1995–1997 FIRA Trophy
| 1995-97 FIRA Trophy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 19 November 1995 – 23 May 1997 | ||
| Countries |  Belgium  France  Germany Italy  Morocco  Portugal Romania  Russia Spain Tunisia | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | Italy | ||
| Matches played | 41 | ||
| |||
The 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy was the 31st edition of the European rugby union championship for national teams. The 1995-97 edition was arranged once again with a new format.
Due preparations for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, France, Italy and Romania did not participate in the 1994-95 season of the competition, so for that season a Preliminary Tournament was arranged with ten other teams. The higher ranked seven teams were admitted to this tournament, with France, Italy and Romania.
The tournament was undergoing a difficult time, due to decreased interest from the strongest teams: France usually sent reserve teams, and Italy were playing matches with the likes of Australia, England and Wales.
This is evident looking the results and the programme. France played the first round robin with their Military team, Italy and Romania did not arrange a match for this tournament, but played a match on neutral ground against Argentina for the "Latina Cup". Italy sent two lower level teams to play (during the same weekend) the last two matches. The previous edition's final between Italy and France was played in March 1997, while the 1996-97 edition was already half completed.
This edition was the first ever triumph of Italy in the competition, defeating France by 40-32 in the final, thus cementing their claims to be the sixth European rugby nation powerhouse. Italy had started to play in this tournament with France in 1966 and, despite some close results, had never previously beaten their strong rivals. Italy's win, shortly after France had won the 1997 Five Nations Championship, was a historical feat that proved to be crucial for Italy's admission at the Six Nations Championship in 2000.
First Division
Preliminary Tournament
Three directly admitted
And seven qualified from the preliminary tournament
Pool A
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 | France |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 194 | 29 | +165 | 12 |
| 2 | Spain |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 91 | 90 | +1 | 10 |
| 3 | Russia |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 95 | -58 | 8 |
| 4 | Morocco |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 70 | -29 | 6 |
| 5 | Tunisia |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 78 | -67 | 2 |
- France qualified to Final
| 14 April 1996 |
| Spain | 52 - 6 | Russia |
| Try: Velazco Querol, Gallastegui, Souto, Tayeb (2), Gerendiaga Nanclares (3) Con: Gerendiaga Nanclares (4) Pen: Gerendiaga Nanclares (3) | Pen: Yakovlev (2) |
| Campo Universitario, Madrid |
Pool B
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 | Italy |
4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 249 | 35 | +214 | 12 |
| 2 | Romania |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 218 | 54 | +164 | 10 |
| 3 | Portugal |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 177 | -107 | 8 |
| 4 |  Poland |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 61 | 195 | -134 | 6 |
| 5 | Belgium |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 180 | -137 | 4 |
- Italy qualified to the final
| Point system: try 4 pt, conversion: 2 pt., penalty kick 3 pt. drop 3 pt Click "show" for more info about match (scorers, line-up etc.) |
| 3 March 1996 | Portugal
|
3 - 64 | Italy
|
Lisbon University Stadium, Lisbon | |
| Pen: N. Gomes |
Try: Babbo (2), Domínguez Francescato (2), Mazzucato, Orlandi, Platania (2), Properzi Con: Domínguez |
Referee: García Mostaza
| |||
| Portugal: 15. José Gomes, 14. Pedro Murinello, 13. Nuno Durão, 12. Nuno Mourão, 11. Rohan Hoffmann, 10. Nuno Gomes, 9. Luís Pissarra, 8. Pedro Castro, 7. António Cunha, 6. João Catulo, 5. José Luís Rodrigues, 4. Pedro Rogério Arsénio, 3. Joaquim Ferreira, 2. Paulo Silva, 1. José Pedro Costa - replacements: 16. Vasco Durão, 17. Éric Galvão, 18. Alexandre Lima | |||||
| Italy: 15. Massimo Ravazzolo, 14. Nicola Mazzucato, 13. Marco Platania, 12. Ivan Francescato, 11. Simone Babbo, 10. Diego Dominguez, 9. Gianluca Guidi, 8. Orazio Arancio, 7. Andrea Sgorlon, 6. Carlo Caione, 5. Roberto Favaro, 4. Andrea Gritti, 3. Franco Properzi, 2. Carlo Orlandi, 1. Massimo Cuttitta (cap.) - replacements: 16. Piergiorgi Menapace, 17. Riccardo Piovan, 18. Francesco Mazzariol, 19. Walter Cristofoletto | |||||
| 13 April 1996 |
| Romania | 92 - 0 | Portugal |
| Try: Radoi (2), Vlad, Fugigi, Gontineac, Sîrbu, Slusariuc, Rotaru (5), Tufa Con: Popisteanu (12) Pen: Popisteanu |
| Stadionul Steaua II, Bucharest Attendance: 1,000 Referee: A. Condorelli |
- This was the heaviest defeat of Portugal until their defeat to New Zealand (108-13) at the 2007 Rugby World Cup
Final
| 22 March 1997 |
| France | 32 - 40 | Italy |
| Try: 14' Penalty try 52' e 82' Bondouy 79' Sadourny Con: 14', 52' e 82' Aucagne Pen: 20', 24' Aucagne | Try: 5' I. Francescato 34' Gardner 56' Croci 74' Vaccari Con: 5', 34', 56' e 74' Domínguez Pen: 17', 30', 62' e 68' Domínguez |
| Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble Attendance: 15,000 Referee:  David McHugh |
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Second Division
Pool 1 (Gold)
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 |  Netherlands |
4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 107 | 31 | +76 | 11 |
| 2 |  Georgia |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 61 | -21 | 10 |
| 3 | Germany |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 48 | +4 | 8 |
| 4 |  Czech Republic |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 80 | -18 | 6 |
| 5 |  Denmark |
4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 75 | -38 | 4 |
| 15 October 1995 |
| Georgia | 14 - 3 | Germany |
| Try: Iurini Pen: E. Dzagnidze, D. Dzagnidze (2) | Pen: Kocher |
| National Stadium, Tbilisi |
| 19 November 1995 |
| Denmark | 0 - W | Georgia |
| Aalborg Referee: Zboralsky (France) GEO duly arrived but DNK did not take the frozen field claiming it was not safe Reference: Georgia Rugby Record 1959-2009, p 152,155 http://issuu.com/qaflan/docs/ka-mataine50 |
| 12 April 1996 |
| Georgia | 20 - 3 | Czech Republic |
| Try: Iurini, Jimsheladze, Kavtarachvili Con: Modebadze Pen: Machitidze | Pen: Stourac |
| Vake Stadium, Tbilisi |
Pool 2 (Silver)
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 |  Serbia and Montenegro |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 21 | +48 | 6 |
| 2 |  Andorra |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 38 | -13 | 4 |
| 3 |  Bulgaria |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 52 | -35 | 2 |
Third Division
Pool 1
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 |  Ukraine |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 11 | +73 | 9 |
| 2 |  Latvia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 7 |
| 3 |  Moldova |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 61 | -41 | 5 |
| 4 |  Lithuania |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 76 | -38 | 3 |
Pool 2
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 |  Austria |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 4 |
| 2 |  Hungary |
2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 4 |
| 3 |  Slovenia |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 44 | -21 | 4 |
Pool 3
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | |||
| 1 |  Croatia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 18 | +19 | 6 |
| 2 |  Israel |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 33 | -7 | 4 |
| 3 |  Luxembourg |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 36 | -12 | 2 |
Notes and references
- ^ This team was based on the "Students' team", preparing for the incoming University World Cup, reinforced with the presence of the national captain Massimo Giovanelli
Bibliography
- (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) ISBN 88-87374-40-6.
- (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).