Two tries at the beginning of the second half from Radniki Nis winger Aleksandar Stojanovic saw Serbia emerge victorious in 33-degree heat at the Městský stadion in Krupka.

The match and victory was dedicated to Mihaljo Stojiljkovic, a former Serbian international and Partisan Belgrade player who tragically passed away recently, his brother Starhinja named vice-captain, and he was a try scorer just before the break to give the visitors a narrow 12-6 lead, man of the match Enis Bibic with their opening touchdown.

Serbia head coach Darren Fisher commented: “It was very competitive especially in the first half, we knew we had to settle and improve our completion rates and that proved to be the difference. We made special mention to Starhinja after his loss, the win was for him and his family.

We travelled for 18 hours by bus to get here but we will continue our journey across Europe to help assist in the growth of the game, the Czech’s have been great hosts.“

Czech Republic got off to the perfect start, second-rower David Belohlavek crossing in the opening minute and it looked like they might cause an upset when prop Tomas Adamec went over on the hour but they conceded straight after, although they finished strongly.

Head coach Petr Sedina noted: “The game was played in great spirit, we made too many errors which cost us in the end. Serbia took their chances when given an opportunity, however, this is the level we want to play at so that we can learn and develop.“