2019 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification

Qualifying for the 2019 Rugby World Cup for European Rugby began in September 2016, where 5 teams are competing for one direct qualification spot into the final tournament, and a further 26 teams competing, alongside the initial 5 teams, for a place in the Europe/Oceania play-off and or repechage.

2019 Rugby World Cup – Europe qualification

Tournament details
Dates	1 October 2016 – 16 June 2018
No. of nations	31
← 2015 2023 →

The qualification process came to a chaotic conclusion when 3 of the 5 teams in the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Rugby Europe Championship were effectively disqualified for fielding ineligible players. As a result, Russia qualified for the World Cup and Germany advanced to a playoff against Portugal for a place in the repechage process.

Format

The Rugby Europe Championship, controlled by Rugby Europe, is the regional qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup 2019, with the Championship, Trophy and Conference 1 and 2 being involved in the process.

The 2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships form the majority of qualification matches for the European region. The respective winners of Round 1A and 1B, Rugby Europe Conference 2 North and South, will progress to the Round 1 Final. The overall winner of Round 1, will advance to the Round 3, where they will play against the winner of Round 2, Conference 1. The winner of Round 3 will play against the winner of the 2016–17 Rugby Europe Trophy tournament in the Round 4 Final, where the winner of that final will parachute down to Round 6 - the European Final play-off.

The winner of Round 5, which is an aggregate table of the 2017 and 2018 Rugby Europe Championship's, will qualify for the World Cup as Europe 1, the runner-up will advance to Round 6.

Round 6 will see the winner of Round 4 and the runner-up of Round 5 face against each other in a one-off play-off match, the higher ranked team hosting at the time of teams decided, to earn the right to progress to a home and away Cross-Regional play-off series against the third placed team from Oceania, Oceania 3.

Entrants

Thirty one teams competed during for the 2019 Rugby World Cup – European qualification; teams world rankings are prior to the first European qualification match on 3 September 2016.

Nation	Rank	Began play	Qualifying status
Andorra	62	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Malta on 11 February 2017
Austria	87	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Serbia on 29 April 2017
Belgium	24	18 February 2017	Eliminated via points deduction on 15 May 2018
Bosnia and Herzegovina	74	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary on 20 May 2017
Croatia	54	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Malta on 29 April 2017
Cyprus	NR	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Andorra on 11 February 2017
Czech Republic	33	3 September 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 18 November 2017
Denmark	88	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary's victory on 6 May 2017
England	2	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Estonia	NR	1 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary's victory on 22 April 2017
Finland	97	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Denmark on 22 April 2017
France	8	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Georgia	11	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Germany	26	11 February 2017	Advances to Europe/Oceania play-off on 16 June 2018
Hungary	82	1 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 27 April 2017
Ireland	6	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Israel	63	5 November 2016	Eliminated by Malta on 22 April 2017
Italy	13	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Latvia	51	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 15 April 2017
Lithuania	46	5 November 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic's victory on 6 May 2017
Luxembourg	59	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic's victory on 15 April 2017
Malta	49	22 October 2016	Eliminated by Czech Republic on 20 May 2017
Moldova	32	12 November 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 11 March 2017
Netherlands	34	5 November 2016	Eliminated by Portugal's victory on 1 April 2017
Norway	90	8 October 2016	Eliminated by Hungary on 22 April 2017
Poland	37	24 September 2016	Eliminated by Portugal on 18 March 2017
Portugal	30	19 November 2016	Eliminated by Germany on 16 June 2018
Romania	16	11 February 2017	Eliminated via points deduction on 15 May 2018
Russia	21	12 February 2017	Qualified as Europe 1 via mass points deduction on 15 May 2018
Scotland	9	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup
Serbia	79	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 April 2017
Slovenia	67	29 October 2016	Eliminated by Austria on 22 April 2017
Spain	23	12 February 2017	Eliminated via points deduction on 15 May 2018
Sweden	58	3 September 2016	Eliminated by Latvia on 29 April 2017
Switzerland	31	19 November 2016	Eliminated by Netherlands on 18 March 2017
Turkey	NR	5 November 2016	Withdrew from competition on 5 November 2016
Ukraine	27	24 September 2016	Eliminated by Portugal's victory on 4 March 2017
Wales	5	N/A	Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2015 World Cup

Round 1: Rugby Europe Conference 2

Round 1A: North

Advances to Round 1 Final

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Hungary	4	4	0	0	157	30	+127	3	19
2	Denmark	4	3	0	1	161	42	+119	2	14
3	Norway	4	2	0	2	98	109	–11	2	10
4	Finland	4	1	0	3	92	144	–52	2	6
5	Estonia	4	0	0	4	39	222	–183	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

1 October 2016 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Estonia  5–53  Hungary (1 BP) Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn Referee: Georgii Kopp (Russia) 8 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Norway  48–31  Finland Bislett Stadium, Oslo Referee: Afonso Nogueira (Portugal) 8 October 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Hungary  25–13  Denmark RCH Stadion, Esztergom Referee: Hrvoje Bartolic (Czech Republic) 22 October 2016 13:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Finland  51–6  Estonia Myllypuro sports park, Helsinki Referee: Ramunas Grumbinas (Lithuania) 22 October 2016 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Denmark  20–0  Norway Odense Atletikstadion, Odense Referee: Daniel Maughan (Germany) 22 April 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Denmark  53–5  Finland Report[1] Odense Atletikstadion, Odense Attendance: 450 Referee: Dariusz Reks (Poland) 22 April 2017 15:50 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Hungary  42–7  Norway Report[2] RCH Stadion, Esztergom Attendance: 500 Referee: Lukasz Jasinski (Poland) 29 April 2017 14:00 EEST (UTC+03) Estonia  12–75  Denmark (1 BP) Report[3] Kalevi Keskstaadion, Tallinn Attendance: 50 Referee: George Mossford (Finland) 6 May 2017 13:00 EEST (UTC+03) Finland  5–37  Hungary (1 BP) Report[4] Myllypuro sports park, Helsinki Attendance: 400 Referee: Kevin Sulejmani (Belgium 6 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Norway  43–16  Estonia Report[5] International School of Stavanger, Stavanger Attendance: 500 Referee: Rami Aro (Sweden)

Round 1B: South

Advances to Round 1 Final

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	2	0	1	65	54	+11	1	9
2	Austria	3	2	0	1	54	51	+3	0	8
3	Slovenia	3	1	0	2	89	48	+41	2	6
4	Serbia	3	1	0	2	52	107	–55	0	4
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

8 October 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Austria  29–22  Bosnia and Herzegovina (1 BP) Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna Referee: Štepán Cekal (Czech Republic) 29 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Slovenia  74–13  Serbia ŽŠD Ljubljana Stadium, Ljubljana Referee: Matteo Liperini (Italy) 8 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Slovenia  15–22  Bosnia and Herzegovina Report[6] ŽŠD Ljubljana Stadium, Ljubljana Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Norbert Mátrai (Hungary) 22 April 2017 17:00 CEST (UTC+02) Austria  13–0  Slovenia Report[7] Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna Attendance: 800 Referee: Pedro Mendes Silva (Portugal) 22 April 2017 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Bosnia and Herzegovina  21–10  Serbia Report[8] Stadion Kamberovice Polje, Zenica Attendance: 300 Referee: Csaba Priskin (Hungary) 29 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Serbia  29–12  Austria Report[9] Rad Stadium, Belgrade Attendance: 200 Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)

Round 1 Final

Hungary, as winners, qualify for round 3.

20 May 2017 16:00 EEST (UTC+03)

Hungary	19–17	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Report[10]

Franka Pálya, Esztergom Attendance: 800 Referee: Andrea Spadoni (Italy)

Round 2: Rugby Europe Conference 1

Round 2A: North

Advances to Conference Final

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Czech Republic	4	4	0	0	158	26	+132	3	19
2	Lithuania	4	3	0	1	93	47	+46	2	14
3	Latvia	4	2	0	2	56	98	–42	2	10
4	Sweden	4	1	0	3	56	124	–68	1	5
5	Luxembourg	4	0	0	4	39	107	–68	1	1
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

3 September 2016 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Sweden  14–56  Czech Republic (1 BP) Report[11] Enköpings Rugbyklubb, Enkoping Attendance: 400 Referee: Maxime Burlet (Belgium) 22 October 2016 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Latvia  31–24  Luxembourg (1 BP) Report[12] Daugava Stadium, Riga Attendance: 450 Referee: Tomáš Tuma (Czech Republic) 5 November 2016 15:00 EET (UTC+02) Lithuania  11–6  Latvia (1 BP) Report[13] Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas Attendance: 500 Referee: Arthur Kaptyukh (Russia) 5 November 2016 16:00 CET (UTC+01) Luxembourg  0–19  Sweden (1 BP) Report[14] Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Luca Trentin (Italy) 12 November 2016 14:00 CET (UTC+01) Czech Republic  15–6  Lithuania Report[15] Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia) 15 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Czech Republic  54–3  Latvia Report[16] Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Gabriel Chirnoaga (Italy) 22 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Lithuania  24–12  Luxembourg Report[17] Vingis Park Rugby Stadium, Vilnius Attendance: 450 Referee: Mike Hawkins (Denmark) 29 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Latvia  16–9  Sweden (1 BP) Report[18] Daugava Stadium, Riga Attendance: 500 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 6 May 2017 15:00 CEST (UTC+02) Sweden  14–52  Lithuania (1 BP) Report[19] Enköpings Rugbyklubb, Enkoping Attendance: 320 Referee: Killian O'Brien (Germany) 6 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) Luxembourg  3–33  Czech Republic (1 BP) Report[20] Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg City Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)

Round 2B: South

Advances to Conference Final

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Malta	4	3	1	0	147	49	+98	3	17
2	Israel	4	3	0	1	135	100	+35	2	14
3	Croatia	4	2	1	1	106	79	+27	3	13
4	Andorra	4	1	0	3	62	181	–119	0	4
5	Cyprus	4	0	0	4	72	113	–41	2	2
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

22 October 2016 18:00 CEST (UTC+02) Andorra  15–63  Malta (1 BP) Match centre[21] Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella Referee: Riccardo Angelucci (Italy) 29 October 2016 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Malta  31–3  Cyprus Match centre[22] Hibernians Stadium, Paola Referee: Ariel Cabral (Israel) 29 October 2016 15:15 CEST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Croatia  47–15  Andorra Report[23] Stadion Stari plac, Split Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Ionut Bodea (Romania) 5 November 2016 14:00 IST (UTC+02) Israel  23–16  Croatia (1 BP) Report[24] Wingate Institute, Netanya Attendance: 1,700 Referee: John Catteau (Belgium) 12 November 2016 14:30 EET (UTC+02) Cyprus  28–38  Israel (1 BP) Report[25] Pafiako Stadium, Paphos Attendance: 500 Referee: Matéj Rázga (Czech Republic) 11 February 2017 18:00 CET (UTC+01) Andorra  15–14  Cyprus (1 BP) Report[26] Estadi Nacional, Andorra La Vella Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Philippe Lenne (Belgium) 8 April 2017 14:00 IST (UTC+02) (1 BP) Israel  57–17  Andorra Report[27] Wingate Institute, Netanya Attendance: 700 Referee: Yann Benoît (Switzerland) 22 April 2017 14:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Malta  39–17  Israel Match centre[28] Report[29] Hibernians Stadium, Paola Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Pierre Brousset (France) 29 April 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02) Croatia  14–14  Malta Report[30] Stadion NŠC Stjepan Spajić, Zagreb Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Jorge Molpeceres (Spain) 6 May 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) (1 BP) Cyprus  27–29  Croatia Report[31] Pafiako Stadium, Paphos Attendance: 500 Referee: Nigel Correll (Ireland)

Round 2 Final

The Czech Republic, as winners, qualify for round 3.

20 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Czech Republic	48–14	Malta
	Report[32]

Stadion Markéta, Prague Attendance: 500 Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)

Round 3

The Czech Republic, as winners, qualify for the final of round 4.

27 May 2017 14:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Czech Republic	47–19	Hungary
	Report[33]

Stadion ragby Císařka, Prague Attendance: 500 Referee: François Bouzac (France)

Round 4

Round 4A: Rugby Europe Trophy

Advances to Round 4 Final

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Portugal	5	5	0	0	179	37	+142	4	24
2	Netherlands	5	3	0	2	159	94	+65	3	15
3	Switzerland	5	3	0	2	140	122	+18	1	13
4	Poland	5	3	0	2	73	73	0	0	12
5	Moldova	5	1	0	4	100	162	-62	3	7
6	Ukraine	5	0	0	5	52	215	–163	0	0
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

Matches

24 September 2016 19:30 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  22–0  Ukraine Report[34] Arena Lublin, Lublin Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Dan Jones (Wales) 5 November 2016 14:00 EET (UTC+02) Ukraine  12–54  Netherlands (1 BP) Report[35] Arena Lviv, Lviv Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Paulo Duarte (Portugal) 12 November 2016 13:10 EET (UTC+02) (1 BP) Moldova  54–15  Ukraine Report[36] Stadionul Central, Bălți Attendance: 500 Referee: Laurent Cardona (France) 19 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Netherlands  44–17  Moldova Report[37] NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 3,215 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 19 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Switzerland  10–28  Portugal Match centre[38] Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 2,057 Referee: Emanuele Tomo (Italy) 26 November 2016 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Switzerland  29–26  Moldova (1 BP) Report[39] Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 1,030 Referee: Frank Himmer (Germany) 18 February 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+00) (1 BP) Portugal  35–10  Poland Match centre[40] CAR Rugby do Jamor, Lisbon Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 4 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Netherlands  10–26  Portugal (1 BP) Match centre[41] NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (Italy) 11 March 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+00) (1 BP) Portugal  59–0  Moldova Match centre[42] CAR Rugby do Jamor, Lisbon Attendance: 1,400 Referee: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland) 12 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Switzerland  54–18  Ukraine Report[43] Centre Sportif des Cherpines, Geneva Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania) 18 March 2017 13:00 EET (UTC+02) Moldova  3–15  Poland Report[44] Balti Stadium, Bălți Attendance: 350 Referee: Alexei Bryzgalin (Russia) 18 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Netherlands  38–25   Switzerland Report[45] NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti (Spain) 1 April 2017 15:00 EEST (UTC+03) Ukraine  7–31  Portugal Report[46] Match centre[47] Spartak Stadium, Odesa Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Vlad Iordăchescu (Romania) 8 April 2017 18:00 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  14–13  Netherlands (1 BP) Report[48] Stadion Widzewa, Łódź Attendance: 400 Referee: Tual Trainini (France) 22 April 2017 17:00 CEST (UTC+02) Poland  12–22   Switzerland Report[49] Stadion Polonii, Warsaw Referee: Matthew Carley (England)

Round 4 Final

This fixture, unlike previous knock out fixtures, doubles as part of the Rugby Europe Trophy competition. Portugal, as winners, advance to round 6.

18 November 2017 15:00 WET (UTC+0)

Portugal	45–12	Czech Republic
	Report[50]

Estádio Nacional, Oeiras Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)

Round 5

Round 5A: Rugby Europe Championship

Table

For the Rugby Europe Championship teams, results are considered on a 2-year aggregate from the 2017 and 2018 seasons (excluding matches involving Georgia, who had already qualified). The winner advanced to the Rugby World Cup and the runner-up advanced to the Round 6 play-off.^[51]

Qualified as Europe 1

Advances to Round 6

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Deductions	Total points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1	Russia	8	4	0	4	226	144	+82	4		20
2	Germany	8	2	0	6	149	446	–287	2		10
3	Romania	8	6	0	2	296	126	+170	6	-30	0
4	Spain	8	6	0	2	217	85	+132	2	-40	–14
5	Belgium	8	2	0	6	170	257	–87	3	-30	–19
Points were awarded to the teams as follows: Win - 4 points Draw - 2 points Offensive Bonus Point is given for 3 more tries than the other team - 1 point Loss within 7 points - 1 point Loss greater than 7 points - 0 points

World Rugby received complaints against all five teams of fielding ineligible players, in breach of Regulation 8, during the qualification process. The neutral panel cleared Germany and Russia of the alleged ineligible players, but found Belgium, Romania and Spain guilty of breaching Regulation 8. The panel determined that each nation would be deducted 5 points for each game they had fielded an ineligible player, regardless of if more than one ineligible player had been fielded. The investigation found that Belgium and Romania had fielded ineligible players 6 times (a deduction of 30 points) and Spain 8 times (a deduction of 40 points) during the qualification process. This meant, with the deducted points for the respective nations, Russia would qualify ahead of Romania and Germany would advance to the play-offs ahead of Spain.^[52][53] On 29 May 2018, it was confirmed that both Romania and Spain had appealed the decision.^[54] On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilst Germany advanced to round 6.^{[55][56][57][58]}

Matches

2017 Matches

11 February 2017 13:15 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Germany  41–38  Romania (1 BP) Match centre[59] Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Maxime Chalon (France) 11 February 2017 15:45 CET (UTC+01) Spain  16–6  Russia Match centre[60] Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Dudley Phillips (Ireland) 18 February 2017 14:00 EET (UTC+02) Romania  13–3  Spain Report[61] Stadionul Emil Alexandrescu, Iași Referee: Elia Rizzo (Italy) 18 February 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Belgium  18–25  Russia Match centre[62] King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Salem Attalah (France) 4 March 2017 13:00 MSK (UTC+03) Russia  10–30  Romania (1 BP) Match centre[63] Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland) 4 March 2017 16:15 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Germany  34–29  Belgium (1 BP) Match centre[64] Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium, Offenbach Attendance: 4,126 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti (Spain) 11 March 2017 13:00 CET (UTC+01) Germany  15–32  Spain Match centre[65] Sportpark Höhenberg, Cologne Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Lloyd Linton (Scotland) 11 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) Belgium  17–33  Romania (1 BP) Match centre[66] King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Claudio Blessano (Italy) 18 March 2017 15:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Spain  30–0  Belgium Match centre[67] Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Vlad Iordăchescu (Romania) 19 March 2017 14:00 MSK (UTC+03) (1 BP) Russia  52–25  Germany Match centre[68] Sochi Central Stadium, Sochi Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Cédric Marchat (France) As the bottom-placed team in the 2017 Championship, Belgium faced the 2016/17 Trophy champions Portugal in a promotion/relegation play-off. While the game did not effect Portugal's World Cup qualification chances, as they were still to compete in the round 4 final at the time, Belgium were competing to stay in the European Championship and therefore the qualifying tournament.[69] On 20 May 2017, Belgium defeated Portugal to remain in contention. 20 May 2017 16:00 CEST (UTC+02) Belgium  29–18  Portugal Match centre[70] King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 1,820 Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)

2018 Matches

10 February 2018 15:00 MSK (UTC+03) (1 BP) Russia  13–20  Spain Report[71] Kuban Stadium, Krasnodar Attendance: 11,500 Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland) 10 February 2018 16:00 EET (UTC+02) (1 BP) Romania  85–6  Germany Report[72] Cluj Arena, Cluj Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Maxime Burlet (Belgium) 17 February 2018 15:00 MSK (UTC+03) (1 BP) Russia  48–7  Belgium Report[73] Kuban Stadium, Krasnodar Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Iñigo Atorrasagasti (Spain) 18 February 2018 12:45 CET (UTC+01) Spain  22–10  Romania Report[74] Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Thomas Charabas (France) 3 March 2018 16:00 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Belgium  69–15  Germany Report[75] King Baudouin Stadium – Annex 2, Brussels Attendance: 1,600 Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland) 3 March 2018 16:00 EET (UTC+02) (1 BP) Romania  25–15  Russia Report[76] Cluj Arena, Cluj Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Alexandre Ruiz (France) 10 March 2018 13:00 EET (UTC+02) (1 BP) Romania  62–12  Belgium Report[77] Stadionul Municipal, Buzau Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland) 11 March 2018 12:30 CET (UTC+01) (1 BP) Spain  84–10  Germany Report[78] Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 15,753 Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy) 18 March 2018 13:00 CET (UTC+01) Germany  3–57  Russia (1 BP) Report[79] Sportpark Höhenberg, Köln Attendance: 2,600 Referee: Ian Tempest (England) 18 March 2018 13:00 CEST (UTC+02) Belgium  18–10  Spain Report[80] King Baudouin Stadium – Annex 2, Brussels Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Vlad Iordăchescu (Romania)

Round 6: Final play-off

Germany, as winners, advance to the Europe/Oceania play-off.

16 June 2018 15:00 CEST (UTC+02)

Germany	16–13	Portugal
Try: Els 51' c Con: Parkinson (1/1) 53' Pen: Parkinson (3/3) 6', 64', 72'	Report	Try: Villax 48' c Con: Rodrigues (1/1) 49' Pen: Rodrigues (2/2) 24', 29'

Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark, Heidelberg Attendance: 2,700 Referee: Tom Foley (England)

Team details

FB 15 Pierre Mathurin  40' RW 14 Marcel Coetzee OC 13 Mathieu Ducau IC 12 Raynor Parkinson  75' LW 11 Maxime Oltmann FH 10 Hagen Schulte  50' SH 9 Sean Armstrong N8 8 Jarrid Els  70' OF 7 Jaco Otto BF 6 Ayron Schramm RL 5 Sebastian Ferreira LL 4 Eric Marks TP 3 Samy Füchsel  52' HK 2 Mika Tyumenev  47' LP 1 Julius Nostadt (c)  68' Replacements: HK 16 Mark Fairhurst  47' PR 17 Anthony Dickinson  68' PR 18 Jörn Schröder  52' LK 19 Marcel Henn  70' LK 20 Timo Vollenkemper  19' SH 21 Tim Menzel  74' FB 22 Nikolai Klewinghaus  40' FH 23 Chris Hilsenback  50' Coach: Pablo Lemoine FB 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes RW 14 Tomás Appleton OC 13 Rodrigo Fruedenthal IC 12 Vasco Ribeiro LW 11 Adérito Esteves FH 10 José Rodrigues SH 9 Manuel Queirós N8 8 Jacques le Roux  75' OF 7 Sebastião Villax BF 6 Salvador Vassalo Santos (c) RL 5 Gonçalo Uva  59' LL 4 Jean Sousa TP 3 Bruno Rocha  53' HK 2 Duarte Diniz LP 1 Francisco Fernandes  53' Replacements: PR 16 Bruno Medeiros  53' HK 17 Nuno Mascarenhas LK 18 Geordie McSullea  59' N8 19 Francisco Sousa  75' SH 20 Francisco Vieira CE 21 Manuel Vilela Pereira FB 22 Andreu Cyrille PR 23 João Taveira  53' Coach: Martim Aguiar Touch judges: Ian Tempest (England) Christophe Ridley (England) Notes: Mark Fairhurst (Germany) and Jean Sousa and João Taveira (both Portugal) made their international debuts.

See also

• 2016–17 Rugby Europe International Championships
• 2017–18 Rugby Europe International Championships