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This was a test of control as much as collision, and Israel answered it better. They didn’t blow Andorra away, but they were surer in the moments that decide these tier fixtures: exits, red-zone decision-making and the accuracy of the first two phases after receipt. The result pointed to a side with clearer pictures in their heads and enough punch up front to make those pictures real.
Andorra travelled with shape and ambition and put 20 points on the board, which tells you they found access. What they lacked was the repeatability Israel had when the game squeezed. Andorra’s best sequences needed a lot to go right; Israel’s needed two or three things done cleanly. That was the difference.
The hinge wasn’t a single flashpoint so much as accumulation. Israel were consistently cleaner at the base, which gave Omer Levinson a steady feed and kept them on the front foot through the middle third. When territory turned, Yanai Janssen played the corners and Andorra too often had to build from behind their own 10. You could see the cumulative fatigue: Andorra’s carry height crept up, Israel’s tackles stuck, and the home side’s next entry tended to become points.
Israel’s pack did the unglamorous work well enough to platform it. The front row of Thabiso Mdletshe, Nitsan Reizel and Roy Levy gave them stability to play off, and the back five were busy around the tackle to slow Andorra’s ball. They didn’t need to dominate; they needed to be tidy. With Nemani Buliruarua offering a direct carry just off 9 and 10, the gain line was crossed often enough to keep Janssen in shape, and the midfield of Idan Eisenberg and Yishay Avrahami straightened rather than drifting into touch. That restraint mattered. It turned phases into penalties and penalties into territory, and from there the scoreboard ticked.
Andorra had their own controllers. Guillem Blanc Comas kept them connected and didn’t die wondering with the ball in front of him. Federico Aguiar carried hard, and Thibaut Trape Salomon was composed in the backfield. Their issue came in the recycle: one extra cleanout missed, one support line a beat late, and the tempo dipped. Against an organised line, that’s the half-window that closes your move. Too many of their 22 entries asked them to win three collisions in a row; they won one or two, then Israel folded the line and forced them back to a kicker or a risk.
The other clear separator was game management after swings. When Andorra scored, Israel’s restart sequences were calm and low-error. They didn’t hand the kickoff back with a soft penalty or a forced offload; they kicked, chased, and trapped Andorra in a channel. When Israel scored, Andorra’s next set more often bled a cheap metre or two and ceded a platform. It’s not exciting, but it’s the difference between two scores and one in matches like this.
Does 13 points flatter Israel? Not really. Andorra were in it for long stretches and carried threat, but the rhythm of the contest felt like a home side with a grip that tightened whenever the visitors looked ready to pull level. If anything, Israel will look at a couple of untidy sequences in their own 22 and know they left control on the table. Their defensive spacing around the edge of the ruck wobbled once or twice, and better sides will punish that more ruthlessly.
Within that balance there were individual nudges that mattered. Levinson’s tempo calls were sensible, not showy, and Janssen varied length to good effect, turning Andorra’s wings and buying his forwards a breather. Reizel’s set-piece work gave them rhythm, and Buliruarua’s presence attracted bodies and freed the second carry. For Andorra, Blanc Comas and Trape Salomon kept them organised; they just needed a touch more heft from the tight five to make those calls bite.
The takeaway for Israel is encouraging but not conclusive. They showed a grown-up handle on territory and enough punch to convert entries, which will be non-negotiable with Cyprus looming at the top of this group. The work-ons are obvious: tidier spacing after long kicks, quicker fold from the open to close edge, and fewer soft penalties when they’ve just earned field position. Those are fixable, and they’ll have to be.
For Andorra, this wasn’t a write-off. They scored 20 away from home and asked questions, which means their structure is giving them chances. The lesson is collision economy and breakdown accuracy. Fewer phases to achieve the same metres, quicker ball when they do win a carry, and a set piece that denies opponents simple exits. Do that and the same shape produces a closer finish. Don’t, and they’ll keep needing too much to go right to stay in games late.
Both sides leave with a clear picture: Israel with a functioning template to sharpen before Cyprus, Andorra with enough craft to threaten if they can add bite in the tight. At this level that’s usually where matches are decided, and this one was no exception.
