Rugby Union European Championship

This article describes the European Men's Championship. For the European Women's Championship, see Rugby Union Women's European Championship

Rugby Union European Championship
Full name	Rugby Europe International Championships
Current season	2018/19
abbreviation	EM
Association	Rugby Europe
First edition	1952
Teams	35
Game mode	Round tournament
Title holder	Georgia (11th title)
Record winner	France (22 titles)
Website	www.rugbyeurope.eu

The Rugby Union European Championship for men, officially Rugby Europe International Championships , is a rugby union tournament for national teams held by the European association Rugby Europe , at which the European champions are determined annually. 35 teams compete against each other in a five-tier league system. The current European Rugby Union Champion is Georgia .

The most successful European teams England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales all play in the Six Nations tournament , which is independent of the association and is considered the unofficial European championship.

history

In the last years before the Second World War , the FIRA member countries already held annual tournaments - in May 1936 a pre-Olympic four-nation tournament in Berlin, in October 1937 a world exhibition tournament with six teams in Paris and in May 1938 a three- Nations tournament in Bucharest. These are not seen as a championship in German sources .

In 1951, the FIRA decided on a European Cup for national teams. This was initially only held in 1952 and 1954, then regularly from 1965 onwards. The first two times he was played in the knockout system, later in the league format in a single round (without second legs).

From the 1973/74 season, the European Cup was converted into a European Championship, which was held in the league system - with promotion and relegation between three divisions (A to C). The teams now played each against each other in their group in a simple round. The mode of staging changed several times: The length of the season varied between one and two years. The number of countries per division could be five or six, and fewer in the lower classes. The divisions were temporarily divided (A1 and A2, etc.).

Until 1997 France took part in both the FIRA European Championship and the Five Nations tournament , since then exclusively in the latter competition. In 2000 Italy switched from the FIRA EM to the Five Nations , which has now been expanded and upgraded to the Six Nations . In return, the FIRA EM was devalued to a Six Nations B without France and Italy . To take account of these changed conditions, the competition has been called the European Nations Cup since 2000 . In the first competition, the Moroccan national team also took part in the tournament, but the African games were not counted for the European Championship. From the (double) season 2004-06 onwards, the European Nations Cup was held with a round trip, but since 2009 the title has been awarded for each round. The cumulative two-year table was used to determine the relegation and the World Cup qualification.

After FIRA was renamed Rugby Europe in 2014 , the championship was also renamed Rugby Europe International Championships for the 2016/17 season. The divisions were also restructured.

format

2018–19 European Rugby Union Championship

Divisions
Six Nations
Championship
Trophy
Conference 1 North
Conference 1 South
Conference 2 North
Conference 2 South
Development

The tournament has been held every year since the 2016/17 season. The teams are divided into five divisions. The highest division is called the Rugby Europe Championship , followed by the Rugby Europe Trophy . Both divisions contain six teams. The Rugby Europe Conference 1 and Rugby Europe Conference 2 are also divided into north and south seasons, each season accommodating five teams. There are currently three teams playing in the division called Rugby Europe Development . Between the last of the championship and the first of the trophy, promotion and relegation are determined by a relegation game. The last team in the Trophy will be relegated directly to Conference 1, while the promoted team will be determined in a game between the first of the two seasons of Conference 1. Between Conference 1 and Conference 2 there is one direct promoter and one relegated member per season. All teams at the two conferences are reassigned each year to the north and south relays based on their geographical location.

The point system used in all divisions is as follows:

• 4 points if you win
• 2 points if there is a tie
• 0 points if you lose
• 1 bonus point if a team scores at least three attempts more than the opponent in a game
• 1 bonus point for a loss with a difference of seven or less points

The tournaments at a glance

Unofficial European Championship before 1945

year	1st place	place 2	place 3	Remarks
1936	France	German Empire	Italy	Pre-Olympic tournament in Berlin
1937	France	Italy	German Empire	World Exhibition Tournament in Paris
1938	France	German Empire	Romania	Three Nations Tournament in Bucharest

European Cup for national teams

season	1st place	place 2	place 3
1952	France	Italy	Germany
1953	not carried out
1954	France	Italy	Spain
1955-65	not carried out
1965/66	France	Italy	Romania
1966/67	France	Romania	Italy
1967/68	France	Romania	Czechoslovakia
1968/69	Romania	France	Czechoslovakia
1969/70	France	Romania	Italy
1970/71	France	Romania	Morocco
1971/72	France	Romania	Morocco
1972/73	France	Romania	Spain

FIRA European Championship

season	1st place	place 2	place 3
1973/74	France	Romania	Spain
1974/75	Romania	France	Italy
1975/76	France	Italy	Romania
1976/77	Romania	France	Italy
1977/78	France	Romania	Spain
1978/79	France	Romania	Soviet Union
1979/80	France	Romania	Italy
1980/81	Romania	France	Soviet Union
1981/82	France	Italy	Romania
1982/83	Romania	Italy	Soviet Union
1983/84	France	Romania	Italy
1984/85	France	Soviet Union	Italy
1985-87	France	Soviet Union	Romania
1987-89	France	Soviet Union	Romania
1989/90	France	Soviet Union	Romania
1990-92	France	Italy	Romania
1992-94	France	Italy	Romania
1994/95	only qualifying round for 1995-97 season
1995-97	Italy	France	Romania
1998/99	not held because of the World Cup qualification

European Nations Cup

season	1st place	place 2	place 3
2000	Romania	Spain	Georgia
2001	Georgia	Romania	Russia
2001/02	Romania	Georgia	Russia
2003/04	Portugal	Romania	Georgia
2005-06	Romania	Georgia	Portugal
2007/08	Georgia	Russia	Romania
2009	Georgia	Russia	Portugal
2010	Romania	Georgia	Russia
2011	Georgia	Romania	Portugal
2012	Georgia	Spain	Romania
2013	Georgia	Romania	Russia
2014	Georgia	Romania	Russia
2015	Georgia	Romania	Spain
2016	Georgia	Romania	Russia

Rugby Europe Championship

season	1st place	place 2	place 3
2017	Romania	Georgia	Spain
2018	Georgia	Russia	Germany
2019	Georgia	Spain	Romania

Ranking list

rank	country	title	2nd place	3rd place
1	France	25th	5
2	Georgia	11	4th	2
3	Romania	10	18th	13
4th	Italy	1	9	8th
5	Portugal	1		3
6th	Soviet Union Russia		7th	9
7th	Spain		3	6th
8th	Germany		2	2
9	Morocco			2
10	Czechoslovakia			2

Footnotes

1. ↑ With Chris Rhys (see below) such an EM is unknown. The table comes from the corresponding article on Italian Wikipedia (corrected for 1938: Germany won against Romania and came second).

swell

• Chris Rhys: Rugby. The Records . Enfield, Middlesex (Guinness Superlatives Ltd), 1987. ISBN 0-85112-450-X
• FIRA-AER archive (as of December 4, 2004; but was not updated after 2002) ( Memento from December 4, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) The link does not lead directly to the target: Archives \ Winners Room \ Seniors Championships be selected!
• Championships before 1945 in the Italian Wikipedia

See also

• List of major rugby union competitions

Web links

• Rugby Europe - The European Federation