2024-04-24 15:48:06
A week after the three youngest groups – U14, U12, and U10 – the new season was started by the young rugby players of the U16 group with the first stage of the Latvian Championship. Last weekend, five teams of this age competed in the first stage of the Riga Technical College stadium, playing the usual one-round tournament, or playing each other.
RK “Livonia” participated with two teams – “Livonia/Rīga” and “Livonia/Engure”, while Eleja JNSC, Baldone/KNSS and RK “Mītavaa” started with one team. The “Ežu” team, which was third in the overall standings last year, but won second place in the first stages, was missing. Therefore, each team got four games, earning three points for a win, and one point for a loss.
“Livonia/Rīga” had beaten Mītāves and the second team “Livonia/Engure” by 30:0 and 50:0, respectively, which already made it possible to secure a place in the top three and win one of the awarded places. The Livonians recognized the superiority of the advanced Baldones KNSS team by 7:33, but in the fight for second place in a very intense and similar game, they lost 19:21 to last year’s champions Eleja rugby players.
Thus, “Livonia/Rīga” won the third place, while “Livonia/Engure”, beating RK “Mītava” with 21:15, took the 4th place. The Baldonians became the winners of the stage, who defeated the Eleanors in the decisive game with 24:17.
“Livonia” youth coach Artūrs Baranovskis admits that the third place won was not what the team hoped for. “In general, it was not what we had expected. The guys didn’t have enough “sparkle in their eyes”. A positional error was also made somewhere by the coach.”
“Eleya had a chance to win. The game went point by point, we were also ahead. However, the Baldones team, under the leadership of Elmars Šefanovskis, has worked hard in the winter and improved their skills,” Baranovskis praises the winners of the stage. “Livonia/Engure team, which started from scratch and managed to win one game, played well. Even though they suffered losses in the other games, the task set by the coach was fulfilled, they even did a little more,” the coach dedicates words of appreciation to the second “Livonia” team.
2024-04-24 15:48:06