# Rugby Europe Women's Championship

The Rugby Europe Women's Championship is an international competition contested between women's national rugby union teams who are members of Rugby Europe. The competition has its origins in a four nation "European Cup" held in 1988 but did not become an official FIRA competition until 1995. The competition has grown significantly and is divided into three divisions, viz. the Championship, Trophy and Conference.

## History

Since 2000 only the winner of the tournament held in between the Rugby World Cups (every four years, as highlighted) is officially recognised "European Champions", although teams winning tournaments in other years are often unofficially also described as "European Champions". This can cause some confusion, not least because the structure of the four-yearly tournament is invariably identical to the annual event. To make identification easier the competitions in the four yearly cycle are highlighted.
The only major difference between the "official" European Championships and other tournaments is that in the latter, between 2001 and 2007, England and France tended not to send their full strength national squads to the competition - though until 2007 they still played as "England" or "France". This has resulted in some confusion about the status of games played by these nations - England do not consider their games to be full internationals (or "tests") and do not award caps, whereas while France also do not give caps to their players in such matches, they do recognise the games as tests matches. FIRA and all other competing nations consider all the games to be "tests".
The 2009 tournament acted as Europe's qualification tournament for the World Cup (all entrants sending full strength squads), after which the test match status problem was finally resolved. From 2010 onwards it was announced that the non-Championship tournaments would be known as the "European Trophy" and any Six Nations entrants would officially be "A" sides (though in 2010 Italy, as they had not qualified for the 2010 World Cup, entered their full strength squad).

## Championship tournament

| Year | Host | | Final | Final | Final | | Third place match | Third place match | Third place match |
| Year | Host | | Winner | Score | Runner-up | | 3rd place | Score | 4th place |
| 1988 Details | France | | France | 8 - 6 | Great Britain | | Netherlands | 10-6 | Italy |
| 1995 Details | Italy | | Spain | 22 - 6 | France | | Italy | 23 - 19 | Netherlands |
| 1996 Details | Spain | | France | 15 - 10 | Spain | | Italy | 11 - 6 | Netherlands |
| 1997 Details | France | | England | 24 - 8 | Scotland | | Spain | 25 - 8 | France |
| 1998 | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 1998 Rugby World Cup |
| 1999 Details | Italy | | France | 13 - 5 | Spain | | Scotland | 15 - 13 | England |
| 2000 Details | Spain | | France | 31 - 0 | Spain | | England | 40 - 20 | Scotland |
| 2001 Details | France | | Scotland | 15 - 3 | Spain | | England | 34 - 23 | France |
| 2002 Details | Italy | | Italy | 35 - 24 | Sweden | | Germany | 12 - 10 | Netherlands |
| 2003 Details | Sweden | | Spain | 16 - 10 | France | | Sweden | 15 - 10 | Italy |
| 2004 Details | France | | France | 8 - 6 | England | | Scotland | 11 - 10 | Wales |
| 2005 Details | Germany | | Italy | 22 - 3 | Netherlands | | Sweden | 17 - 5 | Germany |
| 2006 Details | Italy | | Italy | 28 - 7 | Netherlands | | Russia | - | Sweden |
| 2007 Details | Spain | | England | 27 - 17 | France | | Spain | 37 - 0 | Netherlands |
| 2008 Details | Netherlands | | England | 12 - 6 | Wales | | Ireland | 12 - 12 (try count) | France |
| 2009 Details | Sweden | | Sweden | Joint winners | Scotland | | Netherlands | Joint third | Spain |
| 2010 Details | France | | Spain | 31-13 | Italy | | Netherlands | 47-19 | Sweden |
| 2011 Details | Spain | | England A | 5-3 | Spain | | France A | 17-7 | Italy A |
| 2012 Details | Italy | | England | Pool | France | | Italy | Pool | Spain |
| 2013 Details | Spain | | Spain | WC QF | Samoa | | | | |
| 2014 Details | Belgium | | Netherlands | 12-3 | Belgium | | Russia | 34-21 | Switzerland |
| 2015 Details | Switzerland | | Belgium | 50-20 | Switzerland | | Russia | 41-15 | Czech Republic |
| 2016 Details | Spain | | Spain | 35-7 | Netherlands | | Russia | 74-5 | Belgium |
| 2017 | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup | No tournament due to the 2017 Rugby World Cup |
| 2018 Details | Belgium | | Spain | 40-7 | Netherlands | | Germany | 24-5 | Belgium |
| 2019 Details | Various | | Spain | 54-0 | Netherlands | | Russia | 22-5 | Germany |
| 2020 Details | Various | | Spain | Round-robin | Russia | | Netherlands | | |
| 2021 | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic | No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 Details | Various | | Spain | Round-robin | Russia | | Netherlands | | |
| 2023 Details | Various | | Spain | Round-robin | Netherlands | | Sweden | | |
| 2024 Details | Various | | Spain | Round-robin | Netherlands | | Portugal | Round-robin | Sweden |

### Performance of nations
#### All tournaments

Teams reaching the top four :
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
| Spain | 11 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| France | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| England | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Italy | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Scotland | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Belgium | 1 | 1 | | 2 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | | | 1 |
| Switzerland | | 2 | | 1 |
| Wales | | 1 | | 1 |
| Great Britain | | 1 | | |
| Samoa | | 1 | | |
| Russia | | 1 | 5 | |
| Germany | | | 2 | 2 |
| Ireland | | | 1 | |
| Finland | | | | 1 |

#### Official FIRA tournaments

* France - 4 titles, 3 runners-up, 1 third, 3 fourths
* England - 4 titles, 1 runner-up, 2 thirds, 1 fourth
* Spain - 3 titles, 5 runners-up, 3 thirds
* Italy - 3 titles, 1 runner-up, 2 thirds, 2 fourth
* Scotland - 2 titles, 1 runner-up, 2 thirds, 1 fourth
* Sweden - 1 title, 1 runner-up, 2 thirds, 2 fourth
* Netherlands - 2 runners-up, 2 third, 4 fourths
* Wales - 1 runner-up, 1 fourth
* Germany - 1 third, 1 fourth
* Russia - 1 third
* Ireland - 1 third

#### "European Championships"

* France - 5 titles, 1 runner-up, 2 fourths
* England - 2 titles, 1 runner-up, 1 third, 1 fourth
* Spain - 1 title, 3 runners-up, 1 third
* Scotland - 1 runner-up, 2 thirds, 1 fourth
* Wales - 1 runner-up, 1 fourth
* Great Britain - 1 runner-up
* Italy - 2 thirds
* Netherlands - 1 third, 2 fourths
* Ireland - 1 third

## Trophy tournament

| Year | Host | Final | Final | Final | Third place match | Third place match | Third place match |
| Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up | 3rd place | Score | 4th place |
| 2000 Details | Spain | French Flanders | Pool | Netherlands | Germany | | |
| 2001 Details | France | Sweden | Pool | Netherlands | Germany | Pool | Belgium |
| 2003 Details | Netherlands | Netherlands | 19 - 12 | Germany | Norway | 10 - 10 (3 - 2 penalties) | Denmark |
| 2004 Details | France | Netherlands | Pool | Germany | Norway | Pool | Denmark |
| 2005 Details | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Russia | Pool | Norway | Bosnia and Herzegovina | | |
| 2006 Details | Italy | Netherlands | Pool | Sweden | Norway | | |
| 2007 Details | Belgium | French Universities | 13 - 7 | Belgium | Germany | 15 - 0 | Romania |
| 2008 Details | Netherlands | Russia | 31 - 14 | French Defence | Germany | 19 - 15 | Belgium |
| 2012 Details | Sweden | Sweden | 10 - 3 | Netherlands | Russia | 45 - 17 | Finland |
| 2014 Details | Belgium | Netherlands | 12 - 3 | Belgium | Russia | 31 - 24 | Switzerland |
| 2015 Details | Switzerland | Belgium | 50 - 20 | Switzerland | Russia | 41 - 15 | Czech Republic |
| 2018–19 Details | Various | Czech Republic | Round-robin | Switzerland | Finland | | |
| 2019–20 Details | Various | Czech Republic | Round-robin | Switzerland | Sweden | Round-robin | Finland |
| 2021–22 Details | Various | Sweden | Round-robin | Czech Republic | Switzerland | Round-robin | Finland |
| 2022–23 Details | Various | Portugal | Round-robin | Finland | Germany | Round-robin | Czech Republic |
| 2024–25 Details | Various | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |

### Performance of nations

* Netherlands - 4 titles, 3 runners-up
* Sweden - 3 titles, 1 runner-up
* Russia - 2 titles, 3 third
* Belgium - 1 title, 2 runners-up, 2 fourths
* Czech Republic - 1 title, 1 runners-up, 1 fourth
* France French Flanders - 1 title
* Portugal - 1 title
* French Universities - 1 title
* Germany - 2 runners-up, 4 thirds
* Switzerland - 2 runners-up, 1 third, 1 fourth
* Norway - 1 runner-up, 3 thirds
* French Defence - 1 runner-up
* Finland - 1 third, 2 fourth
* Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1 third
* Denmark - 2 fourths
* Romania - 1 fourth

## Conference tournament

| Year | Host | Final | Final | Final | Third place match | Third place match | Third place match |
| Year | Host | Winner | Score | Runner-up | 3rd place | Score | 4th place |
| 2024–25 Details | Various | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |