ENC2A Switzerland 14 - 27 Czech Republic
Suisse Rugby Day
01.11.2014, Nyon, Switzerland
Rugby Europe 2014-2016 European Nations Cup Division 2A
Switzerland 14 – 27 Czech Republic
Francais: Traduction en cours
Deutsch: Übersetzung kommt in Kürze
On a beautiful autumn day in Nyon, the Swiss National Team continued its ENC campaign, after a win in its first game in Israel a week ago, facing the top-ranked team in the group: Czech Republic. After having been relegated from Division 1B, the Czechs came to Switzerland with much to prove.
Switzerland came out strong and surprised the physically superior Czech team with some quick and clever play, and slotted two converted tries in the first quarter, at the 5th and 22nd minute of the game scored by Mathias Bernath-Yendt and Thibault Gery. After giving away one penalty and one try at the end of the first half, Switzerland went into the break leading 14 points to 10, a spread which could have been wider had it not been for 3 missed penalty kicks by Switzerland during the course of the first half.
After the halftime break, the Czech Republic started to find their game, really trying to take advantage of its physical dominance in the forwards, with the Swiss pack really suffering in scrums, rucks, and mauls. The Czech’s strategy soon paid off, with the visitors scoring a converted try 10 minutes into the second half making the score 14-17.
The Swiss team did its best to fight its way back into the game, the backline looking dangerous whenever they get the ball. However, with Czech Republic’s dominance in the set pieces, ball possession proved hard to come by for the Swiss backline. At the 58th minute the game slipped away from them, with a yellow card for number 6 Ludovic Pommies, closely followed by a score by the Czechs one minute later. The guests finally added one more score 68th minute, making the final score 14-27 for the Czech Republic.
In an overall hard-fought and well-contested match, the Swiss team showed some good and interesting rugby to its fans, but finally had to concede the game to the powerful top-ranked team in its group.
Match Sheet: See PDF below.
