Czechia to host Ukraine, Poland

The Czech Rugby League Association has announced two men’s senor internationals for world ranking points. They will face Ukraine on Friday 18 October and Poland the following day with both games taking place at the City Stadium in Letohrad.

Ukraine will use the opening game as a final warm up ahead of their European World Cup Qualifier against France in Carcassonne five days later, the matches marking an important return to the international arena for the hosts which will enable men’s head coach David Lahr to field two different squads. 

Tomas Valenta, spokesman for the CRLA, commented:  “We're excited about the international rugby coming back to Czechia and to showcase the depth of rugby talent we have here.

"The match against Ukraine will be a great test for our experienced players, while Saturday will give us a chance to introduce some of our younger stars, many of whom have outgrown the U19 level but are hungry for their opportunity.”

The Czechia U19s recently hosted Norway, going down 30-16.

Artur Martyrosian, president of Ukraine Rugby League, said: “This is a great chance to meet our old friends who we have previously played twice. Our teams are ranked 20th and 21st in the world so we expect a close game which will be a big part of our preparation for the 2026 RLCW qualifiers. We are very grateful to Czechia for hosting us and as well as the perfect game it is also the ideal location as we travel from Ukraine to France.”

The match against Poland is a return of the match played in Kalisz a year ago, which Czechia won 36-28. President of Poland Rugby League, Łukasz Łucka, noted:  "We are very excited to be making the trip to play Czechia in October and will be looking for an improved performance after our recent defeat against Germany. There was just eight points between us when we met last year, and I expect that we will have an equally close game this time in Letohrad.”