# 2025 Rugby Europe Championship

The 2025 Rugby Europe Championship, which doubles as the qualifying process for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup and World Rugby Nations Championship's second division for Europe, is the ongoing, ninth Rugby Europe Championship, the annual rugby union competition for the top European national teams outside the Six Nations Championship, and the 54th edition of the competition (including all its previous incarnations as the FIRA Tournament, Rugby Union European Cup, FIRA Nations Cup, FIRA Trophy, and European Nations Cup).
Eight teams took part in the 2024 championship. The championship was contested by Belgium, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Poland. Georgia won the previous championship after defeating Portugal in the final, claiming their 16th title. Poland were relegated. After winning the 2023-24 Rugby Europe Trophy, Switzerland were promoted to the Championship for the 2025 season. This is the first time in their history that they are in the top division.
The serpentine system was applied to allocate each team to their respective groups. Each team plays a total of five games (three round robin group matches to determine the team's path and two play-off matches). Seeding (for a group) and relegation are calculated over a two-year cycle, as is the promotion from the Trophy competition.
This year's edition of the Rugby Europe Championship doubles as the year of the 2027 Rugby World Cup qualifiers for the European region. The top two sides from each pool will qualify for the Rugby World Cup, with the final & bronze final acting as seeding matches to seed the team Europe 1–4. The Ranking Finals will then act as the play-off to determine Europe 5, who will advance to the final qualification tournament.

## Participants

| Nation | Stadium | Stadium | Stadium | Head coach | Captain |
| Nation | Home stadium | Capacity | Location | Head coach | Captain |
| Belgium | Stade Charles Tondreau Stade du Pachy | 8,000 3,000 | Mons Waterloo | Laurent Dossat | Jens Torfs |
| Georgia | Avchala Stadium Mikheil Meskhi Stadium | 3,500 27,223 | Tbilisi | Richard Cockerill | Vasil Lobzhanidze |
| Germany | Auestadion Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark | 18,737 5,000 | Kassel Heidelberg | Mark Kuhlmann | Jörn Schröder |
| Netherlands | NRCA Stadium | 7,000 | Amsterdam | Lyn Jones | Hugo Langelaan |
| Portugal | Estádio do Restelo Estádio Nacional | 19,856 37,593 | Lisbon Oeiras | Simon Mannix | Tomás Appleton |
| Romania | Stadionul Arcul de Triumf Botoșani Municipal Stadium | 8,207 7,782 | Bucharest Botoșani | David Gérard | Ovidiu Cojocaru |
| Spain | Estadio Nacional Complutense | 12,400 | Madrid | Pablo Bouza | Jon Zabala |
| Switzerland | Stade Municipal Yverdon | 6,600 | Yverdon-les-Bains | Olivier Nier | Cyril Lin |

## World Cup qualification

| Nation | Rank | Began play | Qualifying status |
| Belgium | 27 | 1 February 2025 | Advances to Final Qualification Tournament on 15 march 2025 |
| England | 4 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |
| France | 3 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |
| Georgia | 12 | 1 February 2025 | Qualified on 9 February 2025 / as Europe 1 on 16 March 2025 |
| Germany | 32 | 31 January 2025 | Eliminated by Netherlands on 1 March 2025 |
| Ireland | 7 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |
| Italy | 15 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |
| Netherlands | 26 | 2 February 2025 | Eliminated by Belgium on 15 march 2025 |
| Portugal | 15 | 1 February 2025 | Qualified on 9 February 2025 / as Europe 4 on 16 March 2025 |
| Romania | 20 | 31 January 2025 | Qualified on 9 February 2025 / as Europe 3 on 16 March 2025 |
| Scotland | 8 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |
| Spain | 18 | 2 February 2025 | Qualified on 9 February 2025 / as Europe 2 on 16 March 2025 |
| Switzerland | 28 | 1 February 2025 | Eliminated by Belgium on 1 March 2025 |
| Wales | 5 | N/A | Qualified with Top 12 finish at 2023 World Cup |

## Tables and fixtures
### Pool A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Georgia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 212 | 39 | +173 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 15 | Grand Finals Semi-Finals |
| 2 | Spain | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 128 | 99 | +29 | 18 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 10 | Grand Finals Semi-Finals |
| 3 | Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 104 | 93 | +11 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5 | Ranking Finals Semi-Finals |
| 4 | Switzerland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 226 | −213 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ranking Finals Semi-Finals |

#### Week 1

* 1 February 2025 16:00 GET (UTC+4)
| (1 TBP) Georgia | 110–0 | Switzerland |
| | Report | |
* Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Luis Fernandez (Spain)
* 2 February 2025 12:45 CET (UTC+1)
| (1 TBP) Spain | 53–24 | Netherlands |
| | Report | |
* Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

#### Week 2

* 8 February 2025 15:00 GET (UTC+4)
| (1 TBP) Georgia | 40–7 | Netherlands |
| | Report | |
* Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Benoit Rousselet (France)
* 9 February 2025 14:00 CET (UTC+1)
| Switzerland | 13–43 | Spain (1 TBP) |
| | Report | |
* Stade Municipal, Yverdon-les-Bains Attendance: 3,800 Referee: Nicolae Fratila (Romania)

#### Week 3

* 15 February 2025 13:00 CET (UTC+1)
| (1 TBP) Netherlands | 73–0 | Switzerland |
| | Report | |
* NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Paulo Duarte (Portugal)
* 16 February 2025 12:45 CET (UTC+1)
| Spain | 32–62 | Georgia (1 TBP) |
| | Report | |
* Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)

### Pool B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Portugal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 130 | 50 | +80 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 15 | Grand Finals Semi-Finals |
| 2 | Romania | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 58 | +27 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 | Grand Finals Semi-Finals |
| 3 | Belgium | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 83 | 90 | −7 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Ranking Finals Semi-Finals |
| 4 | Germany | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 43 | 143 | −100 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ranking Finals Semi-Finals |

#### Week 1

* 31 January 2025 18:00 EET (UTC+2)
| (1TBP) Romania | 48–10 | Germany |
| | Report | |
* Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest Attendance: 4,200 Referee: Franco Rosella (Italy)
* 1 February 2025 19:30 WET (UTC+0)
| (1 TBP) Portugal | 40–30 | Belgium |
| | Report | |
* Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)

#### Week 2

* 8 February 2025 20:00 CET (UTC+1)
| Belgium | 14–31 | Romania |
| | Report | |
* Stade Charles Tondreau, Mons Attendance: 5,400 Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
* 9 February 2025 17:15 WET (UTC+0)
| (1 TBP) Portugal | 56–14 | Germany |
| | Report | |
* Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Keane Davison (Ireland)

#### Week 3

* 15 February 2025 17:00 EET (UTC+2)
| Romania | 6–34 | Portugal (1 TBP) |
| | Report | |
* Botoșani Municipal Stadium, Botoșani Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Ludovic Cayre (France)
* 16 February 2025 15:30 CET (UTC+1)
| Germany | 19–39 | Belgium |
| | Report | |
* Auestadion, Kassel Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)

## Ranking Finals

The winner of this bracket will advance to the Final Qualification Tournament for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup and World Rugby Nations Championship's second division.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Fifth-place Final | Fifth-place Final |
| 1 March – NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam | 1 March – NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam |
| Netherlands | 38 |
| Netherlands | 38 | 15 March – NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam | 15 March – NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam |
| Germany | 9 | 15 March – NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam | 15 March – NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam |
| Germany | 9 | Netherlands | 10 |
| 1 March – Stade du Pachy, Waterloo | 1 March – Stade du Pachy, Waterloo | | Netherlands | 10 |
| 1 March – Stade du Pachy, Waterloo | 1 March – Stade du Pachy, Waterloo | Belgium | 31 |
| Belgium | 38 | Belgium | 31 |
| Switzerland | 5 | | |
| Switzerland | 5 | Seventh-place Final | Seventh-place Final |
| | | 15 March – Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark, Heidelberg | 15 March – Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark, Heidelberg |
| | | Germany | 17 |
| | | Switzerland | 20 |

### Semi-finals

* 1 March 2025 13:00 CET (UTC+1)
| Netherlands | 38–9 | Germany |
| | Report | |
* NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)
* 1 March 2025 20:00 CET (UTC+1)
| Belgium | 38–5 | Switzerland |
| | Report | |
* Stade du Pachy, Waterloo Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Alex Frasson (Italy)

### Seventh-place final

* 15 March 2025 15:45 CET (UTC+1)
| Germany | 17–20 | Switzerland |
| | Report | |
* Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark, Heidelberg Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Mike English (Wales}

### Fifth-place final

* 15 March 2025 13:00 CET (UTC+1)
| Netherlands | 10–31 | Belgium |
| | Report | |
* NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam Attendance: 4,500 Referee: Jeremy Rozier (France)

## Grand Finals

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Cup Final | Cup Final |
| 1 March – Estádio Nacional, Oeiras | 1 March – Estádio Nacional, Oeiras |
| Portugal | 31 |
| Portugal | 31 | 16 March – Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi | 16 March – Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi |
| Spain | 42 | 16 March – Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi | 16 March – Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi |
| Spain | 42 | Georgia | 46 |
| 2 March – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi | 2 March – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi | | Georgia | 46 |
| 2 March – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi | 2 March – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi | Spain | 28 |
| Georgia | 43 | Spain | 28 |
| Romania | 5 | | |
| Romania | 5 | Bronze Final | Bronze Final |
| | | 16 March – Estádio Nacional, Oeiras | 16 March – Estádio Nacional, Oeiras |
| | | Portugal | 7 |
| | | Romania | 21 |

### Semi-finals

* 1 March 2025 15:30 WET (UTC+0)
| Portugal | 31–42 | Spain |
| | Report | |
* Estádio Nacional, Oeiras Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Adam Jones (Wales)
* 2 March 2025 15:00 GET (UTC+4)
| Georgia | 43–5 | Romania |
| | Report | |
* Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 2,975 Referee: Peter Martin (Ireland)

### Bronze Final

* 16 March 2025 15:00 WET (UTC+0)
| Portugal | 7–21 | Romania |
| | Report | |
* Estádio Nacional, Oeiras Attendance: 600 Referee: Saba Abulashvili (Georgia)

### Cup Final

* 16 March 2025 16:00 GET (UTC+4)
| Georgia | 46–28 | Spain |
| | Report | |
* Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 14,900 Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Italy)

## Final standings

| Pos. | Team | Points | 2027 RWC / WRNC Division 2 qualification |
| 1 | Georgia | 10 | Qualified as Europe 1 |
| 2 | Spain | 8 | Qualified as Europe 2 |
| 3 | Romania | 6 | Qualified as Europe 3 |
| 4 | Portugal | 5 | Qualified as Europe 4 |
| 5 | Belgium | 4 | Advances to FQT |
| 6 | Netherlands | 3 | Eliminated |
| 7 | Switzerland | 2 | Eliminated |
| 8 | Germany | 1 | Eliminated |

## International broadcasters

| Country | Broadcaster | Summary |
| Belgium | VRT LN24 | Belgium games shown live via VRT and LN24. |
| Georgia | Rugby TV Imedi TV | Georgia games shown live via Rugby TV and Imedi TV. Also Georgia games are streamed and free on Rugby TV Facebook page. |
| Germany | ProSieben Maxx Joyn Ran | Germany games shown live via ProSieben Maxx, other games are streamed and free on Joyn and Ran. |
| Netherlands | Ziggo | Selected games live on Ziggo Sport. |
| Portugal | Sport TV | Portugal games shown live on Sport TV. |
| Romania | TVR1 TVR Sport | Romania games shown live via TVR1 and TVR Sport. |
| Spain | Teledeporte RTVE Play | Spain games shown live via Teledeporte and .RTVE Play digital platform. |
| Switzerland | RTS 2 SRI digital | Switzerland games shown live via RTS 2 channel and SRI digital platforms. |
| North America | FloRugby | All games available through streaming via FloSports. |
| Rest of the World | Rugby Europe | All games available through streaming via Rugby Europe (registration required). Some games are streamed and free on Rugby Europe Youtube channel |