November Internationals - Tier 2 & 3

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

According to Wikipedia (for I could find no other source) the following are fixtures of note this weekend.

Weekend of 11/11

Germany v Brazil


Weekend of 18/11

Belgium v Brazil
Namibia v Uruguay
Spain v Canada
Germany v United States
Romania v Samoa
Japan v Tonga


Weekend of 25/11

Georgia v United States
Germany v Chile
Namibia v Uruguay
Spain v Brazil
Fiji v Canada
Romania v Tonga

On top of the above there is a Cup of Nations in Hong Kong, with the host nation, Russia, Kenya and Chile.


There seems to be a few less tests than last November, but it's not too bad. I'm particularly happy with the fixtures for Germany and Brazil. The fixtures for Samoa (too hard competition for a struggling side) and Romania (only two tests for the European champions) are a joke.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

To add to your list:
Barbarians v Tonga (11/11)
Portugal v Czech Republic (18/11- World Cup qualifier)
There's a few others as well but I don't think anyone will be as interested as I am in how the Netherlands get on...

Looking forward to these games though, especially the Germany and Spain matches. A good autumn will really help them going into the World Cup qualifiers next year. Germany v USA and Spain v Canada are the ones I'm eyeing up right now.
I won't be able to watch any of the games though as I have my own rugby games so I'm relylying on others to give me their opinions on matches (I'm looking at you Bruce).

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Hah, I'll try to fish out spoiler free highlights WD. It seems Germany have added a lot of depth to their squad with their recruitment of "German qualified" talent as part of their push for RWC qualification. No sign of Herr Tobias Flood though. I think it'll be an experimental autumn for Germany with these 11 uncapped players being tried out.

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2017/11/08/germany-name-extended-squad-november-tests/

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Germany smashed Brazil's weak pack. Brazil showed spirit and scored a couple of decent tries in the second half to make things more respectable but they desperately need some muscle and bulk up front.

Hard to evaluate Germany. If they can get a result over the US next week then I don't think we can completely rule them out from the RWC chase as they are building squad depth and have a good pack and kicker in Parkinson.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Thanks Bruce. Seems a very solid win for the Germans albeit against Brazil. Were Germany experimenting today with their team/tactics or was it pretty routine in that sense?

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Thanks Bruce. Seems a very solid win for the Germans albeit against Brazil. Were Germany experimenting today with their team/tactics or was it pretty routine in that sense?

I don't know about players, but tactically from what I saw (which was only the last 50 mins with half an eye as I watched Italy) it was mainly exploiting their advantage in the forwards. I'd imagine that there had to be new players since the wider squad of 38 or so players had 11 new faces.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Barbarians 27- Tonga 24. That's all I know about that one

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

can't believe USA Germany doesn't have its own game thread... all 38 people (players included) who care about this match are offended

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Unfortunately others don't seem to share our love for tier 2+3 rugby..

 

[Car]

Honestly, it's not love fot T2/3 in my case, just the fact that we're part of it and I'm glad we can watch our team nowadays. I remember the days when we had to be glad when we had a ticker.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Honestly, it's not love fot T2/3 in my case, just the fact that we're part of it and I'm glad we can watch our team nowadays. I remember the days when we had to be glad when we had a ticker.

What do you think of rugby in Germany at the moment mate? Is it noticeably growing?

 

[Car]

What do you think of rugby in Germany at the moment mate? Is it noticeably growing?

The national team has been improving, but based on what I read from others (rugby isn't a thing where I live), the club game really is lagging behind and the federation seems to be poorly run. Still, there's been a clear improvement and it's not a coincidence our national team signed an outfitter deal before the last test match and they're finally planning to sell the shirts next spring.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

The national team has been improving, but based on what I read from others (rugby isn't a thing where I live), the club game really is lagging behind and the federation seems to be poorly run. Still, there's been a clear improvement and it's not a coincidence our national team signed an outfitter deal before the last test match and they're finally planning to sell the shirts next spring.

Thanks, Germany could be so good at rugby if they tried! Qualifying for the World Cup would really help them out and hopefully raise interest levels of rugby in Germany big time. Germany and Spain have real potential in the sport and they both need something like World Cup qualification to push them forward to the next level.

 

[Brigantine]

Germany team vs USA: (** = Heidelberg RK; * = Other teams in 1. Bundesliga SW)

1. Julius Nostad* (17 caps)
2. Dasch Barber** (8 caps - from RSA)
3. Samy Füchsel** (32 caps - ex Pro D2 / Albi)
4. Michael Poppmeier** (23 caps)
5. Eric Marks (12 caps - Top 14 / La Rochelle)
6. Sebastian Ferreira** (8 caps)
7. Jaco Otto** (16 caps)
8. Ayron Schramm** (New - ex Currie Cup / Sharks - from RSA)
9. Sean Armstrong** (33 caps)
10. Christopher Hilsenbeck (13 caps - Pro D2 / Vannes)
11. Marcel Coetzee** (10 caps - ex Pro12 / Ulster / Super Rugby / Sharks - from RSA)
12. Raynor Parkinson** (28 caps)
13. Wynston Cameron-Dow* (New - for HRK in Continental Shield - ex Western Force academy - from RSA)
14. Mathieu Dacau (2 caps - Fed 1 / Tarbes - from France)
15. Hagen Schulte** (New - ex Pro12 / Glasgow Warriors - from NZ)

16. Jörn Schröde**(14 caps)
17. Mika Tyumenev (18 caps - Fed 1 / Strasbourg)
18. Anthony Dickinson* (4 caps)
19. Adam Preocanin (New - English National League 1 - ex. RFU Championship / Ealing Trailfinders / London Scottish - from England)
20. Marcel Henn* (New - ex Varsity Cup / NWU Pukke - from RSA)
21. Pierre Mathurin** (7 caps)
22. Steffen Liebig** (24 caps)
23. Jamie Murphy (6 caps - Welsh Premier Division - ex Pro12 / Ospreys - also played for Wales in Rugby League - from Wales)

They've been making a bit of a deal about some new German-qualified South Africans etc. being added to the squad. I count 6 developed players added in the last year from abroad. I've bolded players debuting this autumn and Mathieu D?cau who debuted last May in Kenya (Brazil last weekend was his 2nd cap). (Marcel Henn was in the Kenya squad but not capped).

Apparently America has a very strong selection, so not pulling any punches.

 

[Brigantine]

Jamie Murphy was also a new addition this year - Debuted in the February win against Romania.

The new imports don't all seem to be stars. Sounds like it's mainly about building depth.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

It's not the best short term on the face of it as non-Germans are making up a large portion of the squad but long term they should benefit as hopefully the team will achieve something increasing interest levels in Germany

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

A high scoring match between Spain and Canada, with Canada showing decisiveness in their backs and giving themselves some optimism for the RWC playoff next year with Uruguay.

Germany 10-13 USA at the half, with a last second try by the US.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Any link to the Germany game?

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Spain were 17-3 up too and conceded two tries at the end of the first half to go in 17-17. Disappointing result for them I say

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Spain were 17-3 up too and conceded two tries at the end of the first half to go in 17-17. Disappointing result for them I say

Yeah, Spain have disappointed me this year. USA starting to boss Germany and Romania currently trailing Samoa. The REC may be relying on Belgium against Brazil to avoid a clean sweep this week (although Georgia did the REC fairly proud in my opinion).

EDIT: Although scratch that, Romania won the Hong Kong tournament.