2021 Rugby League European Championship B

The 2021 European Championship B was an international rugby league tournament that took place in October 2021, originally scheduled to take place in October 2020.[1][2] The tournament was postponed in July 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] A revised schedule was announced in April 2021,[4] and the tournament details were confirmed in August 2021.[5]

2021 (2021) European Championship B  ()
Number of teams3
Host country Serbia
Winner Serbia (4th title)

Matches played3
Points scored262 (87.33 per match)
Tries scored50 (16.67 per match)
Top scorerUkraine Oleksandr Skorbach (46)
Top try scorersUkraine Anatolii Hrankovskyi (4)
Ukraine Oleksandr Skorbach (4)
Serbia Rajko Trifunović (4)
 < 2018
2023 > 

Background

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Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine played each other once in a round robin format. Ukraine entered the tournament after the 2020 European Championship C was cancelled.[4] Greece withdrew as their domestic competition was yet to restart.[5][6] The winner of the tournament will be promoted to 2022 European Championship.[7]

John Risman, who is a lifetime honorary president of Serbian Rugby League presented the trophy and medals to the winner of the tournament.[8] The tournament was won by Serbia, with Ukraine finishing runner-up and Russia third.

Participants

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Team Captain Coach Previous
Apps
Previous best result World
Ranking
[a]
  Russia Andrey Zdobnikov   Roman Ovchinnikov 5 Champions (2010 East, 2012–13, 2018) 37
  Serbia Stevan Stevanović   Darren Fisher 5 Champions (2007, 2010 West, 2014–15) 15
  Ukraine Oleksandr Skorbach   Gennady Veprik 3 Runners-up (2010 East) 39

Notes:

  1. ^ IRL World Rankings are as of July 2021.[9]

Squads

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On 29 September 2021, each competing nation announced their squads for the tournament.[7]

Serbia

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Stefan Simovic (RLC Dorcol Tigers), Aleksandar Pavlovic, Djordje Krnjeta, Dragan Jankovic, Dzavid Jasari, Enis Bibic, Nemanja Manojlovic, Stevan Stevanovic, Vladimir Milutinovic (RLC Partizan 1953), Lazar Zivkovic, Mihajlo Jovic, Stefan Arsic (RLC Radnicki Nis), Aleksandar Djordjevic, Marko Jankovic, Milos Calic, Milos Zogovic, Miodrag Tomic, Nikola Djuric Rajko Trifunovic, Stefan Nedeljkovic, Vojislav Dedic (RLC Red Star)

Russia

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Ilia Danilov (RC Dinamo), Evgenii Chevankov, Artem Egorov, Roman Ovchinnikov, Sergei Sazonov, Pavel Smirnov, Dmitrii Strukov, Ivan Suracov, Ivan Troitskii, Artem Tiutrin, Ivan Vabishchevich, Andrei Zdobnikov (RLC Locomotive), Egor Petukhov (RC Moscow Dragons), Vadim Buriak, Igor Chuprin, Aram Gazarian, Anton Matiushkin, Zakir Prizniakov (RLC Olimp), Andrey Perin (RC Spartak), Kirill Bozhko, Maxim Martynov (RC Zelenograd)

Ukraine

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Liubomyr Beznoshchuk, Vitalii Boichuk (Carpathian Trinity), Anatolii Hrankovskyi, Taras Kolisnyk, Vitalii Puchkov, Dmytro Semerenko, Oleksandr Shcherbyna, Oleksandr Skorbach, Oleksandr Syvokoz, Mykhailo Troian, Evhenii Trusov, Bohdan Vepryk, Ihor Yurkin (Kharkiv Legion XIII), Valentyn Korchak, Orest Adamyk, Valentyn Koval, Danylo Kozak, Igor Vashchuk (Lviv Tigers), Volodymyr Radchyk (Rivne Giants)

Table

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1   Serbia 2 2 0 0 120 28 +92 4 Promotion to 2023 European Championship A
2   Ukraine 2 1 0 1 114 72 +42 2
3   Russia 2 0 0 2 28 162 −134 0
Source: ERL

Fixtures

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3 October 2021[10]
14:00 CEST (UTC+2:00)
Serbia   66–10   Russia
Tries: Djordjević (3), Arsić (2), Vl. Dedić (2), Pavlović (2), Bibić, Djurić, D. Janković, Trifunović
Goals: Jašari (7/13)
Report (IRL)
Report (ERL)
Report (SRL)
Tries: Egorov, Sazonov
Goals: Vabishchevich (1/2)
City Stadium, Paraćin
Attendance: ≈500
Referee: Stephane Vincent (France)

6 October 2021[10]
13:00 CEST (UTC+2:00)
Russia   18–96   Ukraine
Tries: Chuprin, Troitskii, Vabishchevich
Goals: Vabishchevich (3/3)
Report (IRL)
Report (ERL)
Tries: Skorbach (4), Adamyk (2), Hrankovskyi (2), Kolesnik (2), Kozak (2), Trusov (2), Beznoshchuk, Puchkov, Shcherbyna, Troyan
Goals: Skorbach (12/17), Beznoshchuk (0/1)
FK Heroj Polet [sr], Belgrade
Referee: James Jones (Wales)

9 October 2021[10]
14:00 CEST (UTC+2:00)
Ukraine   18–54   Serbia
Tries: Hrankovskyi (2), Shcherbyna
Goals: Skorbach (3/3)
Report (IRL)
Report (ERL)
Tries: Trifunović (3), Milutinović (3), Arsić, Vl. Dedić, Stevanović, Zogović
Goals: Jašari (7/10), Vo. Dedić (0/1)
FK Heroj Polet [sr], Belgrade
Attendance: ≈150[11]
Referee: Andrew Pilkington (Spain)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Men's European Championship to expand in 2020". www.rlef.eu.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Draw for the Euros to be Live Streamed". www.rlef.eu.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Rugby League European Federation confirms status of 2020 European Championships". www.rlef.eu.com. 10 July 2020. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "European rugby league board confirm revised international schedule". European Rugby League. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Euro B confirmed for Serbia". European Rugby League. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  6. ^ "All Stars Beat England". Rugby League Review (153): 28.
  7. ^ a b "Squads Announced for Rugby League Euro B Championship".
  8. ^ "John Risman to Present Trophy and Medals to Euro B Winner".
  9. ^ "Cook Islands rise 17 places in latest Rugby League World Rankings". Rugby League International Federation. 13 July 2019.
  10. ^ a b c "Squads Announced For Rugby League Euro B Championship". European Rugby League. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Serbia vs. Ukraine - Rugby League Project".