2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference

The 2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference is the third-level rugby union competition below the premier Championship and Trophy competitions. It is the inaugural Conference under its new format, that will see Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden compete for the Conference 1 title. While Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey will compete for the Conference 2 title.

2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference
Date	3 September 2016 – 6 May 2017
Countries	20
Tournament statistics
Champions	Czech Republic (2nd title)
Grand Slam	Czech Republic (2)  Hungary (1)
Matches played	36
Attendance	25,020 (695 per match)
Tries scored	237 (6.58 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Conference 1 Ori Abutbul (60) Conference 2 Gregorie Collet (48)
Top try scorer(s)	Conference 1 James Kirk (7) Conference 2 Gregorie Collet (6)
Official website	Rugby International Championship
← 2014–16 (Previous) (Next) 2017–2018 →

The winners of Conference 1 North and South will play an additional match, a promotion play-off to the Trophy competition for the 2017–18 season. While the bottom placed teams of Conference 1 North and South will be relegated to Conference 2 for the following season, replacing the North and South winners of Conference 2. The team with the worst record in an aggregated Conference 2 table, will be relegated to the Development league for the following season.

Conference 1

North

Table

Champions and advances to Promotion play-off

Relegated

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Try BP	Losing BP	Grand Slam BP	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	Czech Republic	4	4	0	0	158	26	+132	3	0	0	19
2	Lithuania	4	3	0	1	93	47	+46	2	0	0	14
3	Latvia	4	2	0	2	56	98	−42	0	1	0	9
4	Sweden	4	1	0	3	56	124	−68	1	1	0	6
5	Luxembourg	4	0	0	4	39	107	−68	0	1	0	1
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points Draw – 2 points At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Loss within 8 points – 1 point Loss greater than 8 points – 0 points Completing a Grand Slam – 2 points (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Fixtures

	3 September 2016	Sweden	14–56	Czech Republic	Enköpings Rugbyklubb, Enkoping
	15:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Theuri Njuru 72' c Nave Bobby 79' c Con: Conor Murphy (2/2) 73', 79' Cards: Måns Derl 20' to 30'	Match details	Try: Vojtěch Havel 7' c, 23' c, 60' c Martin Charvát 18' c Aleš Stejskal 36' c Jiří Pantůček 48' c Martin Wognitch 70' c Jan Olbrich 76' c Con: Tomáš Forst (8/8) 8', 19', 24', 37', 48', 61', 71', 77' Cards: Ondřej Kutil 64' to 74'	Attendance: 400 Referee: Maxime Burlet (Belgium)

	22 October 2016	Latvia	31–24	Luxembourg	Jelgava Stadium, Jelgava
	15:00	Try: Emīls Balodis 10' Valters Raņķis 16' Guntis Cirša 26' Elmārs Šefanovskis 44' Robert Davidsons 67' Con: Roberts Davidsons 17', 27', 45'	Report[1]	Try: Saman Rezapour 19' Jean-Baptiste Vert 30' (matchsheet error with Dozin) William Dennis 48' Jean-Baptiste Vert 55' Con: William Browne 31', 56'	Attendance: 450 Referee: T. Tuma

	5 November 2016	Lithuania	11–6	Latvia	Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas
	15:00 EET (UTC+02)	Try: Donatas Vilimavicius 73' Pen: Kestutis Marcisauskas 15' Dovydas Taujanskas 80'	Report[2]	Pen: Roberts Džo Davidsons 28', 78'	Attendance: 500 Referee: Artur Kaptyukh

	5 November 2016	Luxembourg	0–19	Sweden	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City
	16:00		Report[3]	Try: James Darbyshire 6' Henning Ekstrand 14' Fredrik Enstad 27' Con: Neill Erasmus 15', 28'	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Trentin Luca

	12 November 2016	Czech Republic	15–6	Lithuania	Rugby Club Tatra Smichov, Prague
	14:00 CET (UTC+01)	Try: Jan Rohlík 2' Lukáš Rapant 8' Con: Tomáš Forst 9' Pen: Tomáš Forst 66' Cards: Lukáš Rapant 62' to 72'	Report[4]	Pen: Donatas Vilimavicius 49', 63'	Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Nika Amashukelli

	15 April 2017	Czech Republic	54–3	Latvia	Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

	22 April 2017	Lithuania	24–12	Luxembourg	Vingis Park Rugby Stadium, Vilnius
	15:00 EEST (UTC+03)

	29 April 2017	Latvia	16–9	Sweden	Daugava Stadium, Riga

	6 May 2017	Sweden	14–52	Lithuania	Enköpings Rugbyklubb, Enkoping
	15:00 CEST (UTC+02)

	6 May 2017	Luxembourg	3–33	Czech Republic	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City

South

Table

Champions and advances to Promotion play-off

Relegated

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Try BP	Losing BP	Grand Slam BP	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	Malta	4	3	1	0	147	49	+98	3	0	0	17
2	Israel	4	3	0	1	135	100	+35	2	0	0	14
3	Croatia	3	1	1	1	77	52	+25	1	1	0	8
4	Andorra	4	1	0	3	62	181	−119	0	0	0	4
5	Cyprus	3	0	0	3	45	84	−39	0	1	0	1
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points Draw – 2 points At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Loss within 8 points – 1 point Loss greater than 8 points – 0 points Completing a Grand Slam – 2 points (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Fixtures

	22 October 2016	Andorra	15–63	Malta	Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella
	18:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Albert Canturri 52' Marc Torrent 72' Con: Marc Abello 52' Pen: Marc Abello 5'	Report[5]	Try: Thomas Holloway 14' James Kirk 24', 28', 42', 48' Daniel Apsee 39', 46' Toby Quarendon 63' Luke Watts 76' Con: James Morris 15', 25', 29', 43', 47', 77' Pen: James Morris 3', 10' Cards: Isaac Bezzina 70' to 80'	Attendance: 400 Referee: R. Angelucci

	29 October 2016	Malta	31–3	Cyprus	Hibernians Stadium, Paola
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: James Morris 40' James Kir 45', 53' Rory O'Brien 71' Daniel Apsee 82' Con: James Morris 41', 45', 83' Cards: Matthew Spiteri 65' to 75'	Report[6]	Pen: Alex Zavallis 35' Cards: Matthew King 80' to 83'	Referee: Ariel Cabral

	29 October 2016	Croatia	47–15	Andorra	Stari plac Stadium, Split
	16:00	Try: Srđan Majkić 2', 9' Tomislav Burazin 6', 18' Mario Ozich 15' Jay Ayoub 33', 55' Con: Jay Ayoub 3', 6', 10', 16', 34', 56' Cards: Dominik Draženović 24' to 34' Luka Perlain 46' to 56'	Report[7]	Try: Fanck Mitjana 51', 76' Con: Marc Abello 52' Pen: Benjamin Fajol 1' Cards: Edisher Jamrulidze 23' to 33' Peter Ambor 46' to 56'	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Ionut Bodea

	5 November 2016	Israel	23–16	Croatia	Wingate Institute, Netanya
	14:00 IST (UTC+02)	Try: Amit Kakoun 4' Gilad Goldstein 31' Jonathan Radashkovich 38' Con: Ori Abutbul 31' Pen: Ori Abutbul 19', 57'	Report[8]	Try: Dylan Rowe 72' Con: Jay Ayoub 72' Pen: Jai Ayoub 18', 28', 47'	Attendance: 1,700 Referee: John Catteau

	12 November 2016	Cyprus	28–38	Israel	Pafiako Stadium, Paphos
	14:30 EET (UTC+02)	Try: Andrew Fell 12' Marcus Holden 26' Luke Peters 41' Con: Marcus Holden 12', 41' Pen: Marcus Holden 25', 39', 69'	Report[9]	Try: Jonathan Radashkovich 2' Amit Kakoun 17' Thomas Burden 32' Ori Abutbul 60', 62' Guy Matisis 78' Con: Ori Abutbul 32' Pen: Ori Abutbul 48', 85'	Attendance: 500 Referee: Matéj Rázga

	11 February 2017	Andorra	15–14	Cyprus	Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella
	18:00 CET (UTC+01)

	8 April 2017	Israel	57–17	Andorra	Wingate Institute, Netanya
	14:00 IST (UTC+02)

	22 April 2017	Malta	39–17	Israel	Hibernians Stadium, Paola
	14:00 CET (UTC+01)

	29 April 2017	Croatia	14–14	Malta	TBA
					Attendance: 1,500

	6 May 2017	Cyprus	27–29	Croatia	Pafiako Stadium, Paphos
	15:00 EEST (UTC+03)		http://www.rugbyeurope.eu/sites/default/files/document/170429_reic_conference_1_sud_crovmal_gamesheet.pdf

Conference 2

North

Table

Champions

Possibly relegated

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Try BP	Losing BP	Grand Slam BP	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	Denmark	4	3	0	1	161	42	+119	3	0	0	15
2	Hungary	3	3	0	0	120	25	+95	2	0	0	14
3	Finland	3	1	0	2	87	107	−20	1	0	0	5
4	Norway	3	1	0	2	55	93	−38	0	0	0	4
5	Estonia	3	0	0	3	23	179	−156	0	0	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points Draw – 2 points At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Loss within 8 points – 1 point Loss greater than 8 points – 0 points Completing a Grand Slam – 2 points (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Fixtures

	1 October 2016	Estonia	5–53	Hungary	Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn
	14:00 EEST (UTC+03)	Try: Marten Martinson 50' Cards: Pedro Maria Galladro Mateos 55' to 65'	Report[10]	Try: Gregorie Collet 16', 25', 58' Kornél Kiss 19' Dávid Drabbant 54', 71' Ákos Ágotai 77' Con: Gregorie Collet 17', 19', 58', 72', 77' Martin Sacase 25' Pen: Gregorie Collet 14', 23'	Attendance: 200 Referee: George Kopp

	8 October 2016	Norway	48–31	Finland	Bislett Stadium, Oslo
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Stewart Elliot 20', 79' Mickael Guardia 25', 54' Penalty Try 62' Tobias Nygaard 67' James Buncle 72' Con: Adam Jones 21' Nathan Cummins 55', 62', 73', 80' Pen: Nathan Cummins 33'	Report[11]	Try: Julius Kekeläinen 5' Jussi Viljanen 17' Mauno Konttila 29' Philip Sleath 35' Henri Repo 43' Con: Jussi Viljanen 5', 18', 30' Cards: Mauno Konttila 68' to 78'	Referee: Alfonso Nogueria

	8 October 2016	Hungary	25–13	Denmark	RCH Stadion, Esztergom
	15:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Jonatán Katona 28' Dávid Drabbant 39' Thomas Ducrocq 45' Con: Martin Sacase 29' Gregorie Collet 40' Pen: Martin Sacase 10', 16' Cards: Szabolcs Pocskai 80' to 80'	Report[12]	Try: Nicklas Tell 73' Con: Peder Bjerrum 73' Pen: Peder Bjerrum 13', 47'	Referee: H. Bartoli

	22 October 2016	Finland	51–6	Estonia	Myllypuro sports park, Helsinki
	13:00 EEST (UTC+03)	Try: Ossi Aro 2' Samu-Petteri Pääkkö 17' Jussi Viljanen 32', 60', 74' Matti Keränen 41' Antti Lammi 63' Richard Hennessy 72' Con: Henri Repo 61', 64', 73', 75' Pen: Jussi Viljanen 37'	Report[13]	Pen: Luke Veebel 9', 35' Cards: Jaan Lorens 31' to 41'	Attendance: 300 Referee: R. Grumbinas

	22 October 2016	Denmark	20–0	Norway	Odense Atletikstadion, Odense
	16:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Tomas Mayne 22' Nicklas Tell 30' Agbeko Hounou 34' Con: Joshua Jensen 30' Pen: Thomas Thimotee Cards: Mikkel Jensen 80' to 83' Malte Madsen 83' to 83'	Report[14]	Cards: Andrew Fraser-Smith 66' to 76'	Attendance: 500 Referee: Dan Maughan

	22 April 2017	Denmark	53–5	Finland	Odense Atletikstadion, Odense
	16:00 CEST (UTC+02)

	22 April 2017	Hungary	42–7	Norway	TBA

	29 April 2017	Estonia	12–75	Denmark	Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn
	14:00 EEST (UTC+03)

	6 May 2017	Finland	5–37	Hungary	Myllypuro sports park, Helsinki
	13:00 EEST (UTC+03)

	6 May 2017	Norway	43–16	Estonia	International School of Stavanger, Stavanger
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

South

Table

Champions and Promoted

Relegated

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Try BP	Losing BP	Grand Slam BP	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	3	0	1	90	54	+36	0	1	0	13
2	Austria	4	3	0	1	79	51	+28	0	0	0	12
3	Slovenia	4	2	0	2	114	48	+66	1	1	0	10
4	Serbia	4	2	0	2	77	107	−30	1	0	0	9
5	Turkey*	4	0	0	4	0	100	−100	0	0	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points Draw – 2 points At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Loss within 8 points – 1 point Loss greater than 8 points – 0 points Completing a Grand Slam – 2 points (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Fixtures

	8 October 2016	Austria	29–22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna
	15:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Christopher Lynton-Evans 52' Benjamin Preclik 63' Con: Max Navas 53', 64' Pen: Max Navas 9', 23', 33', 60', 73' Cards: Johannes Dachler 85' to 85'	Report[15]	Try: Mahir Bišić 11' Fadil Spahić 42' Mirsad Fetić 77' Con: Sabahudin Subašić 43', 78' Pen: Sabahudin Subašić 20' Cards: Mahir Bišić 17' to 27' Mirsad Fetić 43' to 53' Edin Pojskić 73' to 83'	Attendance: 700 Referee: Stepan Cekal

	29 October 2016	Slovenia	74–13	Serbia	ŽŠD Ljubljana Stadium, Ljubljana
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)	Try: Max Nikolei Skofic 10', 41', 67' Lewis John Catt 23', 36', 60' Žiga Burnik 40' George Frederic Skofic 45', 64', 71' Lovro Sambol 80' Con: Frank Joseph Skofic 37', 40', 42', 61', 65', 68', 72', 80' Pen: Žiga Burnik 7'	Report[16]	Try: Nikola Arsić 48' Con: Michael Brian Kovacic 49' Pen: Boris Martić 15', 20' Cards: Milan Marinković 35' to 45'	Attendance: 500 Referee: Matteo Liperini

	5 November 2016	Serbia	25–0*	Turkey	Vojnom Stadionu, Zrenjanin
	14:00 CET (UTC+01)

	12 November 2016	Turkey	0–25*	Austria	TBA

	26 November 2016	Turkey	0–25*	Slovenia	TBA

	4 March 2017	Bosnia and Herzegovina	25–0*	Turkey	Stadion Kamberovice Polje, Zenica
	14:00 CET (UTC+01)

	8 April 2017	Slovenia	15–22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	ŽŠD Ljubljana Stadium, Ljubljana
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

	22 April 2017	Austria	13–0	Slovenia	TBA
	17:00 CEST (UTC+02)

	22 April 2017	Bosnia and Herzegovina	21–10	Serbia	Stadion Kamberovice Polje, Zenica
	15:00 CEST (UTC+02)

	29 April 2017	Serbia	29–12	Austria	Rad Stadium, Belgrade
	14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

• Due to financial problems  Turkey could not compete. All games are counted as a 25–0 victory for the opposing side

Conference 2 aggregate table

relegated

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	Hungary	2	2	0	0	78	18	+60	1	14
2	Slovenia	2	2	0	0	99	13	+86	1	9
3	Austria	3	3	0	0	67	22	+45	0	12
4	Finland	2	1	0	1	82	54	+28	1	5
5	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	1	0	1	47	29	+18	1	5
6	Norway	2	1	0	1	48	51	−3	1	5
7	Denmark	2	1	0	1	33	25	+8	0	4
8	Serbia	2	1	0	1	38	74	−36	0	4
9	Estonia	2	0	0	2	11	104	−93	0	0
10	Turkey	4	0	0	4	0	100	−100	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win – 4 points Draw – 2 points 4 or more tries – 1 point Loss within 7 points – 1 point Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points

See also

• Rugby Europe International Championships
• 2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships
• Six Nations Championship