54
26

Half-time
Serbia: 22
Ukraine: 6

Tries
Serbia:
  • Daniel Marjanovic (8),
  • Zane Bijorac (12),
  • Zane Bijorac (18),
  • Zane Bijorac (22),
  • Zane Bijorac (46),
  • Vladimir Milutinovic (46),
  • Uros Golubovic (55),
  • Vladimir Milutinovic (61),
  • Uros Golubovic (64),
  • Vladimir Milutinovic (69)
Ukraine:
  • Vitalii Puchkov (26),
  • Vladislav Rudov (37),
  • Liubomyr Beznoschuk (53),
  • Oleksandr Petrenko (58),
  • Daniil Hapon (68)

Goals
Serbia:
  • Vladimir Milutinovic (7/9)
Ukraine:
  • Daniil Hapon (3/5)

Teams
Serbia:
  • Marko Jakovljevic,
  • Ivan Andric,
  • Zane Bijorac,
  • Dorotej-Dado Arnold,
  • Vuk Tomic,
  • Ilija Krstic,
  • Daniel Marjanovic,
  • Marko Jankovic,
  • Jai Smith,
  • Mihajlo Stoiljkovic,
  • Vladimir Milutinovic,
  • Zane Marolt,
  • Matthew Dragisic.
  • Subs: Mihailo Tomic,
  • Stevan Ivankovic,
  • Marko Simovic,
  • Uros Golubovic
Ukraine:
  • Daniil Hapon,
  • Denys Maiorov,
  • Dmytro Vasylyshyn,
  • Vladyslav Osipov,
  • Andrii Shelepovskyi,
  • Liubomyr Beznoschuk,
  • Vitalii Puchkov,
  • Anton Bolshakov,
  • Vladislav Rudov,
  • Daniil Chervinskyi,
  • Maksym Shvets,
  • Vitalii Kovach,
  • Oleksandr Petrenko.
  • Subs: Anton Pyatnytskyi,
  • mykyta Piatnytskyi,
  • Bohdan Matsiuk,
  • Yevhen Chernykh

Match report

Serbia gave their home fans some cheer with a 50 point haul against a game and committed Ukraine side

There were some heavy hits from both sides, with Serbia’s Marko Jankovic knocking on with a try begging as Serbia started to assert themselves in the early exchanges

A high kick by Hapon caused Jakojevic to knock on in-goal, forcing a drop out that took Ukraine to the Serbian 5 with Shvets just being held up, and Serbia just held out as Rudov was stopped short of the line on the fifth tackle

Marjanovic ran clear after a break by Puchkov that split the defence and a pass into him Milutinovic that sent him away for the opening try under the posts, with Milutinovic converting for 6-0 after 8 minutes

Serbia pressed straight away from the kick off, with Ukraine punished for a deliberate knock on in the tackle, and took it to the Ukraine 5 metre line, with only a poor attempted pass by Tomic stopping them adding the extras

Ukraine tried to force it from the scrum, but a forward pass by Osipov on the five metre line gave Serbia excellent field position and they punished Ukraine when Zane Bijorac went over from a Marjnovic pass with Milutinovic again adding the extras for 12-0 after 12 minutes

Ukraine made their best efforts to get back in the game, with some big running from Shvets and a clever step and run by Hapon, whose chip over just ran too long

Zane Bijorac then lit up the game with a stunning run that fired him through a gap in the defence and put him over in the corner. Milutinovic couldn’t add the extras for 16-0 after 18 minutes and Bijorac got his hat trick just 3 minutes later with another storming run under the posts, with Milutinovic adding the extras for 22-0 after 22 minutes

Ukraine got the ball back from the kick off and played their way to the Serbian 10 metre line, finally getting some reward for their efforts when Vitalii Puchkov forced his way over from dummy half after 26 minutes, with Hapon brilliantly converting for 22-6.

The rest of the half saw both sides battled hard, with some tough tackles flying in which rattled the attacking players and a few half chances along the way, as Marjanovic knocked on from a lofted pass by Milutinovic and Shvets kick went just too far.

The second half started with Ukraine successfully getting their own kick back and, after a penalty against Serbia for handling in the ruck, Ukraine drove up the pitch, and Rudov snuck in from close range to score, with Hapon missing the conversion for Serbia 22 Ukraine 10 after 37 minutes

Ukraine again threatened with a huge run from Petrenko spurring his side on, only being stopped by a desperate tap tackle by Bijorac, and then a knock on at the play the ball by Puchkov

Serbia took the initiative and drove down the pitch, making hard yards, but no product coming after Tomic was forced into touch.

Both sides were making big gains in attack, getting close to the opposition line, but without the final product as defences held true at the final bit and some handling errors started to come and cost both sides tries, with Ukraine coming close twice

Serbia then scored a try out of nowhere, with Krstic making a stunning break up the right wing that caught out the Ukrainian defence, and a sharp pass inside to Bijorac who raced under the posts after 46 minutes, with Milutinovic adding the extras for 28-10

Milutinovic then added one of his own after breaking a tackle from Piatnytskyi and storming over, adding the extras for Serbia 34 Ukraine 10 – 51 mins

Ukraine responded immediately with another catch off a high kick off and then a powerful run by Beznoshuk to reduce the deficit again to 34-14 - 53

Serbia were not deterred though and added their next try with a Bijorac pass put Golubovic over in the corner (Milutinovic missed) 38-14 -55

Petrenko reduced the deficit on 58 mins as he went clear over in the corner through a hole in defence to give Ukraine hope

Serbia’s Captain Milutinovic scored a classy try as he powered over from close range and Gulobovic added another with a dive in the corner, before Hapon scored a classic try when the ball was kicked forward by Puchkov and Hapon, after a further hack forward, caught the ball on the bounce to score under the posts.

Milutinovic rounded off an entertaining encounter with a fine try in the corner to leave the score Serbia 54 Ukraine 26.

Serbia will face Ireland in the 5th & 6th place playoff, while Ukraine will take on Italy for 7th and 8th place