Rugby Europe International Championships

Rugby Europe International Championships
Current season, competition or edition:; 2022–23 Rugby Europe International Championships
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1936 (predecessors); 2016 (current format)
No. of teams	See below
Continent	Europe / Rugby Europe
Most recent; champion(s)	Georgia
Most titles	France (25), ; Georgia (14), ; Romania (10)

The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations.

The tournament is split into 5 levels, each with 5 or 6 teams. Its highest level is now called the Rugby Europe Championship and, unofficially, referred to as the Six Nations B. All levels play on a one-year cycle, replacing the old format of a two-year cycle, with the teams playing each other both home and away. From September 2016, there will still be an annual champion, however a format change means each year sees teams promoted and relegated between the levels.

History

International championships before 2000

Following the exclusion of France from the Five Nations Tournament after the 1931 edition, France joined with Italy, Romania, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Netherlands, and Catalonia to create the International Amateur Rugby Federation (FIRA, now Rugby Europe) as an alternative to the International Rugby Football Board (now World Rugby). Three tournaments were held from 1936 to 1938, with France winning all three. Following the Second World War, France was readmitted into the Five Nations Championship, but they also competed in the only two tournaments organised by FIRA, the Rugby Union European Cup, held in 1952 and 1954, winning them both.

From 1965, FIRA attempted to revitalise the European competition by creating the FIRA Nations Cup (1965-1973) and then the FIRA Trophy (1973-1997); however, France fielded a France A side made up mostly of university students.^{[citation needed]} While the French students won many of the tournaments, Romania also had their share of tournament titles. In the late 1990s, the championship became irregular, with some editions not taking place because of qualifications for the World Cup. Finally, the European Nations Cup began in 2000, no longer including France and Italy, as they now played in the reformed Six Nations Championship.

European Nations Cup: initial format (since 2000)

After the setup of the divisional system in 2000, Romania won the first competition with maximum points, The initial season also included Morocco.

Russia then replaced Morocco in 2001 when Georgia secured the title and were crowned champions after a 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest. As the competition format changed from a one-year tournament to two-years, the Netherlands were not relegated after this season.

Romania started 2002 trailing Georgia after the 2001 results, but managed to win all of the remaining five games, including a 31–23 victory in Tbilisi.

Portugal were 16–15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves at the top of the 2003–04 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania won 36–6 against Portugal in Constanța, but went down 24–33 to Russia in Krasnodar. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19–18 home win over Russia. The Russia – Czech Republic game was rescheduled due to bad weather and was eventually cancelled.

The 2005–06 championships also served as a qualifying pool for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Romania triumphed finishing level on points with Georgia, while Ukraine were relegated after losing all matches.

The 2007–08 edition saw the return of the Spanish to the top division. The winners were Georgia, following their display at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The Russians recorded their best ever placement, finishing in second. The Czech Republic were the team to finish on the bottom of the table, losing all of their matches, relegating them back to Division 2A.

A new format was decided at the beginning of 2009. Each calendar year had its own champion, but the cumulated ranking over two years determined which team was relegated. The 2009–10 edition was also basis for European qualification to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The 2009 season saw the début of Germany in the top division, Georgia defended their title, and there were wins for Portugal and Russia in Bucharest.

Faced with the possibility of missing a Rugby World Cup for the first time, Romania were managed the 2010 title. This feat was however not enough to overtake Georgia and Russia, who helped by their good results from the previous year, gained the automatic qualification for the 2011 RWC, leaving Romania to go through the Play-Off Qualification Rounds. Germany were relegated after failing to win any games.

Georgia won the 2011 edition, after beating Romania 18–11 in Tbilisi. The promoted team, Ukraine, lost all but one of their matches, single win over Portugal.

European Nations Cup: second format (from 2010 to 2016)

For the 2010–2012 competition (and promotion and relegation between groups going forward to successive competitions), the top two divisions (previously 1 and 2A) were redefined as 1A and 1B, both having six teams (previously six and five). The next four levels (previously 2B, 3A, 3B and 3C) become 2A-2D, under the new system, with the remnants of Division 3D making up the initial group of teams labelled as Division 3. In principle, each division is to encompass a different type of competition.

In Division 1, groups have six teams (meaning more matches and thus more travel), a significant fraction of the players are assumed to be professional or semi-professional (meaning that fixtures are, as often as possible, scheduled within the IRB's international fixtures time windows when clubs must release players for national duty), and only one team is promoted and one relegated every two years (meaning that the competitions are more stable).

In Division 2, groups have only five teams each (usually meaning one home match and one away match in the Autumn, and the same in the Spring, for each team), it is assumed that the majority of players are amateurs (meaning scheduling is not as limited), and in addition to the traditional automatic first-promoted-last-relegated system, fourth place from the higher pool will play second place from the lower pool after every two-year competition, with the winner taking the position in the higher pool. From a five-team group, one team is promoted, one team is relegated and two teams play in playoffs. Thus, a maximum of four of a pool's five teams could change from one two-year competition to the next.

In Division 3, a single-location, short-time-period (one week or 10 days) tournament is organised once per year. This minimises travel costs for teams and time-off-work requirements for players, and allows the flexibility of having a different membership every year, rather than requiring the membership to be constant over two years. The best performing team over two years of tournaments is promoted to Division 2.

In the year of transition to the new system (2010), there were no relegations from any division below the highest, because the second-highest (old 2A, new 1B) was expanded by one team.

International Championships: third format (from 2016 to 2022)

From September 2016, the European Nations Cup became the Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of five levels or divisions:

Level 1 - Championship. The top six ranked European teams outside the Six Nations contest the annual title. Replaces the former Division 1A.
Level 2 - Trophy. The next six ranked European teams bid for the Trophy title. Replaces the former Division 1B.
Level 3 - Conference 1. Division 2, A through to D, becomes the new Conference level, where twenty teams are separated into two Conferences made up of ten teams each, based on their previous year rankings. Each conference is then split into two, North and South, where teams could change each year depending on the competing teams - nations closest to boundary moved from North to South and vice versa each season as necessary to geographically balance the conferences.
Level 4 - Conference 2
Level 5 - Development. Replaces Division 3.

A promotion and relegation play-off system is maintained across all levels every year, moving away from the two-year system in place since 2003, meaning teams will be promoted and relegated every year.^[1]

A statement was released by the Polish Rugby Union in December 2021 confirming that the Rugby Europe Championship, will expand to 8 teams in 2022/2023 season. To accommodate this expansion, no team will be relegated from the top tier, while two teams from the second tier Trophy Championship will be promoted following the completion of the 2021/2022 Championship.^[2]

The best two teams in the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship will qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the third team will qualify for its final qualification tournament in November 2022.

International Championships: new format (from 2022)

From September 2022, the Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of five levels or divisions:

Level 1 - Championship. The top eight ranked European teams outside the Six Nations contest the annual title.
Level 2 - Trophy. The next five ranked European teams bid for the Trophy title.
Level 3 - Conference 1
Level 4 - Conference 2
Level 5 - Development.

A relegation system is maintained across all levels two-year, moving away from the one-year system in place since 2016.

Current divisions and standings (2022–2023)

Key
*	Champion of the 2021–22 season
↑	Team promoted from the division below after the 2021–22 season
•	Division champion but team not promoted after the 2021–22 season
‡	Last place of division but team not relegated after the 2021–22 season
↓	Team relegated from the division above after the 2021–22 season

Championship Group A	Pl	W	Pts
Georgia *	0	0	0
Germany ↑	0	0	0
Netherlands	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0

Championship Group B	Pl	W	Pts
Belgium ↑	0	0	0
Poland ↑	0	0	0
Portugal	0	0	0
Romania	0	0	0

Trophy	Pl	W	Pts
Switzerland	2	2	10
Lithuania	2	1	5
Sweden ↑	2	1	5
Ukraine	2	1	4
Croatia ↑	2	0	1

Conference 1 North	Pl	W	Pts
Czech Republic	2	2	10
Moldova ↑	2	1	5
Luxembourg	0	0	0
Hungary	1	0	0
Latvia	1	0	0

Conference 1 South	Pl	W	Pts
Bulgaria ↑	2	2	8
Cyprus	2	1	6
Malta	2	1	5
Israel	2	1	4
Slovenia	2	0	0

Conference 2 North	Pl	W	Pts
Finland	2	2	10
Denmark	2	1	4
Andorra	1	0	0
Norway	1	0	0

Conference 2 South	Pl	W	Pts
Serbia	2	2	10
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	2	8
Montenegro ↑	2	0	1
Turkey	2	0	0

Development	Pl	W	Pts
Austria ↓	0	0	0
Kosovo	0	0	0

Updated through 12 November 2022

Predecessor tournaments

FIRA Tournaments (1936–1938)

Year	Host city	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1936	Berlin	France	Germany	Italy
1937	Paris	France	Italy	Germany
1938	Bucharest	France	Germany	Romania

Rugby Union European Cup (1952–1954)

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third place
1952	France	Italy	West Germany
1954	France	Italy	Spain

FIRA Nations Cup (1965–1973)

Year	First Division				Second Division Champion
Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third	Relegated	Second Division Champion
1965–66	France	Italy	Romania	Czechoslovakia	Portugal
1966–67	France	Romania	Italy	Portugal	Czechoslovakia
1967–68	France	Romania	Czechoslovakia	—	Poland
1968–69	Romania	France	Czechoslovakia	West Germany Poland	Italy
1969–70	France	Romania	Italy	Czechoslovakia	Morocco
1970–71	France	Romania	Morocco	Italy	Czechoslovakia
1971–72	France	Romania	Morocco	Czechoslovakia	Spain
1972–73	France	Romania	Spain	—	Portugal

FIRA Trophy (1973–1997)

Year	First Division				Lower Division Champions
Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third	Relegated	Second Division	Third Division
1973–74	France	Romania	Spain	Poland Morocco	Italy	Not held
1974–75	Romania	France	Italy	Czechoslovakia	Poland
1975–76	France	Italy	Romania	Netherlands	Morocco^[a] Czechoslovakia
1976–77	Romania	France	Italy	Morocco	Czechoslovakia	Belgium
1977–78	France	Romania	Spain	Czechoslovakia	Soviet Union	Not held
1978–79	France	Romania	Soviet Union	Spain	Morocco	Not held
1979–80	France	Romania	Italy	Morocco	Spain	Tunisia
1980–81	Romania	France	Soviet Union	Poland	West Germany	Portugal
1981–82	France	Italy	Romania	—	Morocco	Sweden
1982–83	Romania	Italy	Soviet Union	West Germany	Poland	Czechoslovakia
1983–84	France	Romania	Italy	Poland Morocco	Spain Tunisia	Not held
1984–85	France	Soviet Union	Italy	Spain	Portugal	Netherlands
1985–87	France	Soviet Union	Romania	Tunisia Portugal	Spain	Not held
1987–89	France	Soviet Union	Romania	Spain	Poland	Bulgaria
1989–90	France A^[b]	Soviet Union^[b]	Romania^[b]	Poland	Spain	Andorra
1990–92	France A	Italy	Romania	—	Germany Morocco	Sweden
1992–94	France A	Italy	Romania	—	Poland Croatia	Georgia Moldova
1995–97	Italy	France A	Romania	—	Netherlands Serbia and Montenegro	Ukraine Hungary Austria

^ Promoted to First division
^ ^a ^b ^c Champions of First division

FIRA Tournament (1996–1999)

Year	First Division				Lower Division Champions
Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third	Relegated	Second Division	Third Division	Fourth Division
1996–97	Spain	Portugal	Poland	—	Not held
1997–98	Not held				Latvia	Luxembourg	Austria
1998–99	Not held				Russia	Germany Croatia Denmark	Switzerland

European Nations Cup (2000–2016)

Year	First Division				Lower Division Champions
Year	Winner	Runner-up	Third	Relegated	Second Division	Third Division	Fourth Division
2000	Romania	Georgia	Morocco	—	Russia	Czech Republic	Slovenia
2001	Georgia	Romania	Russia	—	Poland	Not held^[3]	Not held
2001–2002	Romania	Georgia	Russia	Netherlands	^[4] Czech Republic	Slovenia
2003–2004	Portugal	Romania	Georgia	Spain	Ukraine	Moldova
2004–2006	Romania	Georgia	Portugal	Ukraine	Spain	Latvia
2006–2008	Georgia	Russia	Romania	Czech Republic	Germany	Sweden
2008–2009	Georgia	Russia	Portugal	Germany ^[5]	Ukraine	Lithuania
2010	Romania	Georgia	Russia	Germany ^[5]	Ukraine	Lithuania
2011	Georgia	Romania	Portugal	Ukraine ^[6]	Belgium	Sweden
2012	Georgia	Spain	Romania	Ukraine ^[6]	Belgium	Sweden
2013	Georgia	Romania	Russia	Belgium ^[7]	Germany	Netherlands
2014	Georgia	Romania	Russia	Belgium ^[7]	Germany	Netherlands
2015	Georgia	Romania	Spain	Portugal	Belgium	Estonia
2016	Georgia	Romania	Russia	Portugal	Belgium	Estonia