Rugby Fixture:Greece v Finland

11.10.2008
Preview
Greece will be playing its first test match in ENC 3C after winning the ENC 3D tournament held in Cyprus last year. These two teams last met in 2006 when both were in ENC 3D, Finland having gained promotion in that year.

Finland lost their first home test match of the season last weekend to Luxembourg 19-27. The pressure is on the Finns to achieve the valuable home win as winning away is very difficult at this level of international rugby.

Last Five Encounters
14.06.2006 Finland 17-12 in Athens (ENC 3D)
27.05.2006 Finland 27-0 in Helsinki (ENC 3D)

GWC Rugby Rankings: Europe Table-Finland 35th, Greece 37th

Prediction: Finland by 14 points.

Teams

Finland
15. Lauri Ylönen (Helsinki Warriors RC)
14. Matthew Jordan (Helsinki Warriors RC)
13. Galen Rangiawha (Turku Eagles RFC)
12. Jaakko Vilen (Helsinki Warriors RC)
11. Lasse Sariola (Helsinki Warriors RC)
10. Thomas Finell (Helsinki Warriors RC)
9. Mikko Järvi (Capt.) (Tampere RC)
8. András Dévényi (Helsinki RFC)
7. Mauno Konttila (Tampere RC)
6. Erik Pekkola
5. Lasse Simpanen (Helsinki Warriors RC)
4. Stuart Reynish (Helsinki Warriors RC)
3. Micke Holmström (Tampere RC)
2. Semu Salmivalli (Tampere RC)
1. Juha Rainvuori (Helsinki Warriors RC)
Replacements
16. Tim Sampson (Helsinki RFC)
17. Sami Sarkki (Turku Eagles RFC)
18. Jani Lehtinen
19. Jussi Latvala (Helsinki Warriors RC)
20. Stephen Whittaker (Helsinki RFC)
21. Heikki Karimaa
22. Avea Avea
Head Coach: Jerker Grader
http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2868
http://rugbyliitto.sporttisaitti.com/tiedotearkisto/?num=13209

Greece
15-Michalis Loidzou (Athens RFC)
14-Alex Mentoros (Rhodes Colossuses RFC)
13-Giorgos Tsatsaronis (Athens RFC)
12-Vasilis Katsakos (Athens RFC)
11-Christos Fiotakis (Rugby Nice Côte d’Azur, France) *
10-Alexandros Gounaris (Attika Springbocks RFC)
9-Grigol Mshvldadze (Athens RFC)
8-Arfaras Pantelis (Rhodes Colossuses RFC)
7-Dimitris Papadatos (Athens RFC) *
6-Soteriades Philippos (Athens RFC)
5-Kostas Karandreas (Athens RFC)
4-Nikos Maureas (Athens RFC)
3-Vaggelis Nastas (Athens RFC)
2-Giorgos Kouroumichakis (Iraklis Thessalonikis RFC)
1-Eden Tipene (Attika Springboks RFC)
Replacements
16-Giorgos Sunetos (Athens RFC)
17-Giannis Tsagras (Athens RFC)
18-Nontas Serafeim (Attika Springbocks RFC)
19-Andreas Peribolaris (Athens RFC)
20-Giorgos Grabalas (Spartakos Thessalonikis RFC)
Head Coach:
http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2868

* Played in Greece’s first test match in 2005
Monaco v Bosnia Herzegovina in Menton (WCQ Europe, ENC 3D)