In a déjà vu last year, in the premiere of the current format with a double phase of the European Championship, Spain faces Romania this Sunday (6:15 p.m., Movistar Deportes 4) for third place in the tournament in the four-way final. Paris, which will star in the duel for the title against Georgia and Portugal, currently the elite within the second tier of rugby on the Old Continent.
Without any tangible difference, pride aside, between finishing third and fourth, the National Team’s aspirations are reduced to consolidating the growth offered since that tortuous visit to the Netherlands on the first day. “We hope to continue improving game by game. We could have beaten Portugal, but the game improved. We don’t take advantage of our opportunities and they do. With Romania we have to take a step forward and play the entire game well,” analyzes the Spanish coach, Pablo Bouza, one game away from concluding the first edition of the REC with him at the helm of Spain.
The Argentine is demanding when asked about his degree of satisfaction with the performance offered by a block still under construction: “The objective was to be in the final, so we have not achieved that. It is difficult to measure, there are things we can improve. We would have a six or a seven, no more. The team can grow a lot, but there are things that require time.” “Romania is a very physical team, a lot depends on how we do in scrum and maul. We trained all week, it was one of the best we had. The rest week we worked a lot. “Everything will depend a lot on discipline and physical contact,” he adds, referring to Robles that has lost ground in recent years against Portugal and Spain, going from being the dominant power in the European Tier 2 along with Georgia to third or even fourth at times. in discord. This edition, without going any further, they have conceded 43-5 in Tbilisi and 24-49 in Portugal, and they sweated to beat Belgium (33-18) and Poland (8-20).
“Repeat what happened in Portugal. Get a good image. We always play to win,” Mario Pichardie, the captain, sets the goal for a duel that will be played, Bouza points out, on “very short artificial grass” at the Jean Bouin in Paris, the usual home of the Stade Français. “We have to work harder than them when we move, relocate ourselves sooner,” Pichardie offers as a key. The precedents, six Spanish victories in 39 matches since 1958, are not encouraging. Yes, three of those wins have occurred since 2018, and the desire for revenge that it can instill in the Lions, with notable additions to the list such as Santi Ovejero and Jon Zabala, last year’s 25-31 defeat in the same scenario .
2024-03-16 14:32:57
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