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Switzerland thrashed again as REC pool stages wrapped up
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, while the Netherlands and Belgium will also be hosts in the fight for a chance to reach the Rugby World Cup repechage tournament.
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Bulldozing Oranje confirm 3rd place in Pool A
In a fully packed National Rugby Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands clinched their biggest Test Match win, convincingly defeating Switzerland in a 76-0-point contest.
The locals started in great fashion, bagging their first five-pointer two minutes into the game, following a good run by centre Olivia Sialau.
They would proceed to score seven more tries before the break, with number-eight Christopher Raymond earning a brace while Spike Salman, Vikas Meijer, Te Campbell, and Boris Hadinegoro got one each, plus a penalty try.
Switzerland had conceded several penalties in the first half and were shown two yellow cards in the opening half.
The Oranje didn’t take the foot off the gas after the break, and immediately scored their ninth try, again by Stade Aurillacois scrum half Boris Hadinegoro. The Dutch were completely in control of the match flow and kept pressuring the Swiss opposition.
The home side added four more five-pointers until the match official called it a day, with Te Campbell getting his second, while Mees van Oord, Bjorn Dolman and David Weersma bagged one each.
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Netherlands will now face Germany in the first weekend of March, with a Men’s Rugby World Cup repechage spot still in play.
Insatiable Lobos get top spot in Pool B
The Stejarii welcomed Portugal at the Stadionul Municipal in Boto?ani, with the visitors earning a convincing 34-6 win, a record win for the Lobos in their games against Romania.
Both teams locked horns in the match’s first quarter, with Raffaele Storti untying the knot and finding his way to the try area, following a powerful maul drive.
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Romania was unable to pierce through the visitors’ 22 and scored its only three points of the first half, thanks to a penalty kick successfully converted by Alin Conache.
Simon Mannix’s men added a second try before the break, with Luka Begic cashing in after another powerful maul drive. Portugal was leading by 12 points to three with 40 minutes still to go.
Portugal was in complete control of the match flow, putting up one of their best defensive performances since the 2023 Men’s Rugby World Cup, and would eventually score their third five-pointer.
After gathering a kick, Stade Montois Simão Bento broke through the opposition’s defence and set up a sensational move, finished by Nicolás Martins.
Ten minutes later, Romania kicked for the poles to add another three points, again from Conache’s boot. Samuel Marques exchanged pleasantries and added three points of his own.
With fifteen minutes to go, the visitors turned up the game’s tempo and pushed Romania into a corner, further expanding their lead with two more tries. Replacement fly-half Manuel Vareiro scored his first international try before Vasco Baptista dived inside the try-area to close the game.
Portugal will host Spain in the Estádio Nacional for the chance to reach a third consecutive Men’s Rugby Europe Championship final.
Lelos brush Leones aside in Madrid
Richard Cockerill’s Georgia continued their invincible run in the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship, with the visiting side earning a 62-32 victory over Spain at the Estadio Nacional Complutense.
The Lelos were ruthless in the Spanish capital, producing one of their best performances of the last year, scoring ten tries and 62 points to defeat a spirited Spain, who was in the lead ten minutes in.
Georgia struck first following a try from Valence-Romans’s flanker Ilia Spanderashvili, but a Spanish converted try and a penalty conversion put the locals in the lead.
However, Georgia quickly turned things around and added two more tries to their tally, showing total dominance in the set-piece and the physical contest. Leones fly-half Gonzalo Vinuesa still converted two more penalties before another Georgian assault to the Spanish in-goal area.
In under fifteen minutes, the visiting side forced their way through the opposition’s defence, placing the oval ball down three times. Just before half-time, both teams were downsized to a 13-man contest as match-official Eoghan Cross yellow-carded Kerman Aurrekoetxea, Gonzalo Vinuesa, Giorgi Kveseladze and Mikheili Babunashvili.
At the break, Georgia was leading 34-13 with another 40 minutes to go.
Georgia amplified their advantage three minutes after the short rest, with Akaki Tabutsadze getting his second try of the game. This was his 45th try, equaling Julian Savea, Joe Rokocoko and Christian Cullen in 10th spot in the World’s try-scoring table.
Until the match’s conclusion, Spain and Georgia scored three tries each, with the Lelos playing the last twenty minutes down to 14 men, as Giorgi Kveseladze was sent off following a second yellow card.
With this result, Georgia clinches a home semifinal and, in case they qualify for the competition’s final, they will have the right to host it in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. As for Spain, they will now travel to Portugal to play for a shot to reach the competition’s final.
Clinical Belgium can still dream of World Cup qualification
On the weekend’s last game, Germany hosted Belgium at Kessel’s Auestadion with the visiting side doing enough to earn a 39-19 victory to claim a home semifinal.
The hosts were hoping for an upset, but it was the visitors taking control of the ball and dictating the game’s flow from the very start.
A Hugo de Francq penalty kick gifted Belgium an early lead, and they would proceed to extend it ten minutes later when wing Dazzy Cornez touched the ball down for his team’s first try.
The Diable Noirs bagged a second five-pointer just before halftime and exited to a brief rest with an 18-point advantage.
Belgium kept their momentum going, and after a series of powerful carries it would be number eight Felipe Geraghty finding the whitewash. Germany’s first of three tries came from Leo Wolf, with the centre successfully blocking a Belgian kick to gather the ball and rush over the try-line.
The visitors kept their cool and again mounted a heavy-pressure defence, forcing Germany backwards, scoring two more tries to increase their lead.
Even with an impending defeat, Germany never gave up and worked well enough to add twelve points.
With a first win in this year’s Men’s REC, Belgium earned a home semifinal against Switzerland, in the race to reach the 2025 World Rugby Repechage tournament.
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Portugal flying, Georgia also …. although Spain put up some resistance.
Can Portugal get the better of Georgia this year?
Belgium are in with a great shout of being in the Reperchage RWC playoff.
Their supporters are the loudest in the world. I hope they make it!