Annual Report Card: Poland, 2017-18

Annual Report Card: Poland, 2017-18

It's the end of the rugby season for Poland (mostly), so I'm going to write the first in a series of annual report cards for European T2 nations, that focus solely on the national teams in the year just gone.

Quick primer on Rugby Europe divisions, Grand Prix and Championship denote the highest level of competition, while Trophy is second highest, and Conference 1 third highest, and so on.

Senior Male XVs:

Highest level of competition: Rugby Europe Trophy, 5th (of 6) in 2017-18.

Results in past 12 months:

Czech Republic 19-14 Poland

Poland 13-0 Moldova (match sheet and facts only)

Netherlands 71-30 Poland

Switzerland 30-24 Poland

Poland 25-27 Portugal

The Polish national XV is a stalwart of RE's second tier competition, having recorded finishes of: 5th, 5th, 5th, 4th, 5th from 2013-14 to the 2017-2018 edition. Their two year average attendance is relatively strong at 3,650, but this is on a par with where it was three years ago. However those figures mask the fact that bar the mess against the Netherlands there was one win and three losses by an average of just 4.3 points. Had they scored an extra unconverted try against those three teams then they'd have been 2nd.

However coulda, woulda, shoulda doesn't win sh*t.

Grade: C+, stagnation with little glimmers of potential.

Senior Male 7s:

Highest level of competition: Rugby Europe 7s Grand Prix, 12th (of 12) in 2017.

Results in past 13 months:

12th of 12 in Moscow 7s (3-4th June 2017)

12th of 12 in Łódź 7s (10-11th June 2017)

11th of 12 in Clermont-Ferrand 7s (1-2nd July 2017)

12th of 12 in Exeter 7s (15-16th July 2017)

12th of 12 in Moscow 7s (19-20th May 2018)

To get the obvious out of the way, they're not good enough for the Grand Prix circuit, but because they're a host nation they cannot be relegated. However it should be said that Ireland, Wales, Italy, France and England also participate in the Grand Prix circuit, alongside Spain, Russia, and Portugal who have all been in the World Series within the past few years, so this is a very competitive level of 7s rugby. They finished 12th in 2017, 9th (of 10) in 2016, and they had not appeared at the Grand Prix level before that. It is another case of stagnation in Polish rugby, although credit where credit is due for managing to run an annual 7s tournament.

Grade: C-, slight decline, but can't decline any further.

Women's Rugby:

Highest level of competition: Rugby Europe (RE) Women's 7s Grand Prix, 8th (of 12) in 2017.

Results in past 13 months:

10th of 12 Malemort 7s (18-19th June 2017)

6th of 12 Kazan 7s (9-10th July 2017)

Polish rugby does not currently run a Women's XV team, but their 7s team is in the Women's Grand Prix. They came 8th on 13 points, four ahead of 9th, but only two behind 6th. Considering that five of the 6 Nations took part (Scotland was in the Trophy, and got promoted in 2017) it puts Poland up there in the European elite, despite the fact that 2017 was their first appearance at the Grand Prix level. If they maintain this level over the next two years they stand a very good chance of qualifying for the global Olympic repechage tournament for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which European sides dominated in 2016.

Grade: B+, they've adjusted well to the elite level, with Olympic qualification not looking completely beyond them.

Youth Rugby:

Competition: RE U20 Men's XVs Championship, 7th (of 7 national teams)

Poland lost both their opening matches (71-5 v Russia, 52-15 v Ukraine), before narrowly winning against Portugal Centro-Norte, a scratch side that replaced the Germany team who pulled out. That means that they avoided relegation, having been promoted last year, but relegated from the Championship in 2015, which makes them a yo-yo team.

Competition: RE U18 Men's XVs Trophy, 2nd (of 8)

Poland is a bit all over the place when it comes to U18 men's rugby, in the recent past they've finished anywhere from 5th (2013) to 11th (2011 & 2012) amongst European T2 nations. However since that 2013 peak there's been a steady decline (6th, 8th, 8th, 10th, 9th), which has culminated in them losing their place in the Championship division.

Competition: RE U18 Men's 7s Championship, 9th (of 16)

9th is a decent improvement on the 13th that occurred last year, but I'm afraid that I'm struggling to give more context, due to the fact the Rugby Europe nuked their website of all past results after the 2015 season, and trying to find and restore them is quite a lengthy process, that I've only managed to do for the XVs age-grades.

Competition: RE U18 Women's 7s, 13th (of 16)

It's important to note that Wales, Scotland, and England competed as Great Britain here, for if they had competed separately then Poland would have been in the relegation slot. In 2017 they finished 6th in the Trophy division, which equates to 15th in 2018, so a slight improvement in the short term, but once again I'm unable to give context due to RE.

Grade: B, slight improvements in 7s alongside a small improvement in U18 Men XV means that this year's age grade has improved significantly on last year

Overall grade for the year: B. There seems to have been improvement in almost every aspect for Poland this year on last year. However it's impossible to tell if this was just due to a reversion to the norm, or a sign of a good batch of young players. Progress needs to be continued through future years.