Cyprus Rugby team in Bulgaria
Cyprus’ national rugby side will be in Bulgaria this weekend looking to continue their world record run of wins having all but clinched promotion to European Nations Cup (ENC) Division B.
Moufflons boss Paul Shanks will take a relatively young squad to Sofia as Cyprus look to build on their 21-game winning streak which has already launched them into the record books for the longest run of victories in international rugby.
Cyprus are currently top of their section and are odds on favourites to finish first but Shanks is taking nothing for granted despite the island’s 95-4 thrashing of the same opponents when the two sides met earlier in the campaign in Paphos.
“That last score means nothing to me,” he said. “It’s easy to let that go to your head, which leads to complacency. I’ll be happy with a clear win and a bonus point. The team are at the end of the playing season but in good shape.
“There are one or two new caps that need to get the feel of international rugby, which is a whole different ball-game, in every sense.”
He added, “We play the penultimate game of the season with a young and relatively inexperienced squad but I have every faith in all that we can achieve.”
Both teams will observe a minute’s silence before the game in Sofia as a sign of respect for veteran referee and one of the founders of rugby in Cyprus, Keith Elliott, who passed away recently.
Team manager Theo Lenos praised the national team players for their resilience and spirit despite all the difficult obstacles facing the sport on the island adding that Cyprus will be force to be reckoned in the division above them.
“We have already creamed this division and are ready for promotion, but I wonder if they are ready for us,” he said.
“No other country in Europe has achieved as much as we have in the last five years. These players have suffered so many set-backs that had nothing to do with their playing ability.
“We missed out on the World Cup through a technicality, we were denied entry to the Commonwealth Games because of another, the sports authority [Cyprus Sports Organisation] gave us a pittance when they had millions to distribute and now they have nothing, I wonder what we can expect?”
He added, “We now need our players to buy their own international kit and to make a greater contribution to their traveling expenses. I can’t imagine the footballers doing that. But we will keep winning and bring honour to our country.”
Cyprus will return for their final match of the division against Hungary which is scheduled to take place at the Pafiakos Stadium on May 17. The other teams in Cyprus’ group are Slovenia and Austria.
Cyprus Team
Antoniades, Asprou, Awah, Bennett, Booth, Economou, Eleftheriou, Emery, Frixou, Loizou, MacFarlane, Mladenovic, Nicolaides, Philiotis, Stavrou, Torgut, Thoma, Zakakiotis, Zavallis
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