USA Rugby South vs. the Czech Republic

USA Rugby South concluded their Central European tour on September 1 with a 24-10 loss against the Czech Republic National team at the Rugby Club Mountfield Říčany. The team ended the tour with a 2-1 record.

In the previous two matches, the USA Rugby South defeated the 68th ranked Hungarian National team 35-12 on August 26 and the 75th ranked Austria National team 51-0 on August 29 in Vienna.

The match against the 32nd ranked the Czech Republic was the team’s greatest challenge on the tour. Playing three matches within a week is challenging, especially against a team ranked above them to conclude the tour. According to Rugby Redefined the USA Rugby South is unofficially ranked 49th in the world.

The Czech Republic vs.USA Rugby South Recap

The 32nd ranked Czech Republic beat USA Rugby South 24-10 at the Rugby Club Mountfield Říčany. The Czech Republic had a distinct size advantage in the forwards and used that to its advantage in the scrums. They also disrupted the lineouts, but had a number of handling errors that gave USARS possession.

It was a wet day and numerous handling errors and penalties by both sides thwarted offesnvie attacks. The Czech Republic went through more phases in attacking and their line speed in defense placed pressure on the Panthers. Team defense from both sides prevented tries as the Czech Republic had two to the Panthers one. Penalty kicks were the difference in the match.

USA Rugby South has an excellent scoring opportunity 7 minutes into the match as they were inches from the line after a 5 meter scrum. A penalty however, stopped their attack and allowed the Czech Republic to clear.

The Czech Republic had the next opportunity 22 meters out, but f;yhalf Cimprich Martinhit the posts and bounced to the 22 meter line for another Czech attack.

After back and forth play, Czech Republic outside center Pantůček Jiří slotted two penalty kicks for a 6-0 lead.

After a penalty by the Czech Republic, the Panthers had a lineout 10 meters out. They secured the ball and passed wide right, however a penalty at the breakdown stopped the attack. Soon after, the Czech REpublic advanced the ball through multiple phases with flyhalf Cimprich Martinscoring a try in the right corner in the 40th minute, pushing the lead to 11-0 at the break.

Second Half

The Czech Republic had the first scoring opportunity of the second half, but an offload by inside center Berounský Karelto wing Neužil Michaelwent into touch. The Czech Republic had numbers and if the pass connected, it would have been a likely try. That did not matter as the Czech Republic won a scrum at the Panthers 22 meter line and Berounský Karel sliced through the defense for a try. after the conversion by 13 the score was 18-0.

The restart went to the Czech Republic 22 meters and was mishandled with South getting the ball. David Coleman offloaded to Lucas Baistrocchi, who was driven into touch 8 meters from the line. The Czeck Republic controlled the lineout and cleared.

The USA Rugby South scored their first points of the match in the 62nd minute as Lucas Baistrocchi slotted a penalty kick, cutting the lead to 18-3.

The Czech Republic answered back in the 71st minute with a penalty kick by Pantůček Jiří increasing the lead to 21-3. The restart was then mishandled just outside the 22 meters and after a penalty South kicked for touch and attacked from a 5 meter lineout. After several phases, Irving Carcamo dove across the line for a try. Baistrocchi then converted, cutting the lead to 21-10.

In the 80th minute, Czech Republic Pantůček Jiří slotted a penalty kick giving them a 24-10 win over USA Rugby South.

Comments

The USA Rugby South faced their biggest challenge in facing the Czech Republic. They performed well against a higher ranked team and can only improve by the experience. The team had an outstanding tour and played three national teams, beating both Hungary and Austria before facing one of Europe’s stronger teams, the Czech Republic.

There were many cultural benefits as well, creating lifetime memories. Hopefully, there will be one more article about the tour and its benefits.

USA Rugby South & Czech Republic Squads

The extended USA Rugby South squad was published prior to the tour.

USARS Squad vs. the Czech Republic: 1 Jamal Hadley 2 Amro Gouda 3 Stephen Cappello 4 Brendan Smith 5 Ben Foley 6 Jason Riekena 7 Cameron Tompkins 8 Hein Erasmus (c) 9 Zach Miller 10 Lucas Baistrocchi 11 Nathan Ring 12 Ross Depperschmidt 13 Zach Blalock 14 Mike Martinez 15 David Coleman 16 Zach Jessell 17 Trey Eason 18 Ian Lehn 19 John Bryant 20 Calvin Storey 21 Jordan Gunderson 22 Irving Carcamo 23 Jarrett Gartin

The Czech Republic National Team: 1 Kent Anthony 2. Hodek Matouš 3. Havlíček Martin4. Chytil Lukáš 5. Trefný Robert 6. Hošek Dan 7. Faktor James 8. Havel Vojtěch 9. Schütz Zbyněk 10. Cimprich Martin 11. Neužil Michael 12. Berounský Karel 13. Pantůček Jiří 14. Starka Daniel 15. Kovář Martin 16. Leitmančík Adam 17. Průša Michal 18. Hutník Radim 19. Olbrich Jan 20. Čížek Petr 21. Froněk Albert Aaron 22. Kučera Jan