And it's a wrap-up in the pool stage of the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship 2025, with Georgia and Portugal confirming a home championship semifinal
Georgia, Romania, Spain, and Portugal are heading to Australia in 2027, with all four European nations having won their second set of games in the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship, still with one round left to play.
Four teams stand just one win away from securing direct qualification for Rugby World Cup 2027, with the semi-finalists of this year’s Rugby Europe Championship guaranteed passage to Australia.
There could be significant movement in the world rankings following this weekend's matches.
Georgia, Romania, Portugal and Spain kicked their Men’s Rugby World Cup qualification hopes in great fashion, claiming bonus-point victories over Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands in the first round of the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship 2025.
Outwith the Six Nations spotlight, emerging nations jostle for position in another thrilling REC - with the added carrot of Rugby World Cup qualification.
The men’s Rugby World Cup expansion has pushed developing nations to pursue a semi-professionalisation of their club competitions, or, at least, arrange a deal for their top players to stay in the game for an extended period.
With 2025 just around the corner, it’s time to shed light on rugby's future rising stars, and we picked 22 promising U21s for you to follow – who were born at most on or before 2004.
Not long after, Germany still under coach Mike Ford’s guidance, lost its place in the Rugby Europe Championship, due an agonisingly narrow loss against Portugal in the 2019 promotion-relegation playoff.