Estonia’s women’s beach rugby squad finished 6th out of eight nations at the Rugby Europe Women’s Beach Rugby Championship in Chişinău, Moldova — claiming two wins, 27 tries and entries for ten different scorers across five matches over 22–23 August.
Results
Pool A — 22 August:
- Bulgaria 8–7 Estonia
- Moldova 10–2 Estonia
- Estonia 7–2 Greece (Estonia’s first-ever international beach rugby win)
Classification matches — 23 August:
- Estonia 9–2 Greece (Ranking SF, 5th–8th)
- Netherlands 11–2 Estonia (5th-place final)
Final standing: 6th / 8
First win — then another
Saturday’s pool match against Greece delivered a landmark moment: Estonia won 7–2, recording their first-ever international beach rugby victory. Sunday brought the same opponents and the same outcome — a 9–2 win in the classification bracket. Two wins against the same team at the same tournament is not a coincidence.
The near-miss against Bulgaria — beaten 8–7 by a side who reached the semi-final — underlines how far this group has come. At last year’s Chisinau tournament, Estonia lost to Bulgaria twice: 3–5 in the pool and 1–10 in the classification match.
Try scorers — full tournament
- Destiny Moses — 8
- Grete-Marleen Tarmu — 4
- Agnes Jürison — 3
- Honda — 3
- Katrin Silde — 3
- Diana Käbi — 2
- Anet Maripuu — 1
- Hanna Hõim — 1
- Laura Renke — 1
- Kadri Mässo — 1
Total: 27 tries, 10 different scorers, 5 matches. Destiny Moses was the tournament’s top scorer with 8 tries.
A year of firsts
The Chisinau result adds another chapter to what has been the strongest year in Estonian women’s rugby history: first XV international (May, vs Latvia in Tiskre), first international 7s win (June, Andorra), first international beach rugby win (August, Chisinau).
Reaction
Paul Davidson, Rugby Estonia General Secretary: “Two wins, 27 tries, 10 different scorers — that speaks for itself. This is not a one-player team and this is not a team that just turns up to participate. We were one try away from Bulgaria — a team who reached the semi-final. That progress is real and we will be back next year.”
Head coach Marten Martinson: “I am proud of this squad. The players gave everything in all five matches. The goal was to win more matches than last year — we did that. Now the bar is higher.”
Support the squad
The team continues to fundraise to cover travel and entry costs. Support: naised.ragbi.ee
Photo gallery
View tournament photos (photographer: Oleg Nikolaevich)