The German women want to start the European Championship with a win in Finland. Photo (c) Perlich
European Championship start in the far north. Tomorrow, Saturday, the Phoenix team will start the Rugby Europe Trophy. An old acquaintance is waiting for the German women of the fifteen in the greater Helsinki area. It was just two years ago since they last played against the Finns, which resulted in a memorable defeat. Things should be completely different this weekend. Kick-off in Vantaa takes place at 12 noon.
The German women’s 15s are playing the Rugby Europe Trophy again this season, but it was only played with the Belgians and Finns. This Friday the plane was waiting for Helsinki, from where it went to Vantaa, a city with 250,000 inhabitants in the greater area of the Finnish capital.
Memories of 2022 inevitably come back, when we competed at the start of the Trophy in Finland – despite the German lead, with a clearly better end for Finland. The then 5-43 will also be present to many players from the Phoenix team and so the coaching team around Gareth Jackson and Melvine Smith don’t even have to warn about the hosts.
Most people will still be familiar with their strong phase game with cracking carries. Melvine Smith, however, believes that they are much further along than two years ago and will therefore leave a much better business card. After the test against Belgium in the spring and a camp two weeks ago in Heidelberg with 50 players, they are well positioned.
“Most of the players have developed significantly in the last two that we are convinced that we can master the challenge of Finland,” Smith emphasizes. The team now has a stable tactical system that has to be carried out precisely, while at the time they were still in the process of finding it, said Smith: “Gareth does a great job, so the players know what is required of them.”
The conditions in autumnal Finland definitely favor a fast game. In sunny temperatures of 13 degrees, the German team should be able to play a broader and, above all, faster game than two years ago. Then again, the hosts would be deprived of their greatest strength.
