The final score of Sunday’s game, 18-6, shows how closely fought the match was, with Luxembourg recording the first three points of the match thanks to a penalty kick from Daniel Ascoli.

In 30°C heat, Luxembourg executed its moves with precision, with forwards and backs working well together. However, the Czech team exploited a fault in the defensive curtain. They converted a penalty, followed up ten minutes later by a try in the goal area. They supplemented this with another penalty kick, bringing the score at the end of the first half to 11-3.

The second half saw Luxembourg less efficient in attack with the opponents exploiting any faults or defensive errors.

On the 45th minute, the Czech team scored and subsequently converted, bringing the score to 18-3. Daniel Ascoli was able to add a further three points through a penalty kick on the 51st minute. But it was not enough to close the gap.

“The Luxembourger XV delivered a good first battle having dominated in some sectors including the scrum. Nevertheless, too many stereotyped choices made us predictable and all too often errors…meant there was no happy ending for the Luxembourg XV,” coach Alexandre Benedetti said.

Luxembourg next faces Poland at 2pm on 30 August in Petrovice.  

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