Rugby Europe Championship underdogs pull off huge upset win

Rugby Europe Championship: The final weekend of the pool stages has come to an end, with Georgia and Portugal finishing top of Pools A and B, while Spain and Romania came second.

Switzerland pulled off a major upset, defeating the Netherlands for the first time in their history, a result that could play a significant role in keeping their place in the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship.

Highly entertaining contest ends with Lelos as winners
Georgia claimed a 42-30 win over Spain to finish top of Pool A, earning a home Championship semi-final.
Despite the win, the Lelos struggled to exert dominance over the visitors, who were relentless in their pursuit of a memorable win at the Avchala Rugby Stadium.

Stade Toulousain’s Lucien Richardis gave Los Leones the lead four minutes into the game, before the Georgians hit back with a maul try finished by hooker Vano Karkadze.

The hosts added two more converted tries before the break, with the opposition only managing a couple of penalties. The half-time score was 21-9.

Despite what seemed a comfortable position for the reigning champions, Spain had other plans and mounted a remarkable comeback. With Estanislao Bay introduced after the break, Los Leones bagged two tries in quick succession, following finishes by the replacement scrum-half and Richardis.

Trailing for the first time in the match, the Georgians responded and, thanks to a sensational carry by Exeter Chiefs’ Bachuki Tchumbadze, retook the lead with 20 minutes to go.

Unfortunately for Spain, their woes did not stop there, as loose forward Vicente Boronat was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle, with Georgia taking the opportunity to add two more tries.

Even with Luka Ivanishvili sent off after making head contact with Tani Bay and Spain scoring their third try of the game, Georgia remained composed to secure a bonus-point win.

Georgia will now host Romania in two weeks, while Spain travel to Lisbon to face their Iberian rivals Portugal.

A Belgium win to crush German aspirations
The Diables Noirs produced a solid performance to deliver their fans an 18-3 win over Germany, allowing them to finish third and sending the ambitious Schwarze Adler to the bottom of Pool B.

In a gritty, physical encounter, Belgium had the upper hand through their forward pack, with their driving maul providing all their tries.

In the opening half, Germany tried to use their backline, searching for a way to leave Mons with a win, but little went their way as they missed several chances before Belgium scored the first try of the game. Jean-Baptiste de Clercq steered the maul over for the opening score.

The visitors’ only points came from a penalty converted by full-back Christopher Hennig.

In the final 40 minutes, Belgium maintained their momentum and, in an almost eventless second half, added two more tries and a penalty to their tally, earning their first win of the campaign.

With this result, Romania clinched second place in Pool B, meaning Belgium will host the Netherlands while Germany face Switzerland in two weeks.

Switzerland create history
The game of the pool stages. There is little argument as Switzerland and the Netherlands stole the show, with the Swiss coming out on top in a 28-23 contest, delivering a monumental upset that has shaken up this year’s Men’s Rugby Europe Championship.

While the hosts were deserved winners in the end, the Dutch started well, picking up the first points of the match following a strong solo effort from winger Bjorn Dolman.

Vikas Meijer added the extras and later converted a halfway-line penalty to give the Netherlands a 10-point lead, before Jules Porcher responded with a penalty of his own.

Meijer landed another kick and, when it seemed everything was going the Oranje’s way, the Swiss hit back with a two-try burst.

First, winger Cyril Fluckiger grounded the ball in the corner, followed by Nicolas Mousties, who crashed over after a quick lineout move. With Porcher adding the extras, Switzerland led 15-13 when Diogo Miranda blew for half-time.

With third place on the line, the Netherlands emerged from the break looking refreshed, quickly retaking the lead through a 50-metre penalty from Meijer and a try in the corner by Sem Verplancke.

However, as in the first half, Switzerland responded in style, with Gaëtan Hirsch intercepting a loose pass and kicking ahead to set up Lucas Schmid for a try.

With the Dutch on the back foot, Switzerland sensed their chance and, with five minutes left, Porcher produced a moment of inspiration.

The fly-half chipped a short cross-kick to find Schmid on the wing, with the full-back offloading to Jonathan Dallet, who sprinted in unopposed. As Porcher left on a stretcher following the move, Willy Gonnet took over the kicking duties and added the conversion.

The Netherlands threw everything at it, but Switzerland mounted an impressive defensive effort to secure their first-ever win over the Dutch.

Switzerland will now host Germany in the ranking semi-finals, with the winner retaining their place in the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship. The Netherlands travel to Belgium, setting up a Low Countries derby in two weeks.

Portugal with record win over Romania
Mannix’s Lobos were unstoppable as they secured a 44-7 win over Romania at the Estádio Nacional do Jamor, recording their biggest ever victory against their long-time rivals.

Samuel Marques converted a penalty to give Portugal the lead five minutes into the game. Rodrigo Marta, Simão Bento and Vincent Pinto followed, with the centre, full-back and wing racing over to establish a 20-point lead before the 15-minute mark.

Diogo Hasse Ferreira was yellow-carded for head contact on Eduard Cioroaba. While Portugal were down to 14 players, Romania scored their only try of the game, with prop Alexandru Savin powering over.

Unfortunately for the Stejarii, the hosts remained relentless and added another try before the break.

If the opening half had not been one-sided enough, Portugal underlined their dominance with three more tries, with Romania unable to respond.

With Marques leading the Lobos, they dominated across the park until the final whistle, setting a new scoring benchmark against Romania.

With the pool stages complete, Portugal will face Spain for a place in the final, while Romania take on the daunting task of facing Georgia in Tbilisi.