Tel Aviv Heat to Participate in Rugby Europe Super Cup Final
The Tel Aviv Heat has managed to add another notch on their belt in this season that may have been short, yet colorful.
The team is now participating in the Rugby Europe Super Cup this year, which is scheduled to take place on December 4th.
It is a well-known fact that the launch of the franchise was the beginning of a new era for rugby in Israel. The Tel Aviv Heat was launched last year as a startup rugby team for a country that has been billed as the Startup Nation.
The team kicked off the new season with the same coaching staff and management as the previous year.
The changes
Most of the squad of the previous season also signed up for this one, which is proof of the excellent relationships between the coach, players and management.
This is truly an achievement in the world of professional sport, which is quite fickle and it is not that easy to achieve player satisfaction, or retention.
But, new recruits have also been brought in for strengthening the squad in some important areas, like in the scrum, as well as outside backs.
The teams
As they had in 2021, the Tel Aviv heat played with the inaugural winners in the Eastern Conference, Georgia’s Black Lions.
The invasion of Ukraine resulted in the disqualification of the two Russian teams that had played in the previous year.
Their replacements were RC Batumi, another team from Georgia, and the Romanian Wolves. But, the conference did not weaken by this change, as Romania has a strong presence in World Cup Rugby.
As for Georgia, it is considered an upcoming European force, as its domestic league is quite strong, which helps in player development, and it wants to be part of the Six Nations Championship.
The games
The initial games were all away matches. The Heat was able to tame the Wolves in Bucharest in the opener, with a 25-20 victory that was hard won.
They headed to Kutasi for facing the Black Lion, which ended in a 25-25 draw, but it could have been a win if a penalty kick had not been pushed wide by the Heat in the final minute.
Batumi was the location for the final away game where the weather conditions were downright atrocious.
The field was poorly drained and heavy rain turned it into a mud bath, which RC Batumi used to its advantage and was able to enjoy a 19-11 victory.
Then came the home fixtures that were held in Petah Tikvah at the Shlomo Bituach Stadium. The venue is a great one because the rugby public can access it easily.
The Heat triumphed against the Black Lion in the first game that ended 24-18 and then they were able to take revenge from RC Batumi in the second game played in dry weather than ended 25-8.
The third home game was also a victory, this time against the Romanian Wolves and it ended 55-5, which is quite the achievement.
