European Championship B (Men)

Sat 25th October 2025   - KO  17:30 - RC Oysters, Oisterwijk , Netherlands
Official: Stephane Vincent (France)

Netherlands

4

FT

30

Half Time
4 - 14

Serbia

Tries

Damon Koolstra (34)

Daniel Marjanovic (7,45,77,80)
Rajko Trifunovic (18)
Jason Muranka (72)

Goals

Damon Koolstra (0/1)

Dzavid Jasari (0/1)
Jesse Soric (0/1)
Lachlan Ditchman (1/4)
Strahinja Stojilkovic (0/1)

Match Preview: Netherlands and Serbia name squads for Euro B clash

Netherlands will be crowned Euro B champions if they beat Serbia tomorrow (Saturday) at RC The Oysters in Oistervijk (kick off 5.30pm, local time). Their win in Matla last week means that Dave Hunter’s men can claim the trophy if they can back up a fine performance in Marsa.

He has made changes for his side’s final outing of the year with Francis Appleton, Rik Baats, Hamish Wragg, Tom Van Bokhoven and Kevin Ebbing all left out of the side which faced Malta, as Josh Pengel, Kees Kuijpers, Hardervijk Dolphins pair Arie-Tjerk and Razoux Schultz, Ruben Stuifzand, Mauricio Gomez-Pazos and Sylvan Vobken all return to the squad.

“It’s a massive match for us,” Hunter commented. “Due to a few injuries against Malta we’ve had to change things up a bit. We are well aware that this Serbian side will be different to the ones we’ve played in the past, so we’re definitely not complacent. It’ll be a grind, they’re a top 10 ranked nation at full strength and we’ll need to play better than last week in order to compete.”

For Serbia, the game marks the first of only two internationals this year, with the second taking place next week when they host Malta in round three, victory here meaning that they could be taking the title.

The lack of preparation and an away trip will be challenging, but head coach Darren Fisher has some experienced campaigners to draw on with Gold Coast Titans’ Jesse Soric returning together with Villefranche’s Vladica Nikolic and Villeneuve Leopards’ Daniel Marjanovic.

Fisher said: “We’ve a balance in our squad with potentially quite a few making debuts. We want to use these games to be able to plan beyond the Euro B competition and having such an opportunity against these good nations allows us to do this.”

French referee Stephane Vincent will take charge of the fixture and the game will be livestreamed via www.youtube.com/@RugbyLeagueNL/

Netherlands Squad
Hidde van den Berg, Josh Pengel, Lars Mudde (Amsterdam Cobras), Mavi Gevers, Kees Kuijpers (Brabant Bears), Kwinten Roeleveld, Maas van der Reek (Den Haag Knights), Dimitri Haringa, Arie-Tjerk Razoux Schultz, Ruben Stuifzand (Hardervijk Dolphins), Lachlan van der Vliet (Mareeba Gladiators), Joran Schoenmaker (Palau Broncos), Tom Turnock (Rotterdam Pitbulls), Damon Koolstra (West Tigers Mackay), Mauricio Gomez-Pazos, Sam Klumpert, Paul Kuijpers, Laury Renac, Sylvan Vonken (Zwolle Wolves)

Serbia Squad
Lachlan Ditchman (Carina), Sasa Popovic (Glebe Dirty Reds), Jesse Soric (Gold Coast Titans), Niko Djukic (Mackay Cutters), Aleksandar Pavlovic, Andrej Marinkovic, Djordje Krnjeta, Dzavid Jasari, Enis Bibic, Vladimir Milutinovic, Strahinja Stojiljkovic (Partizan 1953), Jason Muranka (Radnicki New Belgrade), Luka Milicevic, Stefan Arsic (Radnicki Nis), Rajko Trifunovic, Vuk Strbac (Red Star), Vlado Kusic (Salon XIII), Vladica Nikolic (Villefranche Хlll), Daniel Marjanovic (Villeneuve Leopards)

24 October 2025
1 Van Der Vliet
Full Back
Soric 1
5 Schultz
Right Wing
Marinkovic 2
4 Kuijpers
Right Centre
Arsic 3
3 Schoenmaker
Left Centre
Milutinovic 4
2 Harringa
Left Wing
Jasari 5
6 Renac
Stand Off
Djukic 6
7 Koolstra
Scrum Half
Marjanovic 7
8 Pazos
Prop
Nikolic 10
9 Reek
Hooker
Popovic 9
20 Roeleveld
Prop
Nikolic 8
12 Kulmpert
Second Row
Bibic 11
11 Gevers
Second Row
Muranka 12
13 Kuijpers
Loose Forward
Ditchman 13
14 Mudde
Int 1
Štrbac 19
16 Turnock
Int 2
Krnjeta 15
20 Vonken
Int 3
Trifunovic 16
15 Pengel
Int 4
Stojilkovic 20
23 Stuifzand
Reserve 1
Pavlovic 19
Match Report: Serbia beat Netherlands 4-30 in Euro B second round

Villeneuve Leopards’ scrum half Daniel Marjanovic was the star as Serbia beat Netherlands 30-4 at RC Oysters, Oistervijk, to take Euro B to a deciding game. The win was the first time that the Serbians had beaten their opponents in their fifth meeting.

Victory now against Malta next week will seal the title for them, but a Knights’ triumph will require calculators to see which of the three teams claim the trophy on points difference.

“We turned up we really well today and we’ve worked hard on making us focus on ourselves and that’s been key in our performance,” said Serbia head coach Daren Fisher. “I think we need to tidy our discipline, however, losing two players early in the first half meant bigger minutes from our middles as we look to next week.

“We had quite a few stand outs; Stefan Arsic, Jesse Soric, playing his first game at fullback, and Daniel Marjanovic was outstanding for us, especially given that all week he’s carried fluid on his knee and he only made the squad at the captains run, so to get through the game with that performance was impressive.”

Marjanovic began and ended the scoring, initially burrowing through from dummy-half, Lachlan Ditchman with the goal. Soric added a second try with a fine diagonal run on the left, Rajko Trifunovic with a similar move on the right gaining Serbia’s third touchdown in a terrific point-a-minute start.

Damon Koolstra weaved his way through to get Netherlands off the mark five minutes before half time, but that was their highpoint.

Marjanovic took advantage of field position from Lachlan Van Der Vliet’s dropped ball to add his second try with a dummy at the line, and veteran Jason Muranka got on the end of a move from Serbia’s spine to touch down at the right hand side of the posts.

Marjanovic completed his hat trick, powering through the middle from the base of a scrum, and he had the final word with a long range try to complete the impressive win, Serbia posting seven tries but only kicking one goal.

Netherlands head coach, Dave Hunter, commented: “It was a really disappointing loss. We defended too much, turned over too much ball and their forwards made us work really hard. We had opportunities to attack but we couldn’t keep enough possession. Congratulations to Serbia, they fully they deserved their win.”

26 October 2025