Germany will take on Poland for the first time in a men’s senior international tomorrow, Saturday (kick off 4pm local time) with the match being staged in the German capital Berlin, another first for the sport. The nations will compete for the ‘Augustus the Strong’ Trophy named in honour of the former Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, famed for his ability to bend horseshoes with his bare hands.
NRLD president, Bob Doughton, noted: “It is going to be a very exciting occasion and we are looking forward to developing relations with another of our neighbours. The opportunity to play in Berlin could be massive for rugby league in Germany.” The hosts are coming off a defeat at home to Netherlands in the Griffin Cup which saw a record crowd for an international game in the country.
“In our long term strategy we prioritise playing against neighbouring countries,” said Polska XIII president, Lukasz Lucka. “This match is a very important step for rugby league development in central Europe, and the beginning of a bigger cooperation between our federations. For Poland it's the last game this year. We have a long and a successful season behind us and now we plan to put all the effort into making the next one even better.”
GERMANY SQUAD
Max Alderson, Max Huss, Alex Nyahoe, Martin Tormann, Fabian Wendt, Richard Zehenleitner (Bocks), Brad Billsborough (Midlands Hurricanes), Eoin Bowie (Miles Devils), Kote Gabedeva, Harry Miles, Felix Rau (Panthers), Liam Doughton, Dany Doukeng, Sebastian Paassen, Angus Ritz-Rahman (Rhinos), Oliver Bowie (Shaw Cross), Mawuli Améfia, Jack Baskerville, Harry Cartwright, Brian Kikawa, Christophe Ngondi (Trouts)
POLAND SQUAD
Simon Adamski (Almondbury Spartans), Eryk Wisniewski, Dominik Medecki (Brighton & Hove), Harry Chmiel (Derby City Elks), Jakub Mitek, Mateusz Rutkiewicz, Michał Krzypkowski (Południe), Mateusz Dziąg (Skierniewice Razorbacks), Gab Romanowski (Skirlaugh), Jonathan Tutak, Lukasz Lucka, Mateusz Kowalewski, Tomasz Zerbe (Sroki Lodz), Adam Jasinski (St. Albans Centurions), Mateusz Wojtas, Stef Archer, Wojciech Sieczkowski (Tryton Warszawa), Karol Myszkowski, Maciej Myszkowski (Wildcats Gora Kalwaria)