Switzerland 35 – Croatia 10
I know its not the 6 nations, nor is it quite the top flight of European rugby the ‘Championship’ but just below that is the ‘Rugby Europe Trophy’ a hard fought competition in which Switzerland compete and are set to get promoted into the European championship, a group containing the likes of Georgia, Portugal, Spain and Romania.
Todate this is the highest league position and world ranking (26th) a Swiss team has ever taken part in. With one game to go the promotion is in Switzerlands hands and we will see if they win the European Trophy in Zurich 13th April 2024.
So to Yverdon, where the Swiss Rugby Day was hosted Saturday 23rd March Switzerland needed the win at home against a Croatian team that needed the points as they sat in 2nd place having played one more game.
As a photographer planning is essential on a day like this, you need to get the coin toss and team images before the game and any pre-match player and supporter images you can.
Your client which in this case was Suisse Federation Rugby and Rugby Europe want those images before kick off so you have maybe 20 minutes to do so before the teams run out, the pressure is on.
Part of the defined requirements of Rugby Europe is to deliver 4 or 5 images during half time I’m told and more obviously a number of images directly after the match. The question is how to do so without external help as you are a small team of one at this level.
The first part of the team images are quick as is the coin toss. Getting these images downloaded and out is relatively easy if you are organized. As they are typically, at this level, 45 minutes before the match.
Half time is the challenge as you have 10 minutes to select and upload the images.
Personally I have found marking a few images during the half in camera and then transferring those to the phone is an efficient method to achieve this.
Post match is about taking 20-30 images that sum up the result of the team you are representing and getting those out to those concerned. Unfortunately this can mean you miss some of the celebrations when your team wins but that’s the job.
The end result is worth it!
Rugby Europe Match Report
See the World Rugby posting on the match and world rankings HERE.
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