But not only did Poland form a full squad which included Bathurst brothers Harry and Liam Siejka, it was talented enough to progress through the tournament undefeated.

On Saturday afternoon at St Mary’s, Poland held off the Philippines to win the tournament’s Trophy division 14-10.

“The very first training session we had we went to a place called Plumpton and we trained on dirt and we had about nine players show up. I was a bit worried we wouldn’t have enough players,” Harry Siejka, who lined up at halfback, said.

“But we had players come out of the woodwork … once we went into camp and I looked at the team we had, I thought then that we’d be good enough to win it.”

Poland warmed up with a comprehensive trial win over Hungry then thumped Hong Kong and Japan in its pool matches to qualify for the finals.

Despite facing stiffer competition against more experienced rivals at that stage, Poland beat Vanuatu 44-4 in the semi-final then downed Philippines by four points in the decider.

For Harry to do so alongside younger brother Liam, who shone at lock, was a special moment.

“It was awesome, it was really the first time I’d played with him and it’s been a long time since I’ve won anything,” the playmaker said.

“To win it and win it with your brother – it was crazy – especially to do it with a Poland jersey on and representing the family, it was a pretty special day.”

Poland made a strong start to the Trophy final, scoring the opening try after three minutes. Harry Siejka also got his name on the scoresheet when he reacted quickly to a Philippines knock-on, scooping up the lose ball to dive over in the corner.

That made it 14-0 at half-time, but after the break momentum swung and Poland found itself under huge pressure.

“We started good in every game we played, but in the second half we came out and were a bit flat and just had no ball really all in that second half,” Siejka said.

“The first half even, they had six or seven sets on our line and were back-to-back-to-back sort of thing, but we turned them away and I think frustrated them in the first half.

“In the second half the momentum changed and was with them, they had a lot more sets than we did. We just ran out of juice the last 10 minutes and that’s when they got their tries.”

Philippines scored its second try with nine minutes left to get within four of the lead and set up a tense and exciting finale.

But while the Tamaraws had their chances – including one in the dying seconds – Poland held on.

“They had their last and put a little chip over, it hit the post and bounced back and he got a hand to it, but lucky it went too high and he knocked it on. If it’s 20 centimetres lower he picks it up and scores with 30 seconds to go and we lose,” Siejka said.

The success means Poland ranked fifth overall for the tournament, now has a world ranking and can contest World Cup qualifiers.

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