1996–97 FIRA Tournament

European rugby union championship 1996–97 FIRA Tournament 22 November 1996 – 17 May 1997 BEL CZE DNK GEO 1990 DEU MAR NLD POL PRT RUSESPTUN ESP 24 1995–1997 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy 1997–1998 1997–1998 FIRA Tournament The 1996–97 FIRA Tournament was the 32nd edition of the European rugby union championship for national teams organized by the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA). France, Italy and Romania did not participate, because of other appointments. France and Italy had to play the final of the previous trophy, due to the large number of international matches, only on 23 March 1997, after this tournament was started. Both countries were not interested in continuing their participation in the FIRA senior competitions and this would be their last presence at the competition. The tournament had a new formula. Twelve teams were divided into four pools of 3 teams each. After a round robin, they were ranked in 3 groups to define the ranking, also valid to divide the teams for the second round qualification to the 1999 Rugby World Cup. There was no second division, the other 18 European teams played the first round of qualification to the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Spain and Portugal qualified for the First Place final, which was won 25-18 by the Spaniards. First round Pool A main WDL Q points 2 1 ESP ESP BEL BEL DEU DEU 2 0 0 102 17 1 0 1 24 80 0 0 2 20 49 #ccffcc Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals Q1 #ffffcc Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals Q5 #ffcccc Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals Q9 complete 16 November 1996 BEL 24–3 DEU Brussels 24 November 1996 DEU 17–25 ESP Fritz Grunebaum Stadium, Heidelberg ROM M. Paraschivescu 8 December 1996 ESP 77–0 BEL Madrid Pool B main WDL Q points 2 1 GEO GEO 1990 RUS RUS CZE CZE 2 0 0 47 34 1 0 1 57 43 0 0 2 28 55 #ccffcc Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals Q1 #ffffcc Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals Q5 #ffcccc Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals Q9 complete 22 September 1996 CZE 14–18 GEO 1990 Tatra Simchov Stadium, Prague 20 October 1996 GEO 1990 29–20 RUS National Stadium, Tbilisi FRA G. Barrabes Kavtararhvili, Modebadze, Nadiradze Boldakov Machitidze Machitidze (2) Boldakov (5) Iurini, Machitidze 26 October 1996 RUS 37–14 CZE Fili Stadium, Moscow LIT A. Grombinas Pool C main WDL Q points 2 1 PRT PRT TUN TUN NLD NLD 2 0 0 66 17 1 0 1 26 26 0 0 2 26 75 #ccffcc Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals Q1 #ffffcc Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals Q5 #ffcccc Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals Q9 complete 27 October 1996 NLD 15–20 TUN Leiden 24 November 1996 PRT 55–11 NLD Lisbon University Stadium, Lisbon 7 December 1996 TUN 6–11 PRT Tunis Pool D main WDL Q points 2 1 POL POL MAR MAR DNK DNK 2 0 0 33 26 1 0 1 33 22 0 0 2 15 33 #ccffcc Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals Q1 #ffffcc Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals Q5 #ffcccc Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals Q9 complete 28 September 1996 POL 16–10 DNK Danzig 19 October 1996 MAR 16–17 POL Casablanca 2 November 1996 DNK 5–17 MAR Copenhagen Second round First to Fourth places Semifinals 19 April 1997 PRT 21–17 GEO 1990 Lisbon University Stadium, Lisbon FRA A. Fernandez Pires (2) Nadiradze Amaral Mourão (3) Modebadze (3) Machididze 20 April 1997 ESP 44–10 POL Campo Universitario, Madrid 5th to 8th places Semifinals 20 April 1997 BEL 9–14 MAR Brussels 20 April 1997 TUN 25–30 RUS Tunis 9th to 12th places Semifinals 20 April 1997 DNK 8–13 DEU Aalborg 19 April 1997 CZE 19–18 NLD Prague Finals First Place Final 11 May 1997 ESP 25–18 PRT Campo Universitário, Madrid Gutíerrez Merelles, Puertas Soto, C. Souto Bento, Portela Aurrekeotxea Arregui (2) Mourão Aurrekeotxea Arregui (2) Mourão (2) Spain: Francisco Puertas Soto, 14. Daniel Saenz Lobsack, 13. Álvar Enciso, 12. Pablo Calderón Sole, 11. Francisco Fernández Jiménez, 10. Unai Aurrekoetxea Arregui, 9. Aratz Gallastegui, 8. Carlos Souto, 7. Jaime Gutiérrez Merelles, 6. Diego Fuks Mitelmann, 5. Steve Tuineau Iloa, 4. José Miguel Villaú, 3. Víctor Torres, 2. Javier Aguiar Cayetano, 1. José Ignacio Zapatero - replacements: 16. Fernando de la Calle, 17. Oscar Solano Sevilla Portugal: 15. Salvador Amaral, 14. António Rebelo Andrade, 13. João Bento, 12. Pedro Castro, 11. Marcello d'Orey, 10. Joaquim Ferreira, 9. Rohan Hoffmann, 8. Ricardo Vieira, 7. João Varela, 6. Paulo Silva, 5. Alcino Silva, 4. Miguel Portela, 3. Luís Pissarra, 2. José Pires, 1. Nuno Mourão - replacements: 16. António Cláudio, 17. Gonçalo Neto, 18. Luís Sequeira, 19. Sérgio Azevedo, 20. Sérgio Ferreira 3rd-place final 10 May 1997 POL 29–23 GEO 1990 Ogniwo, Sopot GER K. Blank Fedorowicz, Wróbel Katsadze, Andghuladze Szwichtenberg, Wróbel Iruni (2) Szymański (2), Urbanowicz (2) Iurini (3) 5th-place final 17 May 1997 MAR 20–7 RUS Settat 7th-place final 10 May 1997 BEL 22–29 TUN Brussels 9th-place final 11 May 1997 CZE 9–14 DEU Prague 11th-place final 10 May 1997 NLD 48–5 DNK Amsterdam Final ranking ESP PRT POL GEO 1990 MAR RUS TUN BEL DEU CZE NLD DEN Bibliography it Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) 88-87374-40-6. it Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999). External links 1996-97 FIRA Tournament at ESPN 1996-97 Category:1996–97 in European rugby union Category:1996 rugby union tournaments for national teams Category:1997 rugby union tournaments for national teams