1995–97 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.

1995-97 FIRA Trophy
Date19 November 1995 – 23 May 1997
Countries Belgium
 France
 Germany
 Italy
 Morocco
 Portugal
 Romania
 Russia
 Spain
 Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Champions Italy
Matches played41
← 1992–1994 (Previous) (Next) 1996–1997 →

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

And seven qualified from the preliminary tournament

Pool A
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 France440019429+16512
2 Spain43019190+110
3 Russia42023795-588
4 Morocco41034170-296
5 Tunisia40041178-672
  • 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
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)
28 April 1996
Spain  6 – 0
withdraw 		 Tunisia
11 May 1996
Morocco  10 - 13  Russia
Safi
Referee: I. Aguirre
19 May 1996
 Tunisia 0 – 6
withdraw 		 Russia

Pool B
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Italy440024935+21412
2 Romania430121854+16410
3 Portugal420270177-1078
4 Poland410361195-1346
5 Belgium400443180-1374
  • 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
16 March 1996
Belgium  18 - 29  Portugal
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
19 April 1996
Romania A  83 - 5  Belgium
27 April 1996
Portugal  38 - 3  Poland
12 May 1996
Poland  9 - 40  Romania
24 May 1996
Belgium  10 - 38 Emerging Italy[1]
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
 
FB15FB
RW14RW
OC13OC
IC12IC
LW11LW
FH10FH
SH9SH
N88N8
OF7OF
BF6BF
RL5RL
LL4LL
TP3TP
HK2HK
LP1LP
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 Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Netherlands431010731+7611
2 Georgia43014061-2110
3 Germany42025248+48
4 Czech Republic41036280-186
5 Denmark40133775-384
23 September 1995
Germany  28 - 17  Czech Republic
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
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
30 March 1996
Czech Republic  3 - 26  Netherlands
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
12 May 1996
Germany  16 - 11  Denmark

Pool 2 (Silver)
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Serbia and Montenegro22006921+486
2 Andorra21012538-134
3 Bulgaria20021752-352
24 March 1996
Serbia and Montenegro  30 - 12  Andorra

20 April 1996
Andorra  13 - 8  Bulgaria
18 June 1996
Bulgaria  9 - 39  Serbia and Montenegro

Third Division

Pool 1
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Ukraine33008411+739
2 Latvia32015044+67
3 Moldova31022061-415
4 Lithuania30033876-383
1 May 1996
Ukraine  38 - 0  Moldova
11 May 1996
Latvia  34 - 20  Lithuania

10 October 1996
Latvia  3 - 19  Ukraine
21 October 1996
Latvia  13 - 5  Moldova
1996
Lithuania  8 - 27  Ukraine
1996
Lithuania  10 - 15  Moldova

Pool 2
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Austria21013120+114
2 Hungary21114232+104
3 Slovenia21012344-214
5 November 1995
Austria  21 - 8  Hungary
20 April 1996
Slovenia  12 - 10  Austria

11 May 1996
Hungary  34 - 11  Slovenia

Pool 3
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Croatia22003718+196
2 Israel21012633-74
3 Luxembourg20022436-122
28 October 1995
Luxembourg  12 - 16  Croatia
7 April 1996
Israel  20 - 12  Luxembourg
27 April 1996
Croatia  21 - 6  Israel

Notes and references
  1. This team was based on the "Students' team", preparing for the incoming University World Cup, reinforced with the presence of the national captain Massimo Giovanelli

Bibliography
  • (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) ISBN 88-87374-40-6.
  • (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).
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