European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship

The European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship is an annual rugby union championship for Under-18 national teams, held since 2004. The championship is organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER).[1]

European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship
SportRugby union
Instituted2004
Number of teams8 (2019)
CountryEurope (FIRA-AER)
Holders Georgia (2019)

It has been held alternatingly in France and Italy, except for 2012 when it was held in Spain. The past editions were won by France, who won the championship in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and England, which won it in 2005, 2006 and 2012.[2] Ireland became the third nation to win the tournament when they beat England in the 2011 final.

History

The European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was first held in 2004, in Treviso, Italy. It replaced the previously held European Under-18 Emergent Nations Championship, which had first been held in 2000.[3] The first championship in 2004 was won by France.[2]

The following two championships, held in Lille, France in 2005 and again in Treviso in 2006, were won by England. Alternating between France and Italy, the next four championships were held in Biarritz, Treviso again, Toulon and once more in Treviso in 2010. All four were won by France. Wales and Scotland did not compete in those years, and England did not compete in 2010.[2]

The 2011 edition of the competition saw the introduction of an elite division, above division one, the former A, made up of four teams, France, England, Wales and Ireland. The divisions below remained unchanged. It marked the first time that all countries participating in the six nations send a team to the European championship. The 2011 tournament was held in the regions of Armagnac and Bigorre, in southern France.[4] It was won by Ireland and saw the French team not reaching the final for the first time.

England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy left the tournament for the 2016 edition.

On March 12, 2020, following the recent evolution of COVID-19, Rugby Europe has announced a suspension of all its matches and tournaments, from Friday, March 13, 2020 until April 15, 2020.[5] On March 26 Rugby Europe has decided to extend the suspension of all its matches and tournaments for an indefinite period of time.[6] On April 8 Rugby Europe Board of Directors decided to cancel 2019 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship.[7]

Format

In 2010, the championship, similar to previous editions, was organised in an A, B and C Division, with A being the highest and C the lowest. Each division consisted of eight teams and each team played three competition games, with a quarter final, semi final and final/placing game.[8] The D division, unlike in the past, was held in a separate tournament in 2010.

The quarter finals were played according to a seeding list, with the winners moving on to the first to fourth place semi finals while the losers would enter the fifth to eighth place semi finals.[8]

The winners of the semi finals one to four would play in the division final while the losers would play for third place. Similarly, the winners of the fifth to eighth semi finals would play for fifth place while the losers would play for seventh.[8]

The winner of the A division was crowned European champions while the eighth placed team would be relegated to the B division. Similarly, the winner of B and C division would move up a division for 2011 while the last placed teams would be relegated. This meant, France was crowned European champions while Romania finished on the relegation spot. Portugal won the B division and earned promotion while the Ukraine was relegated and replaced by Sweden, the C champions.[8]

The 2011 format saw the introduction of a four-team elite division. Below this level, the divisions remained unchanged but were now numbered instead of being ordered by letters.[4]

In 2012 the modus was changed once more. The elite division now consisted of eight teams, as did the A and B divisions, with all three played at the same time and location while the C division consisted of four and the D division of three teams and were played separately.[9]

Championship finals

Emergent nations championship
Year Host Final Third place match
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2000 [10] Sofia  Belgium 56 – 17  Croatia  Andorra 28 – 10  Bulgaria
2001 Split  Netherlands 37 – 6  Moldova  Croatia 79 – 0  Hungary
2002 Prague  Belgium 5 – 0  Czech Republic  Moldova 25 – 0  Latvia
2003 Amsterdam  Poland 24 – 5  Netherlands  Croatia 29 – 7  Bulgaria

European championship
Year Host Final Third place match
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2004 [11] Treviso  France 32–0  England  Italy 19–6  Scotland
2005 [12] Lille  England 16–9  France  Scotland 10–6  Italy
2006 [13] Treviso  England 15–7  France  Italy 29–3  Scotland
2007 [14] Dax  France 8–8 1  Ireland  England 52–9  Italy
2008 [15] Treviso  France 12–5  Ireland  England 21–5  Italy
2009 [16] Toulon  France 20–19  England  Ireland 51–10  Romania
2010 [17] Treviso  France 27–3  Ireland  Georgia 18–15  Belgium
2011 [18] Tarbes  Ireland 17–8  England  Wales 15–6  France
2012 [9] Madrid  England 25–13  Ireland  France 10–7  Wales
2013 [19] Grenoble  England 27–22  France  Ireland 40–0  Scotland
2014 [20] Poznan  England 30–14  Ireland  Wales 31–30  France
2015 [21] Toulouse  France 57–0  Georgia  England 39–12  Italy
2016 [22] Lisbon  France 42–0  Georgia  Portugal 15–10  Belgium
2017 [22] Quimperlé  France 36–18  Georgia  Japan 22–16  Portugal
2018 [23] Poznan  Georgia 8–3  France  Spain 17–0  Portugal
2019 [24] Kaliningrad  Georgia 20–10  Spain  Portugal 38–27  Russia
2020 [25] Kaliningrad Cancelled Cancelled
  • 1 France won 4-3 on penalty kicks.

Divisional champions

The divisional champions from 2004 to 2010:

Year A B C D
2004  France  Spain  Croatia Not held
2005  England  Portugal  Latvia  Hungary
2006  England  Romania  Netherlands  Austria
2007  France  Spain  Lithuania  Bulgaria
2008  France  Belgium   Switzerland  Serbia
2009  France  Germany  Czech Republic  Luxembourg
2010  France  Portugal  Sweden  Moldova

The divisional champions after the reorganisation in 2011:

Year Elite A B C D
2011  Ireland  Scotland  Spain  Serbia  Croatia
2012  England  Belgium  Poland  Croatia  Austria
2013  England  Spain  Netherlands  Austria  Denmark
2014  England  Russia  Sweden  Latvia  Moldova
2015  France  Russia  Ukraine  Denmark  Andorra

The divisional champions after the reorganisation in 2016:

Year Elite Trophy Conference 1 Conference 2
2016  France  Poland  Croatia  Israel
2017  France  Russia  Lithuania   Switzerland
2018  Georgia  Germany  Croatia Not held
2019  Georgia Not held
2020 Cancelled Not held

Placings

The placings in the championship in order of the 2019 results:

Team 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
 Georgia 6 5 6 6 6 7 3 3 6 6 7 2 2 2 1 1
 Spain 1 8 2 1 8 3 2 1 3 1 2 5 5 4 3 2
 Portugal 8 1 8 8 4 2 1 5 8 8 8 6 3 3 4 3
 Russia 5 6 7 7 7 6 7 8 5 2 1 1 7 1 5 4
 Belgium 3 2 3 5 1 5 4 6 1 7 6 2 4 5 7 5
 Germany 2 4 4 2 3 1 6 4 2 4 5 3 6 4 1 6
 Netherlands 6 7 1 4 6 5 3 7 2 1 7 7 2 2 8 7
 Romania 7 7 1 5 5 4 8 7 4 5 3 4 8 3 6 8
 France 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 4 3 2 4 1 1 1 2
 Poland 5 3 5 3 2 4 4 5 1 3 4 6 1 6 2
 Czech Republic 7 6 7 7 8 1 5 4 7 6 8 3 3 5 3
 Lithuania 8 3 3 1 7 7 7 3 8 5 6 2 6 1 4
  Switzerland 2 5 2 2 1 8 6 8 4 7 2 4 7 1 5
 Ukraine 4 5 6 6 5 6 8 6 3 3 4 1 4 8 6
 Luxembourg 5 4 4 2 1 5 3 5 4 3 5 5 7 7
 Latvia 3 1 8 8 5 7 4 4 7 8 1 6 8 2 8
 Croatia 1 8 5 8 6 2 2 1 1 2 7 7 1 4 1
 Israel 7 4 8 6 8 4 3 3 3 5 1 5 2
 Hungary 8 1 6 4 2 3 2 2 8 3 2 2 5 3 3
 Moldova 2 3 5 5 1 5 3 4 2 3 6 7 4
 Slovakia 4 6 5
 Bulgaria 6 7 3 1 4 4 8 7 2 2 4 3 3 8 6
 Andorra 2 1 1 4 4
 Denmark 4 6 4 5 7 5 6 6 4 1 3 1 2 3
 Serbia 8 2 2 1 6 3 1 6 6 5 8 3 2
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 6 4 6 2 2 3 3 2 2
 Malta 4 5
 Slovenia 3 5 3 6
 England 2 1 1 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 3
 Italy 3 4 3 4 4 8 5 2 7 7 6 4
 Wales 3 4 5 3 5
 Ireland 5 2 2 3 2 1 2 3 2 7
 Scotland 4 3 4 1 5 4 5 8
 Sweden 5 2 7 3 3 2 1 2 6 8 1 8
 Austria 6 1 7 6 8 7 8 1 1 8
 Norway 4 6 5 4
 Armenia 3
Côte d'Azur Selection 7
 Monaco 8

Key
Elite Division Trophy Conference 1 Conference 2

See also

References
  1. U18 - 2010 FIRA-AER Justin Bridou European Championship FIRA-AER website, accessed: 1 May 2010
  2. 2010 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship official website - History Archived 2011-03-13 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 1 May 2010
  3. Forty years of age grade growth in Europe Archived February 3, 2010, at the Wayback Machine IRB website, published: 16 April 2009, accessed: 2 May 2010
  4. U18 - 6 Nations play off FIRA-AER website, accessed: 6 April 2011
  5. https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/statement-suspension-games-tournaments?fbclid=IwAR1fd6KOFE2YnqGWZMWwEmfYqzPMqjeuaY8JJPS2p2WfxD4xf4wQLzhDFv0
  6. https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/statement-competitions-suspension-extended
  7. https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/statement-board-directors-decisions?fbclid=IwAR37DxvjCDyO0BJ6stNO-5mEMQb6qANlgeCPCwb90lRgNbTZaHvrt9XpguI
  8. 2010 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship official website - Fixtures Archived 2010-04-13 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 1 May 2010
  9. FIRA-AER website - 2012 groups accessed: 5 April 2012
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2001-07-09. Retrieved 2001-07-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. https://sport-record.de/rugby_union/rugby-fira-comp.html
  12. FIRA-AER website - 2005 results accessed: 3 May 2010
  13. FIRA-AER website - 2006 results accessed: 3 May 2010
  14. FIRA-AER website - 2007 results accessed: 3 May 2010
  15. FIRA-AER website - 2008 results accessed: 3 May 2010
  16. FIRA-AER website - 2009 results accessed: 3 May 2010
  17. FIRA-AER website - 2010 results accessed: 3 May 2010
  18. FIRA-AER website - 2011 groups accessed: 6 April 2011
  19. FIRA-AER website - 2013 groups accessed: 30 March 2013
  20. FIRA-AER website - 2014 groups accessed: 30 March 2014
  21. FIRA-AER website - 2015 groups Archived 2015-04-08 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 26 March 2015
  22. FIRA-AER website - 2016 groups Archived 2016-04-06 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 27 March 2016
  23. Rugby Europe website - 2018 edition accessed: 31 March 2018
  24. Rugby Europe website - 2019 edition accessed: 20 April 2019
  25. 2020 - U18 Championship
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