Despite some heavy rain, the home side scored again within 2 minutes of the restart. 13 minutes later they added another converted score. The home side then relaxed somewhat and Enkoping tried to get back into the game but never really threatened to go over the whitewash. To add to the humiliation the home side added another 2 tries in the final minutes to record a fine 41-0 win.
Hammarby made the long trip to Trelleborg for their clash against Pingvin. As expected, they managed to handle the journey and the opposition to win 7-29. Although they did not have it all their own way and some fine rugby by Pingvin made the visitors work hard for the win. Hammarby are playing with some flair and will obviously be happy to have returned to winning ways, whilst Pingvin will take heart from this performance. Next up for Hammarby is a home match against Spartacus and they will be very confident of a positive result to put them back on top of the league. Pingvin will have to battle it out against Goteborg to ensure that they don't finish bottom, this performance will give them the confidence to succeed.
Spartacus were still missing some players but had a large enough squad to overcome this factor against a full squad from Goteborg. Within 5 minutes of the start, Spartacus were awarded a penalty and took a 3-0 lead, this seemed to spur Grf on and they came back to score a fine try, despite some missed tackles a well executed move saw them cross the line in the corner and suddenly they were in the lead 3-5. That was to be the only success they were to enjoy as the home side slowly took control of the game and playing to a simple but effective game plan they applied pressure to the visitor's defence scoring a converetd try under the posts. Soon after they were awarded another penalty and at half time led 13-0.
The second half followed a similar pattern as the first, but Goteborg were becoming increasingly frustrated by the defence of the home side and began to push their passes. Eventually this led to a dropped pass and the hosts took advantage to kick the ball downfield, from the resultant chase Goteborg conceded yet another penalty which was kicked to touch. From the line out a well worked move saw the home side go over the line to score another converted try. Not long after a further penalty was kicked and Spartacus earned a well deserved win and to advance them to the play offs. Whilst Grf must lick their wounds and hope they can overcome Pingvin to avoid relegation.
Well there,s the top 4 in Sweden settled now. Hammarby, Exiles , Enköping and Spartacus.Suprised at the scoreline between Exiles and Enköping. Enköping have stuggled this year and won,t make the final.Exiles have beefed up the pack now so come the bad weather they will still win it.Great to see Spartacus coming on and has been a good season for them. Last yr they were the whipping boys and now it,s goteborg. Goteborg to lose to Pingvin and get relegated and Pingvin to just see off Attila to stay up.
ReplyDeleteENKOPING GOT OWNED...BOOOM !!!!!! 41 0 BOOOM !!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's not fair that a team can try and buy a SM because they have money. Because they were coming third at the half way point in the season they go shopping for players. That's not fair on the other poor clubs like Spartacus, Pingvin, Hammarby and Goteborg. All swedes should get behind Hammarby and Spartacus in the big games.
ReplyDeleteThe Spartacus result certainly makes you wonder how they would have fared against Gothenburg in May if Julian Bevin hadn't been the referee.
ReplyDeleteNågonstans är jag faktiskt lite imponerad av Exiles. Att faktiskt ställa tre lag på benen varje matchhelg är imponerande, oavsett om 5-10 spelare i första laget är importer. Ssdan var det roligt att det i senaste Point of VIew på Exiles hemsida tydligt påpekades att den duktige Will minsann tagit sig hit på egen hand. Jag har ingen anledning att ifrågasätta det, men resten? Å andra sidan, så länge det är tillåtet så kan man väl på sin höjd ha moraliska synpunkter och då känns det genast lite avundsjukt.
ReplyDeleteRoligt med Hammarbys relativt helsvenska framgångar. Nästan lika roligt att se Södertälje och Vänersborg som dessutom har något slags ungdomligt över sig. Var är de lagen om 5-10 år? Eller kommer det ändå att krävas importer för att kunna konkurrera i den yttersta toppen?
Beträffande damerna är det sjukt imponerande att de spelar VM. Med samma grymma inställning till träning och läger skulle herrlaget lätt klättra 10-15 placeringar på rankingen.
Since the game where Enkoping beat Exiles ealier in the year Exiles have only added one player to their squad. Moreover without Exiles bringing these foreign players in over the years Swedish rugby would not be where it is today. The players brought in from abroad have forced the standard of rugby up meaning that teams such as Hammarby and Enkoping have raised their standard accordingly to compete which has benefited the national team.
ReplyDeleteOm man jämför med andra sporter är det inte ovanligt att klubbar med stark ekonomi lyckas bättre än klubbar med svag ekonomi. Jämför med elitserien i hockey där Skellefteå och Brynäs får mycket beröm för sina juniorverksamheter men det är klubbar som HV 71 och Färjestad som har råd att bygga lag som vinner mästerskap. Bygga genom att köpa kvalitet, ska tilläggas.
ReplyDeleteGör jämförelsen med fotboll och England; är det en slump att lag som Chelsea och Manchester city idag är toppplag vilket man inte var för 10 år sedan? Naturligtvis inte, det är stora kapitaltillskott som gjort det möjligt att köpa konkurrenskraftiga lag. Hör man röster som klagar på att det är orättvist?
Hur gör sporter som är små i andra länder? En motsvarighet till rugby i Sverige torde kunna vara ishockey på Nya Zealand (jo, det finns tydligen). Enligt ligans hemsida krävs att varje lag har två juniorspelare ombytta till varje match och man tillåter max tre importer per lag. Importerna av låg/medelgod svensk eller kanadensisk kvalitet blir naturligtvis stjärnor.
Rätt eller fel, bra eller dåligt. Döm själva, men så länge alla lag håller sig till regelsystemet finns det väl egentligen ingen anledning att klaga på de bemedlade klubbar som har råd att köpa kvalitet.
//Carlsberg
Buuhhuuuu!I crying my heart out for ya! ROFLOL to the anonymous commentator at 24 August 14:39
ReplyDeleteRob
I don't think you can compare rugby in Sweden, with professional hockey or football. There are only a few hundred senior rugby players in Sweden, so the massive influx of foreign players to a few clubs will have a big effect. Nobody has a problem with players finding themselves in Sweden and joing a rugby club, but when clubs are trawling the planet looking for players to come over for a summer, then we have a problem
ReplyDeleteHow has the national team benefited from this? They are ranked 49 in the world, down from the mid 30's a few years ago.
I spoke to one of the coaches of the U18s national team last year. He estimated that 50% of his squad from the season before were no longer playing ryugby! That's a huge turnover, and we need to look at why this is. If a 19 year old is training for the Exiles, and then sees some Kiwi flown in to play, he will ask himself "what's the point" and join another sport. Not great for Swedish rugby in my view.