Montenegro, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic name squads for internationals
Squads have been named for two men’s senior internationals taking place this Saturday. Montenegro face Malta in Tivat for the Medieval Shield (kick off 7.30pm local time), while Poland take on Czech Republic at Wembley Stadium in Majkowski Wembley, Kalisz (6pm kick off local time).
Montenegro v Malta
The Shield will see Montenegro play their second official senior international, having lost in the corresponding fixture last year when Malta triumphed 66-6 in Mosta.
Montenegro head coach Ian Giddings commented: “We are looking forward with great anticipation to testing ourselves again against Malta, we are training well, and the boys want to give a good account of themselves.
"It is our first international in Montenegro, I'm sure we will compete for 80 minutes and look forward to sharing a beer with the Malta boys afterwards.”
The bulk of their squad are from RLC Arsenal who play in Tivat.
Malta player/head coach Philip Humphrey won't travel with the squad after suffering a serious leg injury in the last round of the MRL Championship, which saw the Red Knights crowned champions.
The squad will be guided by former head coach Anthony Micallef and captain Karl Cassar who plays for the RAF.
Humphrey said: '”We're honoured to be facing Montenegro and our lads are excited to play in Tivat.
"We want this to be a marker of how we're going to play moving forward, to show off all that Maltese Rugby League has to offer. We are also building up to our home game against Bulgaria next weekend.”
The match will be live-streamed.
Poland v Czech Republic
“It’s been a great year for Poland Rugby League so far,” said Łukasz Łucka, president of Polska Rugby XIII. “The game against the Czechs is very important for us, for many players it’s going to be their first match at international level. It’s a great opportunity for them to test their skill against a strong opposition.”
Nine of their squad come from recently crowned champions Sroki Łódź.
CZRLA president Lukás Hergott added: “We are looking forward to playing against Poland. Both squads are very focussed on domestically produced players, and it will be good test of our development as well as an opportunity for debutants.”
Five clubs have representatives in the Czech squad, the highest number from Vrchlabí’s Mad Squirrels.
MONTENEGRO: Aleksandar Mecikucic, Boban Banjevic, Bojan Mizdalo, Burim Brahimi, Elvis Cenaj, Goran Novakovic, Goran Vujovic, Ilija Ivanovic, Igor Adzaip, Marko Fatic, Marko Novakovic, Milos Dasic, Redzep Baljaj, Srdjan Popovic, Stevan Radonjic (RLC Arsenal Tivat), Andrija Dakic (RLC Buducnost Podgorica), Bogdan Raicevic (RLC Radnicki Belgrade), Milos Kucancanin, Tvrtko Dumancic (unattached)
MALTA: Scott Beerman, Robin Cutajar, Kyle Gauci, Jean-Pierre Zarb (Black Knights, Malta), Aidan Demicoli, Luke Musu, Mark Robertson, William Watts (Blue Knights, Malta), Kaine Dimech (Cornwall RLFC, England), Jayden Azzopardi, Noah Azzopardi (Mascot Jets, Australia), Reece Dimech (Medway Dragons, England), Karl Cassar (RAF Rugby League, England), Mark Camilleri, Peter Debono, Jean Scholey, Nicky Vella (Red Knights, Malta), Josh Cassar (Stanley Rangers)
POLAND: Patryk Bartczak, Fabian Glinkowski, Mateusz Kowalewski, Dawid Krawczyński, Łukasz Łucka, Kamil Owoc, Seweryn Smolis, Jonathan Tutak, Tomasz Zerbe (Sroki Łódź), Mateusz Dziąg, Łukasz Wawrzyniak (Skierniewice Razorbacks), Patryk Gabryś, Mateusz Kłosiński, Łukasz Kostecki (Husaria Kalisz), Michał Krzypkowski, Jakub Mitek (Południe), Karol Myszkowski, Maciej Myszkowski, Jakub Zalewski (Wildcats Góra Kalwaria)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Jakub Hudrlik, David Belohlavek, Adam Vrbata, Jakub Jirman, Matej Schejbal, Dominik Fiser, Tomas Kasik, Daniel Rypl (Mad Squirrels Vrchlabí), Jakub Czermak, Vit Studecky (Krupka Dragons), Marek Henzl, David Slivka, Kamil Havel (Orli Havlíčkův Brod), Roman Richtr, Josef Brynda, Tomas Adamec, Adam Mikulas (Barbarians Letohrad), Jaroslav Novotny, Erik Schulz (Slávia Hradec Králové)
