2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships

The 2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The 2016–17 season is the first of its new format and structure, where all Levels play on a one-year cycle, replacing the old format of a two-year cycle, where the teams played each other both home and away.

2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships
Date	September 2016 – May 2017
Countries	35
Tournament statistics
Champions	Championship  Romania (5) Trophy  Portugal (1) Conference 1  Czech Republic (2)  Malta (1) Conference 2  Hungary (1)  Bosnia and Herzegovina (1) Development  Slovakia (1)
Antim Cup	Romania (6th title)
Matches played	69
Attendance	177,923 (2,579 per match)
Tries scored	427 (6.19 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Championship Bradley Linklater (51) Trophy David Weersma (52) Conference Ori Abutbul (60) Development Petar Nikolov (31)
Top try scorer(s)	Championship Giorgi Koshadze (4) Giorgi Tkhilaishvili (4) Trophy Sep Visser (6) Conference James Kirk (7) Development Dusan Vucicevic (4)
Official website	Rugby Europe
← 2014–16 (Previous) (Next) 2017–18 →

For all teams competing, except the Development league, this year's edition of the Rugby Europe International Championships doubles as the 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifiers for the European region, where the winner of the Championship, excluding Georgia, automatically qualifies to the tournament as Europe 1. All other teams remains in contention, playing in their respective leagues, but also playing in World Cup play-offs, for the right to play in the Europe/Oceania play-off against Oceania 3.

Countries

Pre-tournament World Rugby rankings (from November 28 for Championship, from August 29 for all other levels) in parentheses^[1]

Championship[2]  Belgium (26)  Georgia (12)  Germany (24)  Romania (16)  Russia (19)  Spain (22) Conference 1 North[3]  Czech Republic (33)  Latvia (51)  Lithuania (46)  Luxembourg (59)  Sweden (58) South[4]  Andorra (62)  Croatia (54)  Cyprus (NA)  Israel (63)  Malta (49) Development[5]  Bulgaria (96)  Montenegro (NA)  Slovakia (NA)

Trophy[6]  Moldova (32)  Netherlands (34)  Poland (37)  Portugal (30)   Switzerland (31)  Ukraine (27) Conference 2 North[7]  Denmark (88)  Estonia (NA)  Finland (97)  Hungary (82)  Norway (90) South[8]  Austria (87)  Bosnia and Herzegovina (74)  Serbia (79)  Slovenia (67)  Turkey (NA)a

Notes

^a Due to financial instability, Turkey has cancelled all matches for the 2016–17 season and is no longer part of World Cup Qualifying.^[9][10]

2017 Rugby Europe Championship

Main article: 2017 Rugby Europe Championship

Champions

Advances Promotion/ Relegation play-off

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Romania	5	4	0	1	122	78	+44	2	1	0	19
2	Georgia	5	4	0	1	136	44	+92	2	1	0	19
3	Spain	5	3	0	2	91	54	+37	1	0	0	13
4	Russia	5	2	0	3	107	117	−10	1	0	0	9
5	Germany	5	2	0	3	121	201	−80	0	0	0	8
6	Belgium	5	0	0	5	70	153	−83	0	2	0	2
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification) As the tournament for 2017 had been completed and issues of relegation had been decided in that year, the points deduction should not be applied to the 2017 Rugby Europe tournament (para 51).[12][13][14]

Matches

11 February 2017 13:15 CET (UTC+01) Germany  41–38  Romania (1 LBP) Gamesheet Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Maxime Chalon 11 February 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Belgium  6–31  Georgia (1 TBP) Gamesheet King Baudouin Stadium- Annex 2, Brussels Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Ben Whitehouse 11 February 2017 16:00 CET (UTC+01) Spain  16–6  Russia Gamesheet Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Dudley Phillips 18 February 2017 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  13–3  Spain Gamesheet Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest Attendance: 3,750 Referee: Elia Rizzo 18 February 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 LBP) Belgium  18–25  Russia Gamesheet King Baudouin Stadium- Annex 2, Brussels Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Salem Attalah 19 February 2017 15:00 GET (UTC+04) (1 TBP) Georgia  50–6  Germany Gamesheet Rustavi Rugby Stadium, Rustavi Attendance: 3,300 Referee: Max Burlet 4 March 2017 13:00 MSK (UTC+03) Russia  10–30  Romania (1 TBP) Gamesheet Slava Metreveli Central Stadium, Sochi Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sean Gallagher 4 March 2017 16:00 CET (UTC+01) Spain  10–20  Georgia Gamesheet Estadio Municipal, Medina del Campo Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Craig Evans 4 March 2017 16:15 CET (UTC+01) Germany  34–29  Belgium (1 LBP) Gamesheet Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach Attendance: 4,126 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti 11 March 2017 14:45 CET (UTC+01) Belgium  17–33  Romania (1 TBP) Gamesheet King Baudouin Stadium- Annex 2, Brussels Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Claudio Blessano 11 March 2017 16:00 CET (UTC+01) Germany  15–32  Spain Gamesheet Sportpark Höhenberg, Köln Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Lloyd Linton 12 March 2017 18:00 GET (UTC+04) Georgia  28–14  Russia Gamesheet Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi Attendance: 52,000 Referee: Ian Tempest 19 March 2017 16:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 TBP) Spain  30–0  Belgium Gamesheet Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 7,800 Referee: Vlad Iordăchescu 19 March 2017 14:00 MSK (UTC+03) (1 TBP) Russia  52–25  Germany Gamesheet Slava Metreveli Central Stadium, Sochi Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Cedric Marchat 19 March 2017 15:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  8–7  Georgia (1 LBP) Gamesheet Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Ian Davies

2016–17 Rugby Europe Trophy

Main article: 2016–17 Rugby Europe Trophy

Champions and advances to Promotion/ Relegation play-off

Relegated

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Portugal	5	5	0	0	179	37	+142	4	0	1	25
2	Netherlands	5	3	0	2	159	94	+65	2	1	0	15
3	Switzerland	5	3	0	2	140	122	+18	1	0	0	13
4	Poland	5	3	0	2	73	73	0	0	0	0	12
5	Moldova	5	1	0	4	100	162	−62	1	1	0	6
6	Ukraine	5	0	0	5	52	215	−163	0	0	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Matches

24 September 2016 19:30 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  22–0  Ukraine Gamesheet Arena Lublin, Lublin Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Daniel Jones 5 November 2016 14:00 EET (UTC+02) Ukraine  12–54  Netherlands (1 TBP) Gamesheet Yunist' Stadium, Lviv Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Paulo Duarte 12 November 2016 13:10 EET (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Moldova  54–15  Ukraine Gamesheet Stadionul Orășenesc, Bălți Attendance: 500 Referee: Cardona Laurent 19 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 TBP) Netherlands  44–17  Moldova Gamesheet NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 3,215 Referee: Sam Grove-White 19 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Switzerland  10–28  Portugal Gamesheet Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 2,057 Referee: Tomo Emanuele 26 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Switzerland  29–26  Moldova (1 LBP) Gamesheet Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 1,030 Referee: Frank Himmer 18 February 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+00) (1 TBP) Portugal  35–10  Poland Gamesheet CAR Rugby do Jamor, Oeiras Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sam Grove-White 4 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Netherlands  10–26  Portugal (1 TBP) Gamesheet NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Guiseppe Vivarini 11 March 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+00) (1 TBP) Portugal  59–0  Moldova Gamesheet CAR Rugby do Jamor, Oeiras Attendance: 1,400 Referee: Stuart Graffkin 12 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 TBP) Switzerland  54–18  Ukraine Gamesheet CS Sportif des Charpines, Plan-les-Ouates Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Radu Petrescu 18 March 2017 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Moldova  3–15  Poland Gamesheet Stadionul Raional, Anenii Noi Attendance: 350 Referee: Alexey Bryzgalin 18 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Netherlands  38–25   Switzerland Gamesheet NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti 1 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Ukraine  7–31  Portugal (1 TBP) Gamesheet Spartak Stadium, Odesa Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Vlad Iordăchescu 8 April 2017 18:00 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  14–13  Netherlands (1 LBP) Gamesheet Stadion Widzewa, Łódź Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Tual Trainini 22 April 2017 17:00 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  12–22   Switzerland Gamesheet Stadion Polonii Warszawa, Warsaw Attendance: n.a. Referee: Matthew Carley

2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference

Conference 1

Main article: 2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference § Conference 1

Conference 1 North

Champions and advances to Promotion play-off

Relegated

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Czech Republic	4	4	0	0	158	26	+132	3	0	1	20
2	Lithuania	4	3	0	1	93	45	+48	2	0	0	14
3	Latvia	4	2	0	2	56	98	−42	0	1	0	9
4	Sweden	4	1	0	3	54	124	−70	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:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Matches

3 September 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Sweden  14–56  Czech Republic (1 TBP) Gamesheet Enköpings RK, Enköping Attendance: 400 Referee: Maxime Burlet 22 October 2016 15:00 EET (UTC+02) Latvia  31–24  Luxembourg (1 LBP) Gamesheet Zemgale Olympic Center, Jelgava Attendance: 450 Referee: Tomáš Tuma 5 November 2016 14:00 EET (UTC+02) Lithuania  11–6  Latvia (1 LBP) Gamesheet Savivaldybė Stadium, Šiauliai Attendance: 500 Referee: Artur Kaptyukh 5 November 2016 16:00 CET (UTC+01) Luxembourg  0–19  Sweden (1 TBP) Gamesheet Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Trentin Luca 12 November 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Czech Republic  15–6  Lithuania Gamesheet RC Tatra Smíchov, Prague Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Nika Amashukelli 15 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Czech Republic  54–3  Latvia Gamesheet Stadion Markéta, Prague Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Gabriel Chirnoaga 22 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Lithuania  24–12  Luxembourg Gamesheet Aukštaitija Stadium, Panevėžys Attendance: 450 Referee: Michael Hawkins 29 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Latvia  16–9  Sweden (1 LBP) Gamesheet Jāņa Daliņa stadions, Valmiera Attendance: 500 Referee: Sam Grove-White 6 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) Sweden  12–52  Lithuania (1 TBP) Gamesheet Enköpings RK, Enköping Attendance: 320 Referee: Killian O'Brien 6 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) Luxembourg  3–33  Czech Republic (1 TBP) Gamesheet Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Craig Maxwell Keys

Conference 1 South

Champions and advances to Promotion play-off

Relegated

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
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	4	2	1	1	106	79	+27	1	1	0	12
4	Andorra	4	1	0	3	62	181	−119	0	0	0	4
5	Cyprus	4	0	0	4	72	113	−41	0	2	0	2
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Matches

22 October 2016 18:00 CEST (UTC+02) Andorra  15–63  Malta (1 TBP) Gamesheet Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella Attendance: 400 Referee: Riccardo Angelucci 29 October 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 TBP) Malta  31–3  Cyprus Gamesheet Hibernians Stadium, Paola Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Ariel Cabral 29 October 2016 16:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 TBP) Croatia  47–15  Andorra Gamesheet Stari Plac Stadion, Split Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Ionuț Bodea 5 November 2016 14:00 IST (UTC+02) Israel  23–16  Croatia (1 LBP) Gamesheet Wingate Institute, Netanya Attendance: 1,700 Referee: John Catteau 12 November 2016 14:30 EET (UTC+02) Cyprus  28–38  Israel (1 TBP) Gamesheet Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, Paphos Attendance: 500 Referee: Matéj Rázga 11 February 2017 18:00 CET (UTC+01) Andorra  15–14  Cyprus (1 LBP) Gamesheet Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Philippe Lenne 8 April 2017 15:00 IDT (UTC+03) (1 TBP) Israel  57–17  Andorra Gamesheet Wingate Institute, Netanya Attendance: 700 Referee: Yann Benoit 22 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Malta  39–17  Israel Gamesheet Hibernians Stadium, Paola Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Pierre Brousset 29 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Croatia  14–14  Malta Gamesheet Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić, Zagreb Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Jorge Molpeces 6 May 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 LBP) Cyprus  27–29  Croatia Gamesheet Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, Paphos Attendance: 500 Referee: Nigel Correll

Conference 2

Main article: 2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference § Conference 2

Conference 2 North

Champions and Promoted

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Hungary	4	4	0	0	157	30	+127	3	0	1	20
2	Denmark	4	3	0	1	161	42	+119	3	0	0	15
3	Norway	4	2	0	2	98	109	−11	1	0	0	9
4	Finland	4	1	0	3	92	144	−52	1	0	0	5
5	Estonia	4	0	0	4	39	222	−183	0	0	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Matches

1 October 2016 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Estonia  5–35  Hungary (1 TBP) Gamesheet Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn Attendance: 200 Referee: George Kopp 8 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Norway  48–31  Finland Gamesheet Bislett Stadium, Oslo Attendance: 500 Referee: Alfoso Nogueria 8 October 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Hungary  25–13  Denmark Gamesheet Frankaréna, Esztergom Attendance: n.a. Referee: H. Bartoli 22 October 2016 13:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 TBP) Finland  51–6  Estonia Gamesheet Myllypuron urheilupuisto, Helsinki Attendance: 300 Referee: Ramonas Grumbinas 22 October 2016 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Denmark  20–0  Norway Gamesheet Atletikstadion, Odense Attendance: 500 Referee: Dan Maughan 22 April 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Denmark  53–3  Finland Gamesheet Atletikstadion, Odense Attendance: 450 Referee: Darek Reks 22 April 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Hungary  42–7  Norway Gamesheet Frankaréna, Esztergom Attendance: 500 Referee: Lukasz Jasinski 29 April 2017 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Estonia  12–75  Denmark (1 TBP) Gamesheet Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn Attendance: 50 Referee: George Mossford 6 May 2017 13:00 EEST (UTC+03) Finland  5–37  Hungary (1 TBP) Gamesheet Myllypuron urheilupuisto, Helsinki Attendance: 400 Referee: Kevin Sulejmani 6 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Norway  43–16  Estonia Gamesheet Bislett Stadium, Oslo Attendance: 500 Referee: Rami Aro

Conference 2 South

Champions and Promoted

Relegated

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
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:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Matches

8 October 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Austria  29–22  Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 LBP) Gamesheet Wiener Sportclub-Platz, Vienna Attendance: 700 Referee: Stepan Cekal 29 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Slovenia  74–13  Serbia Gamesheet Športni Park Šiška, Ljubliana Attendance: 500 Referee: Matteo Liperini 5 November 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Serbia  cancelled (25–0)  Turkey 12 November 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Turkey  cancelled (0–25)  Austria 26 November 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Turkey  cancelled (0–25)  Slovenia 4 March 2017 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Bosnia and Herzegovina  cancelled (25–0)  Turkey 8 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 LBP) Slovenia  15–22  Bosnia and Herzegovina Gamesheet Športni Park Šiška, Ljubliana Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Norbert Matrai 22 April 2017 17:00 CEST (UTC+02) Austria  13–0  Slovenia Gamesheet Wiener Sportclub-Platz, Vienna Attendance: 800 Referee: Pedro Mendes da Silva 22 April 2017 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Bosnia and Herzegovina  21–10  Serbia Gamesheet Stadion Kamberovića polje, Zenica Attendance: 300 Referee: Csaba Priskin 29 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Serbia  29–12  Austria Gamesheet Obrenovački drum, Belgrade Attendance: 200 Referee: Shota Tevradze

2017 Rugby Europe Development

Champions and Promoted

Pos.	Team	Games				Points			TBP	LBP	GS	Table points
		Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff
1	Slovakia	2	1	0	1	52	42	+10	0	1	0	5
2	Montenegro	2	1	0	1	62	51	+11	1	0	0	5
3	Bulgaria	2	1	0	1	41	62	+2	0	0	0	4
Points were awarded to the teams as follows:[11] Win – 4 points : Draw – 2 points  : Loss within 7 points – 1 point : Loss greater than 7 points – 0 points: At least 3 more tries than opponent- 1 point Completing a Grand Slam – 1 point (will not be counted towards World Cup Qualification)

Matches

14 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Montenegro  20–32  Slovakia Gamesheet Stadion u Parku, Tivat Attendance: 150 Referee: Cristian Șerban 17 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Bulgaria  22–20  Slovakia (1 LBP) Gamesheet Stadion u Parku, Tivat Attendance: 50 Referee: Aleksander Mihgunov 20 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 TBP) Montenegro  42–19  Bulgaria Gamesheet Stadion u Parku, Tivat Attendance: 100 Referee: Vasiliu Răzvan

Play-offs

Championship-Trophy Promotion play-off

20 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Belgium	29–18	Portugal

King Baudouin Stadium – Annex 2, Brussels Referee: Frank Murphy

Conference 1 promotion to Trophy play-off

20 May 2017 15:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Czech Republic	48–14	Malta

Stadion Markéta, Prague Referee: Thomas Charabas

See also

• 2019 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification