Portugal dethrone Georgia after shock win in REC final

After winning the last eight titles, Georgia’s grip on the Rugby Europe Championship trophy is now over after the Lelos lost 19-17 to Portugal in a thrilling final in Madrid.

Os Lobos were outscored three tries to one but just did enough to end Georgia’s 43-match unbeaten run in the competition and claim their first title at this level since 2004.

Meanwhile, Spain edged 14-man Romania for third place in another tight encounter, and there were wins for Belgium against Switzerland and the Netherlands against relegated Germany in the fifth and seventh place deciders.

Portugal are the new Men’s REC champions

Portugal overturned a 12-3 half-time deficit to stun Georgia and ensure Rugby Europe has new champions for the first time since 2017.

With defences on top, try-scoring chances were limited and you got the sense that Portugal might be left to run two missed Domingos Cabral penalties.

In classical Georgian fashion, the eight-time defending champions got over the line following a roaring driving maul with their forward dominance setting in.

It was Ilia Spanderashvili who got the first points of the final, but Manuel Vareiro, who’d taken on the goalkicking duties, clawed three back for Portugal from the tee.

Nonetheless, the Georgian set-piece kept pressuring Portugal and it laid the platform for their second try, No.8 Tornike Jalagonia crashing over.

With Tedo Abzhandadze converting, Georgia had a healthy nine-point advantage at the break against opponents who’d been reduced to 14 men following David Wallis’ yellow card.

However, the final leg of this year’s Rugby Europe Men’s Championship went through a dramatic change of events.

Portugal replaced their props, and suddenly the scrum dominance shifted away, giving a lifeline to a team that had sustained several penalties throughout the first half.

With Manuel Vareiro kicking two more penalties, Portugal were back to within three of the Lelos. However, Georgia struck again through their forwards, Beka Gorgadze finding the narrowest of gaps to reach out and score, extending the Lelos’ lead to 17-9

As time was running out, the Lobos grew more daring, knowing they needed to score twice. Once Vareiro had struck his fourth penalty of the match, the game-changing moment arrived when José Monteiro made an impactful carry that allowed Hugo Camacho to send a wide pass for Vincent Pinto to score.

With the fate of the Championship in his boot, Manuel Vareiro struck an extraordinary touchline conversion to put Portugal ahead for the final time, which would be enough to lift the cup in the end.

After 22 years, Portugal finally sits again in the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship throne.

Spain pull off monumental comeback to secure bronze

As expected, Spain and Romania were deeply entangled in a tense and tight affair that was ultimately conquered by Los Leones, who had to dig deep to secure a 29-23 victory in front of a home crowd.

The Romanian Stejarii were the dominant side for most of the opening half, with their set-piece setting the tone and a platform for Alin Conache to slot the first three points.

With their scrum crumbling, Spain’s problems were further extended when hooker Álvaro Garcia was sent to the sin-bin.

However, the Romanians were also reduced to 14 players following a red card shown to Nicolaas Immelman, after the flanker made contact with Lucien Richardis’ head.

The try-scoring stalemate ended in the 28th minute, when, after several running phases, Damian Bonaparte collected a superb offload to dive into the corner.

Despite Conache missing the conversion, a collector’s item in this competition, Daniel Plai landed a thundering drop goal to give Romania an 11-point lead. The best Spain could do before the half-time break was a penalty goal taken by Stade Toulousain’s Richardis.

In the opening 10 minutes of the second half, Conache and Richardis traded penalties before Spain wing Alejandro Laforga supplied his side’s first finish of the afternoon.

Romania’s red card started to take a toll, giving Spain a chance to complete the comeback following two converted tries, grounded by Alex Saleta and Lucien Richardis.

Conache slotted another two kicks to give Romania hope, before Alberto Carmona confirmed Spain’s bronze medal with a finish out wide.

Belgium have too much for history-making Swiss

Belgium put an end to Switzerland’s heroics with a 39-16 win, with the Diables Noirs finishing in fifth place for the second season in a row.

Despite the convincing win, it was actually Switzerland, who were already assured of their best-ever finish, that scored the first points, with Jules Porcher converting a penalty kick.

However, Belgium found a riposte almost immediately with Florent Remue levelling up the scores before scrum-half Timothe Rifon dived for Belgium’s first try of the day.

The Diables Noirs added a second on the half-hour mark, with Switzerland only managing to bank another penalty conversion through the trusty boot of Porcher.

Turning around 24-12 in arrears, the Swiss fashioned a lovely score for centre Jeremy To’a, Porcher turning the try into seven points with the conversion.

With Remue and Porcher once again trading penalty kicks, Belgium then took control of the scoreboard.

Captain Jean-Maurice Decubber was rewarded for his industry with a try and the momentum stayed with them, with two more converted tries adding gloss to the win.

Easson off the mark as Dutch boss

After a disappointing string of results, the Netherlands finished their campaign on a high, putting on a spectacular 76-7 performance over Germany.

Bryan Easson’s side were quick to land their first points, scoring their first of 12 tries following an unstoppable maul drive concluded by Tafadzwa Kahembe.

Germany, having already been relegated due to last weekend’s loss against Switzerland, tried to front up to their Dutch rivals, but their indiscipline ended up giving the Netherlands a platform to set up six additional tries before the half-time break.

With Stade Aurillacois’ Boris Hadinegoro running the show, the Netherlands kept outmatching Germany in every area, ultimately adding five more finishes before the game’s conclusion.

For the Schwarze Adler, their consolation try came a few minutes before the end with FC Grenoble’s Christopher Hennig diving in the corner.

Germany will compete in the Rugby Europe Trophy for the next two seasons, with Czechia and Poland battling to take their place.