Netherlands continue their sequence of autumn men’s senior internationals with a tough test against Serbia for world ranking points tomorrow (Saturday) at Zwolle Rugby Club (kick off 2pm local time). The Orange have already defeated Albania and Norway, and this will be the fourth meeting between the nations with Netherlands unbeaten.
Their last clash was in the RLWC2008 qualifiers in Rotterdam in June 2006, with the hosts triumphing 38-26.
Netherlands head coach, Dave Hunter commented: “Serbia have been one of the shining lights, not only in terms of activity and results reaching tenth in the world, but also development in Europe. They've had some very good wins against Greece and Italy and I'm sure they're looking to add to that. However, we're also starting to gel a little better, last week’s win against Albania was a step up from the Norway match and the attitude at training has been fantastic. Going up against a quality side like Serbia is a physical challenge, but one I know the boys are up for.”
Opposite number, Darren Fisher, noted: “We are excited for this fixture against another strong domestic nation, it’s been a while since the two met and will be another test for our players. It’s our last fixture of the year so we will be looking to fix up some things from the France game and finish the season as strongly as we started it.”
NETHERLANDS SQUAD
Daan van Rossum, James Adams, Lars Mudde (Amsterdam Cobras), Lucas Thomson (Cessnock Goannas), Tom van Bokhoven (Cromer Kingfishers), Frank Longhurst, Bonne Wilce (Den Haag Knights), Harry Mulligan (The Entrance Tigers), Mitch Donnelly (Narrabeen Sharks), Isaac Ngirubiu, Tom Turnock, Soren van der Linden (Rotterdam Pitbulls), Damon Koolstra (Souths Mackay Sharks), Benji van Bodegraven, Mauricio Gomez Pazos, Paul Kuijpers, Mike Prins, Laury Renac, Rowan Schuiling (Zwolle Wolves)
SERBIA SQUAD
Aleksandar Pavlovic, Dzavid Jasari, Enis Bibic, Strahinja Stojiljkovic, Velibor Karanovic (Partisan Belgrade), Luka Ilic Marko Cuk, Stefan Arsic (Radnicki Nis), Denis Cengaj, Marko Jankovic, Milos Calic, Miodrag Tomic, Nikola Djuric, Rajko Trifunovic, Vojislav Dedic, Vuk Strbac (Red Star Belgrade), Vlado Kusic (R.C. Salon, France), Valdica Nikolic (Villefranche XIII Aveyron)