but if Exiles win the semis it is already decided by drawing lots that they will play in Stockholm. Last year they lost the draw, had to play in Gothenburg but still managed to win the title.

Efter spaltkilometer om U18-tjejernas förberedelser inför Europas 7-manna mästerskap är det plötsligt total tystnad från SRF om själva turneringen.

Nåväl, de som har tillgång till TV har konstaterat att Sveriges gruppmatcher dag 1 blev: Sverige 0 Frankrike 48; Sverige 7 – Italien 20; Sverige 0 – Irland 24. Det blev således 0 poäng och en poängskillnad på -85. Sverige kom klart sist av 12 deltagande lag och skall nu för andra gången möta Italien om platserna 9 – 12. Jag vill påminna än en gång att det knappt finns några rugbyspelare i Sverige i den kategorin.
Standarden i turneringen var enligt min uppfattning rätt hög, vilket understryker att Sverige hade inget att hämta i detta sällskap. Det lär vara så att de fått pengar på ett bräde för att delta, samtidigt som träningslägret för herrarnas 15-manna landslag inte beviljats en krona utan får skramla bland deltagarna.
Denna snedvridna syn på hur pengarna fördelas inom svensk rugby av SRF är en grov förolämpning mot herrarna. Jag har svårt att förstå hur klubbarna i Sverige acceptera den osynliga styrelseordförandes agerande.

Exiles kept comfortably in front of Hammarby to win 19 – 3 with an aggregate of 52 – 21 over the two semis. Pingvin triumphed over an understrength Enköping 69 – 24 to record an aggregate of 91 – 37. Exiles – Pingvin final for the third year in a row and Exiles in final for the whole of the 21st century.

Qualifying for Swedish Championship very tight with Göteborg going up to Norrköping in a couple of weeks with a headstart of 12 – 5 against Trojan.
Exiles Ladies beat Enköping 46 – 9 away to finish their minileague undefeated with a huge number of plus points. Semis now match Exiles against Pingvin and Vänersborg against Enköping.
Swedish Ladies U18 VII-a-side in the European Championships finished a clear 12th of 12 competing nations. They now move to the bottom group playing for positions 9 – 12 tomorrow.
More info about todays matches later this evening.

Andra semifinalerna och kvalspel till Allsvenskan.

Favoriterna spelar hemma denna gång, ett abstrakt begrepp när det gäller Exiles – Hammarby, och båda har ett litet försprång. Exiles leder med 15 och Pingvin med nio poäng.
Pingvin har ett bra försvar och är svåra att slå på hemmaplan. Tveksamt om Enköping hinner ikapp och förbi men glappet är litet.
Hammarby gjorde bra ifrån sig förra veckan, men det blev ändå förlust med 15 poäng. Skärpning från Exiles klunga kunde ge en större marginal denna gång, men underskatta inte Hammarbys “fighting spirit”.
Grundtips måste dock vara Pingvin – Exiles i finalen, den senare för 17:e året i följd.

Kan bli en spännande match om plats i Allsvenskan 2018. Göteborg hemma mot Trojan och returen om ett par veckor. Att döma av det jag sett i år verkar Göteborg vara en aning bättre, men det beror på vilket lag Trojan kan få ihop. Jag ser hellre dock att båda finns med nästa år.

Sista dammatchen inför slutspelet. Exiles vann stort på hemmaplan men Enköping spelade hyfsat och det kan bli mycket jämnare denna gång.

Det feministiskt inriktade SRF uppnår nu säsongens höjdpunkt när Sveriges U18 7-manna damlag ställer upp i ett nystiftat Mästerskap för denna kategori.

Det togs ett första trevande steg i den riktningen för tre år sedan då ett antal länder däribland Sverige anmälde intresse för en turnering. Sverige har varit med sedan dess, även om de vunnit ytterst få matcher.
I år visar det sig att rugby kommer att vara med i Ungdoms-OS om ett par år och då skall Rugby Europe lydigt anpassa sig. Eftersom grabbarna har en Mästerskaps- och en Trophynivå skall tjejerna i jämställdhetens tecken ha detsamma. De Europeiska länder som var med förra året bildar nu Mästerskapsnivån, medan 8 nya länder skapar en Trophynivå. Trophyturneringen spelas om en dryg vecka och består av Pool A: Tyskland, Polen, Belgien och Lettland samt Pool B: Ukraina, Andorra, Skottland och Georgien.
Tillbaka till Mästerskapet. En komplikation är att turneringen utökades till 16 länder året innan, med avsikten att ha fyra länder utanför Europa. Det blev inte riktigt så, två utomstående förvann samt två andra Europeiska nationer och plötsligt i år finns 10 Europeiska länder tillsammans med US och Kanada. Utan någon förklaring förstås, RE gör vad en liten grupp i ledningen bestämmer.

Upplägget blir:
Pool A: Frankrike, Italien, Irland, Sverige
Pool B: USA, England, Wales, Ryssland
Pool C: Kanada, Spanien, Portugal, Nederländerna

Det är naturligtvis trevligt att Sverige befinner sig i detta sällskap. Problemet är dock att det inte bedrivs någon F18 verksamhet i Sverige av den enkla anledningen att det knappast finns några F18 spelare. I en blänkare den 23.8 påpekade jag att det finns 14 registrerade U18 spelare i Sverige, 16 till om man tar med 17-åringar (födda 99/2000). Nu anses hälften av dessa vara i stånd att spela i ett Europamästerskap. Ledningen för Dam 7-manna, senior och U18, består av 12 personer. Då har U18 en ledare per spelare, det måste kännas betryggande. Jag skall inte tjata mera om detta, men endast någon med en förvrängd syn på jämställdhet skulle satsa pengar på denna grupp, åtminstone tills antalet kommer upp till samma nivå som grabbarna, dvs c:a 100. Jo, säger några, titta på USM, där är det hela 5 F18 lag anmälda. Dessa fem lag har följande antal registrerade spelare födda 99/2000:
Enköping ungdom – 0; Malmö – 10; Pingvin – 4; Spartacus Team West – 1 (S) + 0 (G) + 2 (B) = 3; Vänersborg – 3.
Ser ut att bli en spännande turnering.

Jag hoppas det går bra för tjejerna i Frankrike. De andra länderna kan ha betydligt fler spelare än vad vi har, men det är tveksamt om många spelar i regelbundna U18 serier för damer. Jag gissar att vi har en chans mot Ryssland och Nederländerna, men länderna kan svänga mycket från år till år.

Ungdoms-OS kräver förändringar 2018. USA och Kanada försvinner och England/Wales får bilda GB. Då blir det bara nio lag kvar till nästa år och då finns inget behov av nedflyttning. Vi får se hur det löser sig.

Shock, horror! Pingvin players refuse to play against Denmark on 23 September as it is six days before the first Swedish Championship final.

A few comments:
1.I think it is up to Pingvin to decide what they want to do. They had a bit of a battering against Exiles a couple of weeks ago, another tough game against Enköping last week and a second semi against Enköping tomorrow. They have beaten Enköping only narrowly three times this season and will probably need a break before the finals. Then of course it is presumptious of them to assume automatically that they will get to the finals, as Kjellis has pointed out. If Enköping win by more than nine points, by no means impossible, then Pingvin´s finals worries will be over.

2.Sweden´s international dates are decided at the RE annual meeting early in July, in essence by the chairperson of the SRF. She has of course little interest in Men´s rugby and has year after year arranged internationals at completely unsuitable times both with respect to the finals and to the Swedish season. To be fair, this year is by no means her worst choices.

3.It is ten weeks since the dates of these internationals were known. To my knowledge it is only now that players have been contacted with respect to a training camp and possible selection. Nothing was done for two months, which of course reflects the interest and competence of the SRF.

4.The question of money always rears its ugly head. It seems clear that the SRF is not prepared to provide money for training camps for men´s international training camps. Very few are therefore held and this is one of the reasons Sweden has lost 19 of its last 20 internationals. Players have said no to playing for the Swedish XV for a number of reasons, but this is obviously one of them. For obvious reasons, the SRF is extremely secretive about its finances. This of course increases opportunities for manipulation. They have over 4 million SEK each year to administer Swedish rugby. Where this money goes is a mystery. Only 95 league games are played each year and when it comes to youth activities there are almost no activities for U16 or U18 without scraping together district teams.

5.Pasi Niemelä is responsible for Landslag (National teams) in the SRF. In some respects he has done a good job. Could Pasi let us know how much money has been assigned to this training camp and how much has to be contributed by participants and others? Failure to do so on the SRF website will be a sign that he accepts the secretive manipulations of you-know-who.

37 names selected for training camp next week. 32 players from 12 Swedish Clubs and 5 from abroad. Pretty obvious that a large number of given starters have said no.

Rugby is an amateur game in Sweden and players gradually get more and more other commitments. The joys of going for a long weekend to the Ukraine become less attractive. And that seems to have happened here. Unless my judgement is hopelessly wrong there must be at least 7 – 8 key players who have not made themselves available. I make it at least 5 Exiles, possibly more, all seasoned internationals who are not on the list. Enköping have no players, probably for the first time in the history of the club. The two players selected for Europe last week, Robin Fransson and Fredrik Enstad, are not included. Robin has increasing external commitments, that´s why he went back to Enköping and Fredrik is, I believe, heading for Scotland.
A pity because without these 7 – 8 players I don´t think we will be good enough to beat Ukraine and Lithuania and gain promotion. But we can´t blame the coach or the SRF for that.
Another issue relating to non-appearance is the question of money. In the past many players have been infuriated by the demands that they pay for training camps, their own travel etc. Can Pasi give us the facts about the money required from potential players? I would hate to think that our team is weakened by the SRF repeatedly favouring female teams at the expense of male ones.
Of the 37 players selected, I would say there are about half a dozen who shouldn´t be there. Then there are another half a dozen younger players who are worth being given a chance to show what they can do. Arthur Marini and Tom Milner are new names, presumably with Swedish grannies.
Of the players in the 37 who were not on my list of 23 I would have no objection to James Campbell, Armir Kozhani, Alex Melander and Richard Nunstedt. Flanker Anders Nilsson from Blackheath has shown up well before and hooker Tore Osterlund from Södertälje probably played himself into the team by virtue of his excellent performance for Hammarby last week. Flanker Neex T. was the only Exile not on my list, mainly because the number of Exiles was getting embarrassing. But he became eligible for Sweden last year and has of late been regarded by many as Exiles´ best forward.
The list shows 18 players from Allsvenskan and 14 from lower divisions. Allsvenskan provides at least some games which approach our international level. I doubt if the same can be said for the other divisions.
I echoed a worry before that we were short of big hard men, especially in the second row. I can´t see that problem being resolved by the presenr selection. I don´t know everyone in the squad and I know newcomer Arthur Marini is a lock, but I fear we will be going backward at speed for yet another season of scrums.

Here is the squad (age in brackets)

PINGVIN
James Campbell 25
Oscar Larsson 25
Erik Sjöbeck 25
Alfred Meitmann 23
Andreas Persson 36
Noel Strandquist 17

EXILES
Matt Mitchell 33
Chris Bradley 30
Rikus van Niekerk 28
Theodor Karlsson 19
Neex Thamaphongsa 31
Erik Sandberg 22

HAMMARBY
Christofer Sidgwick 20
Ehsan Fadaker 35
Sebastian Pihlainen 24
Robert Persson 24

TROJAN
Jonas Zengler 32
Sebastian Nockmar 30

GÖTEBORG
Jonathon Edwards 30
Christoffer Vannerberg ?
Christoffer Andreasson 23

KALMAR SÖDRA
Adam Christersson 24
Sebastian Karlsson 24
Armir Kozhani 23

WEXIÖ
Alex Melander 19
Anthony Rafael 19

MALMÖ
Samuel Ahlbeck 20
Jonathon Elamzon 28 (Pingvin)

DIVERSE SVERIGE
Richard Nunstedt 19 (Vänersborg)
Antoine Cooposamy ? (Erikslund)
Carl Lindblom 24 (H.-borg/Pingvin)
Tore Österlund 26 (S-tälje/H.-by)

DIVERSE UTLANDET
Arthur Marini (Paris University)
Jack Duffy (Landsdowne)
Tom Milner (Ilkley)
Anders Nilsson (Blackheath)
Oscar Lindqvist (Oaklands College)

Sverige kom tvåa i den lägre Trophyturneringen (T) för en vecka sedan och missar uppflyttningen till ”The Big Nations” nästa år. Mästerskapet (M) gick av stapeln i helgen.

Dessa turneringar har inte många år på nacken och kvaliteten på några av M-lagen kunde diskuteras. Hur som helst, 12 lag spelade 2016, ett lag åkte ur och Litauen som knappt slog Sverige i T-turneringen flyttades upp. Men nu skall U18 rugby bli en del av ungdoms-OS och då blir det liv i luckan.
Om Ni följer vad jag skriver vet Ni att Rugby Europe (RE) är en djupt ohederlig organisation (en av fyra viceordförande heter M. Lahti, Sverige). Utan att skriva ett ord offentligt bestämde sig tydligen RE på deras årsmöte i somras att England, Wales, Georgien och Belgien skulle passera T- och börja i M-nivån. Då blir det 16 M-lag och 12 T-lag. Jag gissar att vår vice-ordförande kämpade frenetiskt för att Sverige skulle få flytta upp i stället för, säg, nykomlingen Belgien men tyvärr gick det inte.
Nåväl, hur gick det i den nybildade M-gruppen? Jo, det vanns för andra året i följd av Irland, ett fysiskt litet lag som dock visste något om 7-manna rugby, knappt mot Frankrike. Jag hade trott att England, med tiotusentals spelare att välja på (Sverige hade <100) skulle dominera, men de visade sig vara mediokra. Kom trea, vann på övertid mot Georgien och förlorade semi 21 – 0 mot Frankrike. Jag blev imponerad av Portugal som kom femma. Också ett klent lag, men som spelade med fantasi. Matchen mot Georgien som de vann 29 – 24 var bland de bästa i turneringen. Italien var bäst i den nedre hälften och placeringen från 11 – 16 var Tyskland, Belgien, Polen, Luxembourg, Litauen och Israel. Jag tror att Sverige hade kunnat hävda sig mot dessa, inte minst de två tre lägsta. Men kom ihåg att till ungdoms-OS måste England och Wales slå ihop sina påsar till GB. Vi får se om RE har mage att låta GB spela med två lag, vilket de gjorde inför OS 2016. Annars vore det lämpligt med att flytta upp Sverige, men tror Ni detta kommer att ske?