# 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy

The 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy was the 31st edition of the European rugby union championship for national teams. The 1995-97 edition was arranged once again with a new format.
Due preparations for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, France, Italy and Romania did not participate in the 1994-95 season of the competition, so for that season a Preliminary Tournament was arranged with ten other teams. The higher ranked seven teams were admitted to this tournament, with France, Italy and Romania.
The tournament was undergoing a difficult time, due to decreased interest from the strongest teams: France usually sent reserve teams, and Italy were playing matches with the likes of Australia, England and Wales.
This is evident looking the results and the programme. France played the first round robin with their Military team, Italy and Romania did not arrange a match for this tournament, but played a match on neutral ground against Argentina for the "Latina Cup". Italy sent two lower level teams to play (during the same weekend) the last two matches. The previous edition's final between Italy and France was played in March 1997, while the 1996-97 edition was already half completed.
This edition was the first ever triumph of Italy in the competition, defeating France by 40-32 in the final, thus cementing their claims to be the sixth European rugby nation powerhouse. Italy had started to play in this tournament with France in 1966 and, despite some close results, had never previously beaten their strong rivals. Italy's win, shortly after France had won the 1997 Five Nations Championship, was a historical feat that proved to be crucial for Italy's admission at the Six Nations Championship in 2000.

## First Division
### Preliminary tournament

Three directly admitted
* France
* Italy
* Romania
And seven qualified from the preliminary tournament
* Belgium
* Morocco
* Poland
* Portugal
* Russia
* Spain
* Tunisia

### Pool A

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | France | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 194 | 29 | +165 | 12 |
| 2 | Spain | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 91 | 90 | +1 | 10 |
| 3 | Russia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 95 | -58 | 8 |
| 4 | Morocco | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 70 | -29 | 6 |
| 5 | Tunisia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 78 | -67 | 2 |
* France qualified to Final
* 19 November 1995
| France Military | 33 - 12 | Russia |
* Blanc-Mesnil Referee: G. Giacomel
* 10 December 1995
| Tunisia | 11 - 20 | Morocco |
* Sousse Referee: A. Fernandez
* 6 January 1996
| Morocco | 8 - 22 | France Military |
* Casablanca Referee: I. Atorrasagasti
* 16 March 1996
| Morocco | 3 - 24 | Spain |
* Casablanca Referee: D. Salles
* 16 March 1996
| France Military | 58 - 0 | Tunisia |
* Albertville Referee: J. Mendes da Silva
* 31 March 1996
| Spain | 9 - 81 | France XV |
* Estadi Baldiri Aleu, Sant Boi de Llobregat
* 14 April 1996
| Spain | 52 - 6 | Russia |
| Try: Velazco Querol, Gallastegui, Souto, Tayeb (2), Gerendiaga Nanclares (3) Con: Gerendiaga Nanclares (4) Pen: Gerendiaga Nanclares (3) | | Pen: Yakovlev (2) |
* Campo Universitario, Madrid
* 28 April 1996
| Spain | 6 – 0 withdraw | Tunisia |
* Madrid
* 11 May 1996
| Morocco | 10 - 13 | Russia |
* Safi Referee: I. Aguirre
* 19 May 1996
| Tunisia | 0 – 6 withdraw | Russia |
* Tunis

### Pool B

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Italy | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 249 | 35 | +214 | 12 |
| 2 | Romania | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 218 | 54 | +164 | 10 |
| 3 | Portugal | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 177 | -107 | 8 |
| 4 | Poland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 61 | 195 | -134 | 6 |
| 5 | Belgium | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 43 | 180 | -137 | 4 |
* Italy qualified to the final
* Point system: try 4 pt, conversion: 2 pt., penalty kick 3 pt. drop 3 pt Click "show" for more info about match (scorers, line-up etc.)
* 28 October 1995
| Poland | 30 - 10 | Belgium |
* Łódź
* 16 March 1996
| Belgium | 18 - 29 | Portugal |
* King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
* 13 April 1996
| Romania | 92 - 0 | Portugal |
| Try: Radoi (2), Vlad, Fugigi, Gontineac, Sîrbu, Slusariuc, Rotaru (5), Tufa Con: Popisteanu (12) Pen: Popisteanu | | |
* Stadionul Steaua II, Bucharest Attendance: 1,000 Referee: A. Condorelli
* This was the heaviest defeat of Portugal until their defeat to New Zealand (108-13) at the 2007 Rugby World Cup
* 19 April 1996
| Romania A | 83 - 5 | Belgium |
* Stadionul Dinamo, Bucharest
* 27 April 1996
| Portugal | 38 - 3 | Poland |
* Lisbon University Stadium, Lisbon
* 12 May 1996
| Poland | 9 - 40 | Romania |
* Sochaczew
* 24 May 1996
| Belgium | 10 - 38 | Emerging Italy |
* King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
* 25 May 1996
| Italy A | 107 - 19 | Poland |
* Otello Gerli Stadium, Udine Referee: D. Artigeas

### Final

* 22 March 1997
| France | 32 - 40 | Italy |
| Try: 14' Penalty try 52' e 82' Bondouy 79' Sadourny Con: 14', 52' e 82' Aucagne Pen: 20', 24' Aucagne | | Try: 5' I. Francescato 34' Gardner 56' Croci 74' Vaccari Con: 5', 34', 56' e 74' Domínguez Pen: 17', 30', 62' e 68' Domínguez |
* Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble Attendance: 15,000 Referee: David McHugh
* France
* Jean-Luc Sadourny
* Stéphane Ougier
* Yann Delaigue
* Pierre Bondouy
* Philippe Saint-André
* David Aucagne
* Guy Accoceberry
* Fabien Pelous (c.)
* Arnaud Costes
* Philippe Benetton
* Hugues Miorin
* Olivier Merle
* Franck Tournaire
* Marc Dal Maso
* Marc de Rougemont
* Serge Betsen
* Raphaël Ibañez
* Pierre Villepreux
| FB | 15 | FB |
| RW | 14 | RW |
| OC | 13 | OC |
| IC | 12 | IC |
| LW | 11 | LW |
| FH | 10 | FH |
| SH | 9 | SH |
| N8 | 8 | N8 |
| OF | 7 | OF |
| BF | 6 | BF |
| RL | 5 | RL |
| LL | 4 | LL |
| TP | 3 | TP |
| HK | 2 | HK |
| LP | 1 | LP |
| Substitutions: |
| Coaches |
* Italy
* Javier Pértile
* Paolo Vaccari
* Stefano Bordon
* Ivan Francescato
* Marcello Cuttitta
* Diego Dominguez
* Alessandro Troncon
* Julian Gardner
* Andrea Sgorlon
* Massimo Giovanelli (c.)
* Giambattista Croci
* Walter Cristofoletto
* Franco Properzi
* Carlo Orlandi
* Massimo Cuttitta
* Francesco Mazzariol
* Gianluca Guidi
* Georges Coste

## Second Division
### Pool 1 (Gold)

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Netherlands | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 107 | 31 | +76 | 11 |
| 2 | Georgia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 61 | -21 | 10 |
| 3 | Germany | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 48 | +4 | 8 |
| 4 | Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 62 | 80 | -18 | 6 |
| 5 | Denmark | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 75 | -38 | 4 |
* 23 September 1995
| Germany | 28 - 17 | Czech Republic |
* Hanover
* 15 October 1995
| Georgia | 14 - 3 | Germany |
| Try: Iurini Pen: E. Dzagnidze, D. Dzagnidze (2) | | Pen: Kocher |
* National Stadium, Tbilisi
* 29 October 1995
| Denmark | 20 - 20 | Netherlands |
* Copenhagen
* 19 November 1995
| Denmark | 0 - W | Georgia |
* Aalborg Referee: Zboralsky (France)
* GEO duly arrived but DNK did not take the frozen field claiming it was not safe
* Reference: Georgia Rugby Record 1959-2009, p 152,155
* http://issuu.com/qaflan/docs/ka-mataine50
* 24 November 1995
| Netherlands | 55 - 3 | Georgia |
* Castricum
* 30 March 1996
| Czech Republic | 3 - 26 | Netherlands |
* Říčany
* 12 April 1996
| Georgia | 20 - 3 | Czech Republic |
| Try: Iurini, Jimsheladze, Kavtarachvili Con: Modebadze Pen: Machitidze | | Pen: Stourac |
* Vake Stadium, Tbilisi
* 21 April 1996
| Netherlands | 6 - 5 | Germany |
* Sportpark Berestein, Hilversum
* 27 April 1996
| Czech Republic | 39 - 6 | Denmark |
* Říčany
* 12 May 1996
| Germany | 16 - 11 | Denmark |
* Hanover

### Pool 2 (Silver)

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Yugoslavia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 21 | +48 | 6 |
| 2 | Andorra | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 38 | -13 | 4 |
| 3 | Bulgaria | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 52 | -35 | 2 |
* 24 March 1996
| Yugoslavia | 30 - 12 | Andorra |
* 20 April 1996
| Andorra | 13 - 8 | Bulgaria |
* Andorra-la-Vella
* 18 June 1996
| Bulgaria | 9 - 39 | Yugoslavia |

## Third Division
### Pool 1

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Ukraine | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 11 | +73 | 9 |
| 2 | Latvia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 7 |
| 3 | Moldova | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 61 | -41 | 5 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 76 | -38 | 3 |
* 1 May 1996
| Ukraine | 38 - 0 | Moldova |
* Kyiv
* 11 May 1996
| Latvia | 34 - 20 | Lithuania |
* 10 October 1996
| Latvia | 3 - 19 | Ukraine |
* Riga
* 21 October 1996
| Latvia | 13 - 5 | Moldova |
* Riga
* 1996
| Lithuania | 8 - 27 | Ukraine |
* Vilnius
* 1996
| Lithuania | 10 - 15 | Moldova |

### Pool 2

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Austria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 20 | +11 | 4 |
| 2 | Hungary | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 32 | +10 | 4 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 44 | -21 | 4 |
* 5 November 1995
| Austria | 21 - 8 | Hungary |
* Wien
* 20 April 1996
| Slovenia | 12 - 10 | Austria |
* 11 May 1996
| Hungary | 34 - 11 | Slovenia |
* Kecskemét

### Pool 3

| Place | Nation | Games | Games | Games | Games | Points | Points | Points | Table points |
| Place | Nation | played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | diff. | Table points |
| 1 | Croatia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 18 | +19 | 6 |
| 2 | Israel | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 33 | -7 | 4 |
| 3 | Luxembourg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 36 | -12 | 2 |
* 28 October 1995
| Luxembourg | 12 - 16 | Croatia |
* Luxembourg
* 7 April 1996
| Israel | 20 - 12 | Luxembourg |
* Tel Aviv
* 27 April 1996
| Croatia | 21 - 6 | Israel |
* Split