The national rugby squad of Moldova beat Ukraine’s team by 29-15 in the first match of the European Nations Cup, Division 1B, IPN reports.

Moldova didn’t encounter problems even if the lineup didn’t include Oleg Prepelita and Dumitru Arhip, who were sidelined by injuries. In their absence, a good game was shown by Nicolae Chirila, Ion Cavcaliuc, Ruslan Dorogan, Gheorghe Gajion, and Vadim Cobalas, who scored by five points. Naturalized English player Craig Felston scored another four points.

“The opponent was worthy and the team understood that they have to play collectively. I want to congratulate them on this victory,” the president of the Moldovan Rigby Federation Vasile Revenco said in a news conference after the match.

On November 15, Moldova meets Poland. On November 22, it plays the last match this year, also at home, against Sweden. Division 1B also includes the Netherlands and Belgium.