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LONG READ The big Rugby Europe Championship preview: A race to the land Down Under

The big Rugby Europe Championship preview: A race to the land Down Under
2 weeks ago

After going through the dormant stage of the year, January is near its end and with it, the Rugby Europe Championship will return. Rugby Europe’s main arena will be open for business for five weekends, with eight contestants tussling for the chance to lift the silverware, and the quest to reach the Rugby World Cup.

Grouped in two pools of four, Portugal, Romania, Germany and Belgium (pool A), and Georgia, Spain, Netherlands and Switzerland (pool B) are going to have to find a way to overcome whatever is coming their way and grab one of the four golden tickets to Australia 2027.

Georgia won the REC for the 16th time at the Paris finals day last year (Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

February will hold three rounds of the pool stage, with the top two teams qualifying for the World Cup and the competition semi-finals. The higher your team finishes, the better chance it will have to be drawn in a more favourable World Cup pool.

However, if your team, by any chance, fails to finish first or second in its pool, there’s still hope to reach Australia. How? By finishing fifth, a team will qualify for a repechage tournament to be played later in the year.

So, from 31 January to 15 and 16 March, every match, lineout, scrum, tackle, jackal, try, conversion, 50/22, interception and offload counts, and it can make the difference between climbing the golden stairway or watching the World Cup from the couch.

Here is RugbyPass’s team by team guide to the new campaign.

Georgia

Nickname: Lelos
Captain: Vasil Lobzhanidze
Head coach: Richard Cockerill
Main ground: Avchala Rugby Stadium, Tbilisi
Rugby Europe Championship titles: 16

The Lelos. The mean machine. The ferocious prowler. The champions. However you want to describe them, Georgia are here to take the gold home and remain at the top of the Rugby Europe food chain.

Richard Cockerill replaced Levan Maisashvili after the 2023 World Cup, and in his first campaign as head coach, delivered another trophy to the proud eastern European country.

Georgia continue their journey to becoming an all-around team, pounding their opposition in the set-piece before setting free their thrilling backline. One of the finer details for 2025 has to be the fly-half contest, as rival playmakers Tedo Abzhandadze and Luka Matkava are serious ballers and brilliant game managers.

The vast assortment of options for the loose forward trio is also an integral part of Georgia’s dominance, with Luka Ivanishvili, Tornike Jalagonia, Beka Saghinadze, Beka Gorgadze, Ilia Spanderashvili, Sandro Mamamtavrishvili and Giorgi Tsutskiridze some of the best in Europe.

The Lelos have an ‘easier’ path to the World Cup, as they will host Switzerland and Netherlands in the first two games, before travelling to Spain to wrap up the pool stage. Serial winners at this level, a slip up would be an extraordinary upset.

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Player to watch: Giorgi Kveseladze (centre). Okay, before the name-calling starts, yes, Davit Niniashvili is Georgia’s best player and one of the foremost stars in the game. That doesn’t mean Kveseladze isn’t to be highlighted, as the Grenoble centre is essential to helping Georgia create a steady and reliable platform while on the offensive. His capacity to throw an unforeseen offload can unlock the way to the try line, making him an integral part of the new Georgia.

Portugal

Nickname: Lobos
Captain: Tomás Appleton
Head coach: Simon Mannix
Main ground: Estádio do Restelo, Lisbon
Rugby Europe Championship titles: One

Can Portugal finally qualify for a World Cup without going through the emotional turmoil of a repechage phase? Or will the Lobos fail to carry the momentum they gained in 2023, where they stunned Fiji to win their first World Cup game? It will all come down to Simon Mannix’s ability to reenergise a team that lost a bit of its flair, but still has most of the squad who stole the hearts and minds of those who followed them in France.

Portugal’s all-guns-blazing style can pry open most defensive blocks, especially if Samuel Marques is in the mix, with the veteran scrum-half playing the maestro role. The Lobos’ main evolution since 2019 was the forward pack’s durability, now possessing a trustworthy scrum and a dangerous lineout, thanks to Nicolás Martins, Francisco Fernandes and José Madeira.

Portugal’s biggest asset is its unpredictability, as the virtuous spark of the likes of Raffaele Storti, Simão Bento, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, Rodrigo Marta and Vincent Pinto can produce some outstanding pieces of play.

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The Lobos will host games against Belgium and Germany in the legendary Estádio do Restelo, and should be wary of those two rivals, especially the Diables Noirs who were able to knock Portugal down in 2024.

Player to watch: Nicolás Martins. Keeps Portugal alive even in the darkest of moments, pushing for his teammates to challenge the impossible and fight for a way out of any problem. His wisdom around the breakdown, lineout and offloading skills are a menace for any opposition who treats him lightly. If Martins is at his best, Portugal will be closer to the World Cup dream.

Spain

Nickname: Leones
Captain: Jon Zabala
Head coach: Pablo Bouza
Main ground: Estadio Nacional Complutense, Madrid
Rugby Europe Championship titles: None

Will one of rugby’s sleeping dragons finally awake and take its place among the best? Spain has been knocking on the door for quite some time, and after two heartbreaking stories in 2018 and 2022, the Leones are two games away from earning their way back to the World Cup.

Pablo Bouza gathered the pieces and rebuilt a powerful and confident side, capable of calling the shots against teams such as Portugal, Samoa and Fiji, digging deep to find a path towards victory. Their precise and lethal attacking gameplay was one of the cornerstones of last year’s great performances, with the phenomenal Martiniano Cian, Alberto Carmona and John-Wessel Bell injecting top speed and acceleration into the backline.

The Leones front-five depth is one of the best in the Emerging Nations universe, powered by the Top 14/Pro D2 leviathans Joel Merkler, Jon Zabala, Thierry Futeu, Joel Merkler, Hugo Pirlet, Álvaro García, and Santi Ovejero.

However you look at it, Spain has one of the best rosters in the Rugby Europe Championship, and they certainly won’t let this opportunity slip away.

Player to watch: Joel Merkler. A scrum maestro of titanic proportions, the Stade Toulousain tighthead prop will be back playing for his country and will be a massive problem for opposition set-piece.

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But Merkler isn’t just a brutal scrummager, he is also an agile prop who has the knack to catch by surprise even the speediest wings.

Romania

Nickname: Stejarii
Captain: Marius Simionescu
Head coach: David Gérard
Main ground: Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest
Rugby Europe Championship titles: Five

It seemed the days of a dominant Romania were over after a dismal Rugby World Cup, but a glimmer of hope was rekindled in 2024. The Stejarii slowly stood back up, bagging some impressive victories over the USA, Tonga and Canada, proving something special still lies within them.

Under David Gérard’s guidance, Romania reforged the set-piece, ready to take on the grittiest of challenges, with the maul regaining its past strength and playing a centrepiece role in how the team progresses.

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But Romania’s virtues don’t start and end with the forward pack, as the magicians Alin Conache and Hinckley Vaovasa are two of the best in what they do. Pulling the strings like two violinists of the Vienna Philharmonic, the 9-10 combo has created 60% of Romania’s tries in the past year.

The Stejarii will welcome Germany and Portugal, but have a dangerous journey to Belgium, in what will be a critical campaign for Romania’s rugby future.

Player to watch: Adrian Mitu. One of the best finds in 2024, Mitu has quickly become a blockbuster sensation for Romania, with his running and handling skills taking fans by storm. Mitu is a stellar wunderkind, with an average of three line breaks per game in the five caps he has already collected.

Netherlands

Nickname: Oranje
Captain: Koen Bloemen
Head coach: Lyn Jones
Main ground: National Rugby Center, Amsterdam
Rugby Europe Championship titles: None

Can (the) Oranje be the new gold? The Dutch national team has been on a roll recently, finishing fifth in the past two Rugby Europe Championships, defeating World Cup sweethearts Chile in November and coming close to sinking Spain earlier last year.

Energised by a couple of talented youngsters, and with Welshman Lyn Jones appointed head coach, the Netherlands seem ready to challenge Georgia and Spain for a World Cup berth.

The Oranje possess a reliable set-piece, strong enough to challenge the established heavyweights, while the raw speed and top-notch conditioning have more than once pushed them over the finishing line.

Netherlands will have to tour Spain and Georgia in the first two weeks of February, before wrapping up the pool stage with a home game against Switzerland. It isn’t the easiest of paths, but the underdog pelt can have wonderful effects on those who desire to tempt fate.

Player to watch: Wolf van Dijk. One of the best breakdown poachers of the entire REC, Van Dijk is what you would call the perfect enforcer. He is a jack of all trades, can do well in most environments, and has a special talent for running loose with the oval-shaped ball.

Germany

Nickname: Schwarze Adler
Captain: Jörn Schröder
Head coach: Mark Kuhlmann
Main ground: Auestadion, Kassel
Rugby Europe Championship titles: None

A proud team which has resurfaced after a handful of years competing in the Trophy – the competition beneath the REC – Germany has clawed back to the Championship and is eyeing a chance to taste that sweet World Cup nectar.

Their inspiring performance against Georgia in 2024 shouldn’t be forgotten, as it showed some of their best features: grittiness and resilience to keep on fighting.

Former international Mark Kuhlmann has spanned the past, present and future of German rugby, developing a united team that doesn’t know how to give up. The unpredictable nature of outside back Nikolai Klewinghaus and fly-half Edoardo Stella have the potential to destabilise REC defences, opening up a universe of attacking possibilities.

If Germany can find a way to keep their conditioning from falling in the last quarter, they will be a problem for Portugal, Romania and Belgium. They will only host once in this year’s REC, welcoming their Belgian neighbours for the last game of the pool stage.

Player to watch: Eric Marks. Enforcer, behemoth, force of nature, Marks will certainly be a vital cog in the German pack machine. His lineout and defensive expertise were some of the reasons Georgia had such a hard time in Dessau, and it will be useful again in the battles to come.

Belgium

Nickname: Diables Noirs
Captain: Jens Torfs
Head coach: Laurent Dossat
Main ground: Stade Charles Tondreau, Mons
Rugby Europe Championship titles: None

Are we ready for another shock? Ares Belgium primed to pull the rug from under Portugal, Romania, Germany, or even all three? The Diables Noirs created one of the biggest upsets of 2024, when they brought down Portugal in the first round.

Lauren Dossat replaced Mike Ford in 2023 and has since operated a small revolution in the way Belgium play, opting for a more aggressive and dominant style, and pushing his team to play more with the ball, spending less time defending.

An interesting aspect that has gone unnoticed was their preparation for 2025, touring South America in July and hosting a couple of games in November. While the Netherlands has played only one game aside from their REC 2024 campaign, Belgium made an effort to test their squad’s depth and get them ready for the upcoming challenges.

Their pool B rivals should not take Belgium lightly, even if the Diables Noirs will play two games as visitors, hosting Romania in Mons in the second round of the competition.

Player to watch: Charles-Henri Berguet. If you catch a glimpse of a massive athlete that looks like a boulder rolling downhill, then it must be Berguet, the Vannes loosehead prop. Athletic, powerful and unbreakable, Berguet’s influence can play a pivotal job in helping Belgium depower and overturn the Portuguese and Romanian scrum.

Switzerland

Nickname: Edelweiss
Captain: Cyril Lin
Head coach: Olivier Nier
Main ground: Stade Municipal, Yverdon les bains
Rugby Europe Championship titles: None

Can Switzerland pull off one of the greatest giant-killings of all time? The Rugby Europe Trophy winners of 2024 earned their place at the top table won’t be coming just for tourism, so beware if you are a Georgian, Spanish or Dutch fan.

Contrary to what most might think, Switzerland doesn’t play a forward-focused game, as they rather opt to go for quick-draw rugby, looking to inject speed, pace and acceleration.

There’s a chance you will fall in love with Cyril Lyn, Tim Vögtli, Donovan O’Grady, Lucas Heinrich, and Ahmad Kane, as the passion they bring to the fray can transcend their team.

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Swiss rugby might be unknown to most of the rugby fanbase, but they are hungry to defy the odds and wrestle for an opportunity to impact World Cup qualification.

Player to watch: Lucas Heinrich. If you are looking for a flashy runner who also knows how to knock down foes with a dominant tackle, then Heinrich should draw your attention. The Servette centre is a battering ram grafted to a Sbarro Tiger (a Swiss sports car, look it up!), and will boost his team’s chances of reaching the try line.

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