Georgia, Romania, Spain and Portugal could all seal men’s Rugby Europe Championship semi-final places and, more importantly, Rugby World Cup 2027 qualification this weekend with wins.
All four of the sides recorded bonus point victories in round one of pool play last weekend and know that if they can defeat Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany respectively in the coming days then they would have double reason to celebrate.
However, the four latter teams know that if any of them can win this weekend then their Championship semi-final hopes and their Rugby World Cup 2027 automatic qualification spots via this route would still be ‘alive’.
There will still be an opportunity to go to the Rugby World Cup via the Final Qualification Tournament for the team finishing the competition in 5th place.
As a result, there is plenty to play for and there is likely to be plenty of thrills and spills.
The first game of the weekend comes in Pool A when reigning champions Georgia, fresh from a 110-0 thumping of Switzerland, host Netherlands in the Avchala Rugby Stadium in Tbilisi at 3pm local time (11am UTC) on Saturday.
"The preparation week went well, better than the first game week as the team adopted better this time. We are ready to play against the Netherlands. The fact that this is a World Cup qualifier will increase our motivation to some extent, although we have not reduced our efforts so far.
"We defeated Switzerland by a record-breaking margin and I am grateful to have been a part of this team last weekend." added Georgia's Captain Beka Saginadze.
Netherlands lost 53-24 to Spain last week and know they will be underdogs again this time around.
Belgium-Romania in Pool B then comes on Saturday night at 8pm local time (7pm UTC) at the Stade Charles Tondreau in Mons.
In losing 40-30 to Portugal on the road last week, Belgium certainly show they have what it takes to battle with the best teams in this competition on their day and skipper Jens Torfs said: “It was a tough loss last time out.
“We need to be better in defence this week while in attack we want to keep building from the Portugal game as there were plenty of positives.”
Romania saw off Germany 48-10 last week and their stand-off Hinckley Vaovasa said: “It was good to get a convincing win in front of our home crowd versus Germany.
“It was a tough fought battle last week against Germany, we started a bit slowly, but got the job done in the end. We’re excited for the challenge against Belgium this week and it is probably the biggest game some of us boys will ever have played in.”
Sunday sees two more matches taking place.
First up, in Pool A Switzerland play their first ever home game at this level against Spain at the Stade Municipal in Yverdon-Les-Bains at 2pm local time (1pm UTC).
Cyril Lin, the Swiss skipper, said: “After a tough game versus Georgia, our focus now is on relentless improvement.
“Hard work, consistent effort and a commitment to growth are essential and the development of rugby in Switzerland is crucial to strengthening our squad depth.
“The federation and coaching staff have already made significant strides in supporting player development within the Swiss league and we must build on this foundation. The individual commitment of each player - pushing themselves to be the best from an early age - will be key to our progress.
“And we need to raise the profile of rugby in Switzerland and a match like this can do that. We are looking forward to this weekend.”
Spain captain Jon Zabala said: “Last week was part one of our two part objective.
“We know that we need two wins in a row to secure a Rugby World Cup 2027 place and we will be fully focused on a second win this weekend.”
Portugal-Germany in Pool B rounds off an exciting weekend at the Estadio do Restelo in Lisbon at 5.15pm local time (5.15pm UTC) on Sunday.
The Portugal head coach Simon Mannix said: “We were pleased to win in the end versus Belgium and we scored some good tries, but defensively we need to be better this weekend.”
Oliver Stein, the Germany skipper, said: “We had a strong first half against Romania, making them work hard, but we lacked the stamina and experience to sustain it in the second half.
“Looking ahead, we've preparing intensely for Portugal who are a team with a very different strategy to Romania. I'm excited to give everything on the pitch this Sunday with the boys.”
By Gary Heatly
