The Bulgarian national men’s rugby 7s team achieved two very important victories in the final tournament of the “Trophy” division of Rugby Europe and remains in the group of the second strongest tournament on the Old Continent.
The championship ended in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, and the rugby players led by the acting head coach Ivaylo Ivanov beat Denmark 31:17 and Israel 24:10.
Despite defeats by Latvia, the Republic of Ireland, England and Sweden, the Bulgarians keep their place in the first 12 teams next year as well. This was the ultimate goal for the team, namely to stay in the division and compete for at least one more season with the elite teams of Europe.
“I am satisfied with the participation in the two tournaments and the performance of the boys. We played at such a high level that we can only be proud. This has not been achieved in the history of our sport in Bulgaria - big and great rugby powers with budgets of millions to measure forces against us. We went into every game with confidence and a great desire to play well. We couldn’t want to beat Ireland, England and the other great nations - it is still early for us, but we showed that we have a huge potential in Rugby-7 and it was no accident that we were among the 12 teams in Zagreb and Budapest”, says the president of BF Rugby Atanas Zafirov.
“We continue with the work on the clubs and we will raise the level. Everyone who wears the shirt of Bulgaria, realizes the huge responsibility and gives his all on the field. We were seen not only by Europe, but also by the whole world. So far we haven’t beaten Denmark and Israel. These two are countries with huge financial resources in rugby. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the players, coaches, managers, sponsors, partners and the Ministry of Youth and Sports for their support. The most important thing is that the boys and our entire staff returned alive and well to Bulgaria and we have no injured competitors. We are yet to make a detailed analysis of the matches, but my assessment of our performance is more than positive”, added Zafirov.
On June 25 and 26, the matches of the State Championships for men and women in rugby-7 are coming up at the stadium in Trebich district, Sofia.
In the coming days, it will also become clear in which country this year’s edition of the European Beach Rugby Championship will be held. In the last edition, Bulgaria recorded a more than good and prestigious ranking - seventh place among men and sixth position in the general ranking among women.
