On Saturday, September 5, “Garkalne / Livonia” and “Ķekava / Miesnieki” will compete for the fifth year in a row in the game of Latvian rugby at Upesciems Stadium.
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This season, due to a small preparation process, the leading clubs had to accept the injuries of many players. Neither Livonia nor Mesnieki could play in the best line-ups during the summer months, so reserveists and junior players had to be more involved. As September approached, the club’s “infirmaries” emptied, and before the decisive match for the title, both Latvian rugby giants are fully ready for battle.
The head coach of the current champion “Garkalne / Livonia” Mārcis Rullis revealed that the team is in the best line-up before the most important fight. There were a couple of micro-injuries after the “seventh-round” championship, but now I can say that the meeting even had to make very, very difficult decisions to leave out of the 23-player application – that is the situation before the final. ”
Kristaps Andersons, the head coach of the vice-champion “Ķekava / Miesnieki”, does not complain about the problems of team composition. “In general, almost all the players of the regular team, more or less, are in line. Last Saturday, after winning the rugby-7 championship, we didn’t have time to celebrate. In a short time, I also had to change my psychology to return to great rugby training. ”
The coaches of the clubs do not pay much attention to the results of previous mutual duels, and the balance of team strength before Saturday’s match is similar to lengthwise and psychologically both teams are very hardened against various side things ”, says Marcis Rullis.
Kristaps Andersons also thinks that you don’t have to pay much attention to the results of previous matches. The last championship and our last game “Livonia” won, but the team strength is very similar, and in such games a lot depends on the details – quick decisions, details, mistakes . ”
Assessing the strengths of both clubs, Mārcis Rullis emphasizes the composition of the teams. I think that the strength of “Livonia” is a balanced composition – we get full-fledged changes between the main line-up and reserve players. I see that several leaders – Emīls Balodis, Elmārs Šefanovskis – have returned to the ranks of “Butchers”, they have both well-experienced, good youth and a good coach. “
The decisive game at Upeciems Stadium will start at seven in the evening, but will end well after sunset – in the spotlight. Light, short-term rain is also forecast.
Kristaps Andersons is not particularly worried about the weather “The forecast rain does not worry me – it rained in Baldone last Saturday as well. Rather, there are concerns about playing in the chair, as rugby in the dark can endanger the health of the players, but I very much hope that with artificial lighting in the stadium everything will be fine. ”
Mārcis Rullis: “If it rains on Saturday night, the match will definitely be more nervous, with shorter passes and more mistakes, but in any case there will be a fun and interesting game for the fans, as always between these teams (laughs).”
