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36-592: The tournament is split into 4 levels, each with 4–8 teams. Its highest level is now called the Rugby Europe Championship and, unofficially, referred to as the Six Nations B . All levels play on a one-year cycle, replacing the old format of a two-year cycle, with the teams playing each other both home and away. From September 2016, there will still be an annual champion, but a format change means each year sees teams promoted and relegated between

72-461: A last-minute 19–18 home win over Russia. The Russia – Czech Republic game was rescheduled due to bad weather and was eventually cancelled. The 2005–06 championships also served as a qualifying pool for the 2007 Rugby World Cup . Romania triumphed finishing level on points with Georgia, while Ukraine were relegated after losing all matches. The 2007–08 edition saw the return of the Spanish to

108-442: A total of five games (three round robin group matches to determine the team's path and two play-off matches). Seeding (for group) and relegation is calculated over a two-year cycle, as is the promotion from Trophy competition. This was further altered by Russia's expulsion from international sport following the invasion of Ukraine, which left only five teams from those who had contested the 2022 Championship. Three teams, rather than

144-468: A two-year cycle with the teams playing each other both home and away. From 2009 onward, the title is assigned according to a one-year ranking. So Georgia won the 2009 title and Romania the title for 2010. The same for the 2011–12 period. Table points are determined as follows: The cumulated table from both years, 2009–2010, decided which teams qualify directly to 2011 Rugby World Cup , which team goes through Play-off qualification rounds and which team

180-544: Is now World Rugby . 2008%E2%80%932010 European Nations Cup First Division The 2008–10 European Nations Cup First Division was the 7th edition of the championship since it was reformed in 2000. The championship not only determined the champions of the ENC but it also acted as an element of European qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand . At present, there is no promotion or relegation between

216-435: Is organised once per year. This minimises travel costs for teams and time-off-work requirements for players, and allows the flexibility of having a different membership every year, rather than requiring the membership to be constant over two years. The best performing team over two years of tournaments is promoted to Division 2. In the year of transition to the new system (2010), there were no relegations from any division below

252-557: Is promoted and one relegated every two years (meaning that the competitions are more stable). In Division 2, groups have only five teams each (usually meaning one home match and one away match in the Autumn, and the same in the Spring, for each team), it is assumed that the majority of players are amateurs (meaning scheduling is not as limited), and in addition to the traditional automatic first-promoted-last-relegated system, fourth place from

288-995: Is the governing body for rugby union in France . It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the country's professional leagues. Before the FFR was established, football, rugby union and others sports in France were regulated by the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA). Founded in November 1890, the USFSA was initially headquartered in Paris but its membership soon expanded to include sports clubs from throughout France. The FFR

324-454: Is to encompass a different type of competition. In Division 1, groups have six teams (meaning more matches and thus more travel), a significant fraction of the players are assumed to be professional or semi-professional (meaning that fixtures are, as often as possible, scheduled within the IRB's international fixtures time windows when clubs must release players for national duty), and only one team

360-621: The 2010 title. This feat was however not enough to overtake Georgia and Russia, who helped by their good results from the previous year, gained the automatic qualification for the 2011 RWC, leaving Romania to go through the Play-Off Qualification Rounds . Germany were relegated after failing to win any games. Georgia won the 2011 edition, after beating Romania 18–11 in Tbilisi. The promoted team, Ukraine, lost all but one of their matches, single win over Portugal. For

396-863: The Second World War , France was readmitted into the Five Nations Championship, but they also competed in the only two tournaments organised by FIRA, the Rugby Union European Cup, held in 1952 and 1954, winning them both. From 1965, FIRA attempted to revitalise the European competition by creating the FIRA Nations Cup (1965–1973) and then the FIRA Trophy (1973–1997); however, France fielded a France A side made up mostly of university students. While

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432-562: The 2001 results, but managed to win all of the remaining five games, including a 31–23 victory in Tbilisi. Portugal were 16–15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves at the top of the 2003–04 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania won 36–6 against Portugal in Constanța , but went down 24–33 to Russia in Krasnodar. Then Portugal clinched their first title with

468-447: The 2010–2012 competition (and promotion and relegation between groups going forward to successive competitions), the top two divisions (previously 1 and 2A) were redefined as 1A and 1B, both having six teams (previously six and five). The next four levels (previously 2B, 3A, 3B and 3C) become 2A-2D, under the new system, with the remnants of Division 3D making up the initial group of teams labelled as Division 3. In principle, each division

504-484: The 2022 Championship (which was held on-time) and the 2021-2022 Trophy, Conference and Development divisions. The structure was slightly changed after 2022, to increase the Championship division to eight rather than six teams: furthermore, Russia (who had played, and lost, their first two matches), were disqualified and banned from the 2022 Championship and from all international rugby until further notice, following

540-630: The Asia/Pacific play-off (Hong Kong). Russia's expulsion mattered little, since they had lost all but two of their matches anyway (both in the 2021 season). However, the issue of ineligible players raised its head again, though not to the extent it had in the 2019 qualification: Spain , who had been fourth in 2021 but second in 2022 and were in fact in second place over the collective two years, were penalised 10 points - five in each season - for fielding an ineligible player in two matches. Georgia were far ahead in first place, with 9 wins and 1 draw over

576-537: The European Nations Cup and the Six Nations . The current champions are Georgia, who won the 2011 First Division . The top two teams, Georgia and Russia , qualified directly to the 2011 Rugby World Cup , and the third placed team, Romania , entered the European qualification playoffs . These playoffs included the champion of Division 2A and the leaders of the lower ENC divisions (excluding 3D) at

612-516: The French students won many of the tournaments, Romania also had their share of tournament titles. In the late 1990s, the championship became irregular, with some editions not taking place because of qualifications for the World Cup . Finally, the European Nations Cup began in 2000, no longer including France and Italy, as they now played in the reformed Six Nations Championship . After the setup of

648-837: The Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of four levels or divisions: A statement was released by the Polish Rugby Union in June 2023, confirming that the Rugby Europe Conference 1 and Conference 2 will be combined to one level. Teams with ambitions of climbing up the rugby pyramid can compete in a play-off to the Trophy after submitting their intentions to Rugby Europe where an assessment on various aspects will be made after winning their respective pool. From 2024,

684-451: The Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of three levels or divisions: Updated through 23 November 2024 Updated as of 19 March 2023 Division 1A Several other trophies are contested within the main competition, mostly as long-standing fixtures between pairs of teams. French Rugby Federation The French Rugby Federation ( French : Fédération Française de Rugby ( FFR ))

720-456: The Russian invasion of Ukraine after having played two matches of the 2022 season: their three remaining matches in the 2022 Championship were awarded to their opponents (Portugal, Georgia and Netherlands), by walkover. Qualification for three European spots in the 2023 Rugby World Cup was determined by the collective results of the 2021 and 2022 Championships added together, which (thanks to

756-665: The Vichy government lobbied to have certain "un-French" sports banned. Between the end of 1940 and the middle of 1942, one semi-professional and at least six French Amateur Sport Federations were banned and destroyed by the Vichy regime. These actions were independently verified by the French government in 2002. In 1978 the Federation became a member of the IRFB, which later became the International Rugby Board and

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792-478: The cumulated ranking over two years determined which team was relegated. The 2009–10 edition was also basis for European qualification to the 2011 Rugby World Cup . The 2009 season saw the début of Germany in the top division, Georgia defended their title, and there were wins for Portugal and Russia in Bucharest. Faced with the possibility of missing a Rugby World Cup for the first time, Romania were managed

828-514: The divisional system in 2000 , Romania won the first competition with maximum points, The initial season also included Morocco. Russia then replaced Morocco in 2001 when Georgia secured the title and were crowned champions after a 31–20 win over Romania in Bucharest. As the competition format changed from a one-year tournament to two-years, the Netherlands were not relegated after this season. Romania started 2002 trailing Georgia after

864-602: The end of the 2008–09 season. Romania emerged as the winner of the playoff series and will go on to play Tunisia , the second place African qualifier , in the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup 2011 20th Place Playoff for the last spot in the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals. This season saw Germany in the First Division for the first time since the divisional system was created, replacing Czech Republic who were relegated to Division 2A. The divisions play on

900-403: The fact of no promotion and relegation following the 2021 season, and the lower divisions not being played at all) formed a full home-and-away round-robin between the six nations of the Championship. The top two teams would qualify as Europe 1 and Europe 2: the third-place team, as Europe 3, would enter the final qualification tournament along with Africa 3 (Kenya), Americas 3 (USA) and the loser of

936-438: The higher pool will play second place from the lower pool after every two-year competition, with the winner taking the position in the higher pool. From a five-team group, one team is promoted, one team is relegated and two teams play in playoffs. Thus, a maximum of four of a pool's five teams could change from one two-year competition to the next. In Division 3, a single-location, short-time-period (one week or 10 days) tournament

972-431: The highest, because the second-highest (old 2A, new 1B) was expanded by one team. From September 2016, the European Nations Cup became the Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of five levels or divisions: The Trophy, Conference and Development divisions have normally been held across the turn of the year, in the autumn and winter of one year and the spring of the next. The Championship has usually been held in

1008-732: The levels. Following the exclusion of France from the Five Nations Tournament after the 1931 edition, France joined with Italy , Romania , Germany , Spain , Belgium , Portugal , Netherlands , and Catalonia to create the International Amateur Rugby Federation (FIRA, now Rugby Europe ) as an alternative to the International Rugby Football Board (now World Rugby ). Three tournaments were held from 1936 to 1938, with France winning all three. Following

1044-401: The lower divisions were not held, and much of the 2021 Championship division was delayed, being held over the whole of 2021 (thus, its last matches overlapped with the following 2021–2022 season of the lower divisions). Thus, there was no promotion/relegation between the divisions, including between the Championship and Trophy, following the 2020–2021 season: promotion/relegation resumed following

1080-595: The originally intended two, were promoted from the Trophy - Belgium, Germany and Poland: and the Trophy, in 2022–23, thus contained only five teams rather than the previous six, even with the promotion of Sweden and Croatia from the Conference to join Ukraine, Lithuania and Croatia. A relegation system is maintained across all levels two-year, moving away from the one-year system in place since 2016, meaning teams will be promoted and relegated every two year. From 2023,

1116-477: The spring, concurrent with the second half of the lower three divisions (and also concurrent with the Six Nations Championship). A promotion and relegation play-off system is maintained across all levels every year, moving away from the two-year system in place since 2003, meaning teams will be promoted and relegated every year. In the 2020–2021 season, due to the worldwide COVID-19 epidemic,

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1152-405: The top division. The winners were Georgia, following their display at the 2007 Rugby World Cup . The Russians recorded their best ever placement, finishing in second. The Czech Republic were the team to finish on the bottom of the table, losing all of their matches, relegating them back to Division 2A. A new format was decided at the beginning of 2009. Each calendar year had its own champion, but

1188-529: The two years: Spain's discomfiture resulted in Romania qualifying directly from the Championship in second place, and Portugal being in third place for the final intercontinental qualifier. Portugal won that tournament to qualify for the World Cup. Additionally, Rugby Europe made changes to the bonus points system . The standard system, that is applied in the Six Nations Championship

1224-456: Was discarded in favour of the French system. The main difference is that where previously a team would be awarded 1 try bonus point for scoring (at least) 4 tries, regardless of the outcome, and whereas now, a team would be awarded 1 "bonus" point for winning while scoring at least the equivalent of 3 or more tries than their opponent. From October 2022, the Rugby Europe International Championships, made up of five levels or divisions: A statement

1260-587: Was formed in 1919 and is affiliated to World Rugby , the sport's governing body. In 1934 the FFR set up the Fédération internationale de rugby amateur , now known as Rugby Europe , in an attempt to organise rugby union outside the authority of World Rugby, then known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). It included the national teams of Italy , French national team , Catalonia , Czechoslovakia , Romania and Germany national team . Following German occupation, FFR officials closely associated with

1296-592: Was released by the Polish Rugby Union in December 2021 confirming that the Rugby Europe Championship, will expand to 8 teams in 2022/2023 season. To accommodate this expansion, no team will be relegated from the top tier, while two teams from the second tier Trophy Championship will be promoted following the completion of the 2021/2022 Championship. The serpentine system is applied to allocate each team to their respective groups. Each team will play

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