It was the Dalibor Vukanovi? show in Prague as the Serbian scrum half masterminded a resounding 56-4 win over Czech Republic, thanks to a second half super show
writes Phil Caplan.
The visitors dominated the
EUROPEAN SHIELD WEST opener from all but the seventh minute, when Czech centre Marcel Mana found the try line down the left for an unconverted score, but it was less than two plays later that Vukanovi? instigated a man of the match performance with his first of four tries.
The Serbian skipper converted his effort and that of another nine touchdowns for a personal haul of 32 points.
The first half was a tough struggle for both teams, each their own worst enemies with errors in possession but Serbian coach Marko Jankovi? obviously got his message across at the interval.
His charges held a 12 point lead at the break and Vukanovi?’s try next to the posts in the opening minutes of the second period set the tone for the remainder of the clash.
Ex-Whitehaven prop Soni Radovanovi? led from the front in a typically physical defensive display but on three occasions spilt the ball in promising positions, once over the try line.
The other highlight for the Serbians, whose bench players made a big impact, was when Dor?ol Spiders prop Danilo Deli? broke the Czech line eight minutes from time and powered clear from 50 metres to crown an encouraging win.
Full back Dimitris Daj?, Dejan Lukeni?, Zoran Peši?, Stefan Nikoli? and stand off Milan Šušnjara were their other try scorers.
Match Two in the West sees Serbia host Germany in Belgrade on July 3rd.
In the Czech Sate of Origin curtain raiser, Moravia just held out a strong finishing Bohemia 26-24 in a thriller.
