Baltic XL-Livonia Win Baltic TOP League Rugby Title for Second Year in a Row

Latvian rugby club Baltic XL-Livonia won the Baltic TOP League, a Baltic club rugby competition, for the second year running. The team secured the title in the final against Exiles, trailing 13-33 early in the second half before turning the match around. It was the third final the club has played in.

The source notes that, with a Swedish club now taking part in the league, Baltic XL-Livonia can call itself the strongest club not only in the Baltics but also in Northern Europe. The team has gone 32 consecutive official tournament matches without defeat; its last loss came on the final day of August 2024. The club will therefore begin the 2027 season with an unbeaten run of more than two and a half years.

Mistakes in the second half

After an evenly matched first half, the Livonians made several errors at the start of the second and fell 20 points behind. Head coach Neil Johnson said he never lost belief during the game, as he saw the team playing well and trusting in itself.

Captain Miķelis Jurevičs, named the most valuable Livonia player in the final, admitted the team may have relaxed too much at half-time and shed the pressure of the final, while Exiles came out even more convincingly. The players decided to play tighter and more firmly, communicate more on the pitch and hold on to the ball. He said the stress appeared in the 75th minute, when a try was not scored and the attack had to restart. After the opponents made a mistake by failing to kick the ball into touch, the team felt they were still in the game.

Changes within the team

Jurevičs stressed that attitude toward training and teamwork has improved. He said Johnson had found the right approach to working with the players. Johnson, who has been with the club for four years, said it was the first time he had seen rugby and a performance of such a high level, and the first time he had seen a 20-point deficit overturned. He praised the team's collective spirit.