The Netherlands ends the European Championships with a 6th place

NEWS


The Netherlands ends the European Championships with 6th place

⏱ 12 AUG. 2023 - 14:25


The Netherlands failed to finish as number 5 at the European Championships in the Mixed Open Division.

The Lions and Lionesses were 1 try short against Switzerland, which won the

5th place.


While the Netherlands managed to beat Switzerland earlier this day, this time they took the spoils

to Switzerland, which won the decisive match on small details against Touch Nederland. The last day of the European Championship was dominated by both teams who were hunting for history

to write for their country to achieve the highest final ranking ever at a European Championship.

Both countries will compete today for Final Ranking for the Playoffs group stage and final ranking

of the Euros 2023.


Game 11 - 10:30 Switzerland - Netherlands


This match was all about final classification in the Playoffs group stage. A match for statistics, because both teams already managed to qualify for the 5th/6th place match.


The Netherlands started strongly offensively, with the toss won by captain Bradley Bonafacio,

also quickly earned the score by immediately scoring a try on the tryline.

The Netherlands played very solidly and performed better than during the first edition of the European Championship

against Switzerland (10-12 loss).

Defensively they were also good and they gave the Swiss little space, which resulted in a 4-1 halftime score.

in favor of the Dutch team.


Although the neutral spectators could see that both teams were playing on the brakes, there were

saw some great actions and it was the ideal moment for both coaches to make some tactical conversions

to bring the team to the decisive match this afternoon at 1:30 PM.


The Netherlands built up the score and therefore won this match more than deserved with 4-7

and showed that he was ready for the match again this afternoon against Switzerland.

Tryscorers Switzerland - Netherlands: 4-7


#15 - Jon MacDonald: 2

#11 - Lindsay Schrader: 2

#9 - Fon Somers: 1

#13 - Francien van den Berg: 1

#16 - Armance Toeset: 1


Game 12 - 13:30 Netherlands - Switzerland


After a rest period and some analytical discussions, the match was there. The Netherlands, which went into the match full of confidence, won the toss again and since

it is a ranking match, without Drop-Off, captain Bradley Bonafacio decided that the Netherlands

may start attacking.


Due to a strong start on the Dutch side, the first score resulted after 5 minutes of play

in favor of the Netherlands and therefore seemed to be least affected by the tensions.

However, not much later, things went wrong in the defense of the Dutch team and it was Switzerland

that came back into the match with a quick response: 1-1

Both teams came out in the blazing sun, which was not the case for either team

made it easy, it was Switzerland who took the lead before half time with a lead of: 3-4

On the Dutch side, Darren Brown and Jon MacDonald (see photo) played with great class where the Swiss

had a difficult answer and the always reliable Francien van den Berg (see photo) showed again

that she is a real fearmonger for every opponent on the Wing.

In the second half, the Netherlands had to work hard to stay in the match. The weather conditions did not make the task any easier, but a good result is certainly achievable for the Orange Lions and Lionesses.


The Netherlands soon leveled the score after the break and continued to search for weaknesses in Switzerland's defense with success. It remained exciting until the 6-6 score, but due to tactical conversions on the part of Switzerland, the Netherlands

less control over the match and continued to lag behind with a score for Switzerland 4 minutes before the end.


The Netherlands slowly got going again and were awakened for a final offensive with 2 attacking attempts close to a try, but due to wrong decisions these opportunities were not exploited and Switzerland escaped

with the win and left the Netherlands with a deception on the field and unfortunately could not achieve the highest final ranking

ever achieve. The pain was palpable in the group, which led to tears, but also pride that the Netherlands can look back on high

at a strong Euros 2023, where the major countries had a lot of praise for the game that the Netherlands showed at a final tournament. National coach Masayo Tateno gave the Netherlands the maximum under challenging circumstances with great success

and a 6th place, which can now be recorded as the highest final ranking ever for Touch Netherlands at a European Championship.


Tryscorers Netherlands - Switzerland: 6-7


#6 - Darren Brown: 2

#13 - Francien van den Berg: 2

#15 - Jon MacDonald: 2


Try scores total per Individual during European Championships:


#1 - Pim Graafland: 3

#2 – Thibaud Baley: 5

#3 - Mae-Ling Stuyt: 3

#4 - Rhode Thijssen: 7

#5 - Vincent Westerhof: 2

#6 - Darren Brown: 8

#7 – Jules Risser: 1

#8 - Henry McNally: -

#9 - Fon Somers: 6

#10 - Jack Biddulph: 4

#11 - Lindsay Schrader: 6

#12 - Will Dennis: 5

#13 - Francien van den Berg: 16

#14 - Bradley Bonafacio: 5

#15 - Jon MacDonald: 12

#16 - Armance Toeset: 2

To share

Share by: