Rugby Europe Championship line-up decided after dramatic promotion race

Poland have secured a return to the Rugby Europe Men’s Championship for 2026/27 after winning promotion from the second tier Trophy.

Resurgent Czechia beat them to the 2026 title, but based on the combined results from the two-year cycle used to determine promotion, Poland have come out on top overall and will now replace relegated Germany.

Poland went into the final weekend only needing to draw to secure themselves a place alongside the likes of Championship powerhouses Georgia and Spain. But they went up in style with a thumping 72-3 win over Sweden in Gdynia, which was easily their record score and win in the fixture.

Over the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons, Poland only dropped one game – the 32-30 loss at home to Czechia in November, which ultimately cost them the chance to win back-to-back titles, having swept all before them in 2024/25.

🇵🇱🔥 @pzrugby come flying out of the blocks! A beauty from departing hero Wojciech Piotrowicz gets their second try of the evening. pic.twitter.com/UjLW8k7kNZ

— Rugby Europe (@rugby_europe) April 11, 2026

While Czechia matched their Grand Slam with a clean sweep of wins to take the 2025/26 title, they finished four points behind Poland on the combined table.

Poland finished with 43 points out of a possible 50, while Czechia were second on 46 points. Sweden, who had an outside chance of the 2025/26 title, finished back in third on 33 points.

Relegation will take place from the Championship at the end of the 2026/27, but the number of teams dropping down into the Trophy has yet to be decided due to ongoing discussions about whether the division will remain at eight teams or return to six, which was the case before 2023.