2009 Rugby League European Cup

The 2009 Rugby League European Cup, known as the rugbyleague.com European Cup due to sponsorship,^[1] was a rugby league football tournament.

2009 Rugby League European Cup
Number of teams	6
Winner	Wales (5th title)
Matches played	9
Top scorer	Mick Nanyn (46)
Top try scorers	Karl Fitzpatrick (4) James Nixon (4)
Tournaments  < 2005 2010 >

The revamped Rugby League European Cup 2009 involved six teams competing in two groups of three. Participating teams were: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Serbia, Lebanon and Italy. Russia were scheduled to take part in the competition, but were forced to pull out due to board restructuring within the Russian Rugby League Federation. They were replaced by the RLEF European Shield winners, Italy.^[2]

Squads

Lebanon

Coach: John Elias^[3]

Club Team	Players
Canterbury Bulldogs	Liam Ayoub and Jamie Clarke
Sydney Roosters	Steven Azzi
Bankstown City	Danny Barakat, Adnan Saleh and Chris Salem (Captain)
Windsor Wolves	Danny Chiha and Wael Harb
Jounieh RLFC	Ghassan Dandach and Youssef El Helou
Newtown Jets	Khaled Deeb
Cronulla Sharks	Ahmad Ellaz
LAU	Robin Hachache and Jad Hashem
Wentworthville Magpies	John Koborsi
South Sydney Rabbitohs	Josh Mansour
Newcastle Knights	George Ndaira
North Sydney Bears	Reece Robinson
Chester Hill Rhinos	Travis Robinson
Western Suburbs Magpies	Allen Soultan

• Hazem El Masri was no longer available after retiring from the sport.
• Robbie Farah was unavailable due to being named in Australia's Four Nations squad.
• Charlie Farah, Anthony Farah, Nathan Dib and Jarrod Saffy were all injury withdrawals.

Wales

Coach: Iestyn Harris (Crusaders Rugby League)^[4]

Club Team	Players
Gateshead Thunder	Matt Barron
Celtic Crusaders	Ashley Bateman, Chris Beasley, Neil Budworth, Geraint Davies, Gil Dudson, Ben Flower (Captain), Jordan James, Elliot Kear, Lewis Mills, Ross Wardle, Lloyd White and Lee Williams
Featherstone Rovers	Ross Divorty
Leeds Met University	Rhys Griffiths
Bridgend Blue Bulls	Christian Roets
London Skolars	Matt Thomas
Leigh Centurions	Ian Watson
Central Comets	Ian Webster
Warrington Wolves	Rhys Williams

• Anthony Blackwood (Celtic Crusaders), Ben Evans (Warrington Wolves), Rhys Evans (Warrington Wolves) and Craig Kopczak (Bradford Bulls) were put on a four-man stand-by list that was used in case of injuries.
• Notable omissions included Glenn Morrison, David Mills and James Evans.

Serbia

Coach: Gerard Stokes (Whitehaven) ^[5]

Club Team	Players
Whitehaven	Soni Radovanovic (Captain)
RK Dorćol	Dalibor Vukanović, Stevan Stevanović, Milan Šušnjara, Vladan Kikanović, Dejan Lukenić, Nikša Unković, Dimitris Dajč, Filip Brkić
R13K Podbara	Mario Milosavljević, Nenad Grbić, Zoran Pešić and Marko Žebeljan
Oldham R.L.F.C.	Austen Novaković
Souths Sunnybank	Milan Radojević
RK Beogradski Univerzitet	Ivan Šušnjara
R13K Niš	Aleksandar Sič
RLK Crvena Zvezda	Ivan Djordjević

Konstantin Putkin Unattached - Rugby Union

Scotland

Coach: Steve McCormack ^[6]

Club Team	Players
Barrow Raiders	James Nixon
Featherstone Rovers	Jon Steel
Doncaster	Dean Colton
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Kevin Henderson
Leigh Centurions	Mick Nanyn
Widnes Vikings	Lee Paterson, John Duffy and Iain Morrison
York City Knights	Gareth Moore
Huddersfield Giants	Paul Jackson
Sheffield Eagles	Mitch Stringer, Alex Szostak, Jack Howieson and Brendon Lindsay
Hunslet Hawks	Neil Lowe
Hull Kingston Rovers	Ben Fisher (Captain) and Rhys Lovegrove
Gateshead Thunder	Andrew Henderson, Mark Dack, Dave Vernon and Crawford Mathews
Whitehaven	Dexter Miller
Workington Town	Rob Lunt, Paddy Coupar and Dave Arnott
Edinburgh Eagles	John Cox
Castleford Panthers	Jamie Benn

Ireland

Coach: Andy Kelly^[7]

Club Team	Players
Barrow Raiders	Liam Harrison and Dave Allen
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Scott Grix (Captain)
Halifax	Bob Beswick
Salford City Reds	Karl Fitzpatrick
Dewsbury Rams	Liam Finn
Leeds Rhinos	Luke Ambler
Oldham R.L.F.C.	Marcus St Hilaire and Wayne Kerr
Wigan Warriors	Pat Richards and Michael McIlorum
Warrington Wolves	Tyrone McCarthy
Harlequins RL	Jason Golden
York City Knights	Sean Hesketh
Castleford Tigers	Ryan Boyle
Dublin City Exiles	John Coleman
Treaty City Titans	Brendan Guilfoyle
Laois Panthers	Tim Bergin
Carlow Crusaders	Stevie Gibbons and Paddy Barcoe

• Sean Gleeson, Gareth Haggerty and Eamon O'Carroll were not selected through injury.

Italy

Coach: Carlo Napolitano ^[8]

Club Team	Players
Hinterland Storm	Dominic Brambani
Woodrush RU	Edoardo Lerna
Queensbury	Angelo Ricci
West Bowling	Jonathan Marcinzack
Leeds Akkies	Jason Dubas-Fisher
Avignon XIII	Cyril Armani
Cumbria rugby league	Alex D'aprile
Piemonte XIII	Filippo Maserati and Pier Luigi Gentile
Lyon Villeurbanne	Matthew Sands
Mastini XIII	Mauro Di Maggio, Fabio Berzieri, Daniele Pasqualini, Giovanni Franchi, Filippo Righetto and Matteo Foschi
Nafit XIII	Paul Stanica, Claudio Forte, Nicolino Facco, Daniele Gnata and Ludovico Torreggiani
La Rocca XIII	Filippo Veronese and Andrea Zacchia
Melbourne Storm	Aidan Guerra
Redcliffe Dolphins	Chris Borgese
Paris XIII	Anthony Severin
Gateshead Thunder	Paul Franze
Wests Tigers	Franco Kmet
Unattached	Marco Ferrazzano and Mark Dalle Cort

• Bradford's Chris Nero was forced to withdraw from the Italian squad.

Group 1

Results

17 October 2009

Italy	0 - 104	Scotland
	Report	Try: Nixon (4) Steel (2) Henderson (2) Fletcher (2) Benn (2) Nanyn (2) Paterson Moore Cox Fisher Goal: Nanyn (16)

Stadio Plebiscito, Padova, Italy Attendance: 2,139 Referee: Steve Ganson [9]

24 October 2009

Lebanon	86 - 0	Italy
Tries: T. Robinson (2) Ellaz Saleh (4) Mansour R. Robinson (3) Clark, Harb (2) El Helou Goals: Ndeira (12) Clark	Report

International Olympic Stadium, Tripoli, Lebanon Attendance: 2,100 Referee: Thierry Alibert

1 November 2009

Scotland	22 - 10	Lebanon
	Report

Hughenden Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Leon Williamson

Final standings

Team	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Scotland	2	2	0	0	126	10	116	4
Lebanon	2	1	0	1	96	22	74	2
Italy	2	0	0	2	0	190	-190	0

Group 2

Results

18 October 2009

Ireland	82 - 0	Serbia
Try: Fitzpatrick (4) Ambler (2) Bergin (2) Coleman Finn Allen Hesketh Harrison Guilfoyle Goal: Finn (9) Hesketh (4)	Report

Spollanstown, Tullamore, Ireland Attendance: 295 Referee: Leon Williamson

25 October 2009

Serbia	8 - 88	Wales
Try: Putkin Goals: Brkic (2)	Report	Tries: Roets (3) James (2) Divorty (2) R. Williams (2) Kear Thomas L. Williams Bateman Watson Goals: Webster (14)

FK Smederevo Stadium, Smederevo, Serbia Attendance: 93 Referee: Shayne Hayne

1 November 2009

Wales	42 - 12	Ireland
Try: Ian Webster Lee Williams Rhys Williams Ashley Bateman Geraint Davies Jordan James Elliot Kear Gil Dudson Goal: Lloyd White (5)	Report	Try: Marcus St Hilaire Liam Finn Goal: Pat Richards (2)

Sardis Road, Pontypridd, Wales Attendance: 2,143 Referee: Thierry Alibert

Final standings

Team	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	For	Against	Diff	Points
Wales	2	2	0	0	130	20	110	4
Ireland	2	1	0	1	94	42	52	2
Serbia	2	0	0	2	8	170	-162	0

Finals

Championship final

08-11-2009

Scotland	16 - 28	Wales
	Report

Brewery Field, Bridgend, Wales Attendance: 1,608[10] Referee: Shayne Hayne Player of the Match: Elliot Kear[10]

3rd Place Match

08-11-2009

Lebanon	40 - 16	Ireland
Tries: Saleh (2) Mansour (9) Travis Robinson (12, 27) Clark (22) Reece Robinson (40, 75) Chiha (48) Goals: Clark (0/2) Reece Robinson (4/5) Travis Robinson (0/1)	Report	Tries: Haley (30, 36) Beswick (64) Goals: Finn 2/3

Brewery Field, Bridgend, Wales Attendance: 1,608 Referee: Steve Ganson

5th place Match

08-11-2009

Italy	42 - 14	Serbia
Try: Falcone (28, 65, 76) Vicelich (30, 37, 69) Nasso (39) Goals: Veronese 7/7	Report	Try: Brkić (13) Vukanović (16, 44) Goals: Brkić 1/3

Maesteg, Wales Attendance: TBA Referee: Phil Bentham

Sources

• 2009 European Cup at rugbyleagueplanet.com
• Ireland VS Serbia 09 Appointment