European Nations Cup (rugby union)

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The European Nations Cup, ENC or sometimes noted as the Six Nations B is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The Championship is split into 7 divisions with 5 or 6 teams in each. The divisions play on a two-year cycle with the teams playing each other both home and away.

At present, there is no promotion or relegation between the ENC and the Six Nations. The current Champions are Georgia, who won the 2007/2008 First Division title from Russia.

European Nations Cup
Current season or competition: [[2007-08 First Division, 2006-08 Second Division]]
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2000
No. of teams	See below
Country(ies)	Europe
Most recent champion(s)	Georgia
Most championship(s)	France (25)

Contents 1 History 2 Current divisions (2008-2010) 3 The thirties: the first three tournaments 4 The fifties: the European Cup 5 The Nations Cup 1966-1973 6 The FIRA Trophy 1974-1997 7 European Nations Cup (2000 - Present) 8 Results by nation 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] History

After the setup of the division system in 2000, Romania won the first such competition. The first season included Morocco. Russia replaced Morocco in 2001 with Georgia securing the title after a consistent performance, crowned with a decisive 31-20 win over Romania in Bucharest. As the competition format changed from one-year to two-years, the Netherlands wasn't relegated after this season. Romania started in 2002 trailing Georgia after 2001 results, but managed to win all of the remaining five games, including a hard-fought 31-23 victory in Tbilisi.

Portugal were surprise 16-15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves on the top of the 2003 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania seemed back on track (36-6 against Portugal in Constanţa), but went down 24-33 to Russia in Krasnodar. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19-18 win over Russia in Lisbon. The Russia - Czech Republic game was rescheduled due to bad weather and was eventually cancelled. The 2004-06 championships was also serving as a qualifiying group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Romania triumphed despite finishing level on points with Georgia, while Ukraine were relegated after losing all matches.

[edit] Current divisions (2008-2010)

Division 1  Georgia  Germany  Portugal  Romania  Russia  Spain	Division 2A  Belgium  Czech Republic  Moldova  Poland  Ukraine	Division 2B  Croatia  Latvia  Malta  Netherlands  Sweden
Division 3A  Andorra  Armenia  Lithuania  Serbia  Switzerland	Division 3B  Austria  Denmark  Norway  Hungary  Slovenia	Division 3C  Bulgaria  Finland  Greece  Israel  Luxembourg	Division 3D  Azerbaijan  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Cyprus  Monaco  Slovakia

[edit] The thirties: the first three tournaments

Year	Host city	Winner	Second place	Third place
1936	Berlin	France	Germany	Italy
1937	Paris	France	Italy	Germany
1938	Bucharest	France	Romania	Germany

[edit] The fifties: the European Cup

Year	Winner	Second place	Third place
1952	France	Italy	West Germany
1954	France	Italy	Spain

[edit] The Nations Cup 1966-1973

Year	Winner	Second place	Third place
1965/1966	France	Italy	Romania
1966/1967	France	Romania	Italy
1967/1968	France	Romania	Czechoslovakia
1968/1969	Romania	France	Czechoslovakia
1969/1970	France	Romania	Italy
1970/1971	France	Romania	Morocco
1971/1972	France	Romania	Morocco
1972/1973	France	Romania	Spain

[edit] The FIRA Trophy 1974-1997

Year	Winner	Second place	Third place
1973/1974	France	Romania	Spain
1974/1975	Romania	France	Italy
1975/1976	France	Italy	Romania
1976/1977	Romania	France	Italy
1977/1978	France	Romania	Spain
1978/1979	France	Romania	USSR
1979/1980	France	Romania	Italy
1980/1981	Romania	France	USSR
1981/1982	France	Italy	Romania
1982/1983	Romania	Italy	USSR
1983/1984	France	Romania	Italy
1984/1985	France	USSR	Italy
1985/1987	France	USSR	Romania
1987/1989	France	USSR	Romania
1989/1990	France	USSR	Romania
1990/1992	France	Italy	Romania
1992/1994	France	Italy	Romania
1995/1997	Italy	France	Romania

[edit] European Nations Cup (2000 - Present)

Year		First Division					Lower Division Champions
		Winner	Second	Third	Relegated		Division 2	Division 3
2000		Romania	Georgia	Morocco
2001		Georgia	Romania	Russia
2001/2002		Romania	Georgia	Russia	Netherlands		Czech Republic
2003/2004		Portugal	Romania	Georgia	Spain		Ukraine
2004/2006		Romania	Georgia	Portugal	Ukraine		Spain	Latvia
2007/2008		Georgia	Russia	Romania	Czech Republic		Germany	Sweden
2008/2010

[edit] Results by nation

Team	First place	Second place	Third place
France	25	5
Romania	8	14	10
Georgia	2	3	1
Italy	1	9	8
Portugal	1		1
USSR		4	3
Germany*		1	3
Russia		1	2
Spain			4
Morocco			3
Czechoslovakia			2

• Includes the third placed finish by West Germany in 1952

[edit] See also

• Antim Cup
• FIRA - Association of European Rugby
• Six Nations Championship

[edit] External links

• FIRA-AER website

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