1996–97 FIRA Tournament

1996–97 FIRA Tournament
Date 22 November 1996 – 17 May 1997
Countries  Belgium
 Czech Republic
 Denmark
 Georgia
 Germany
 Morocco
 Netherlands
 Poland
 Portugal
 Russia
 Spain
 Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Champions  Spain
Matches played 24
← 1995–1997 (Previous) (Next) 1997–1998 →

The 1996–97 FIRA tournament was a rugby union tournament organized by the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA).

Italy, France and Romania did not participate, in order to privilege other appointments. Italy and France were not interested to continue to participate in the FIRA senior competitions. Really, the two teams had to play the final of the previous trophy. Due to the great number of matches, also for the European competitions reserved to clubs, they could play the final only on 23 March 1997, after this tournament was started.

The tournament had a new formula. Twelwe teams were divided into four pools of 3 teams. 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 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.

First Round

Pool A

Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals
Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals
Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Spain 220010217+856
2 Belgium 2101 2480−564
3 Germany 2002 2049−292
16 November 1996
Belgium  24–3  Germany
24 November 1996
Germany  17–25  Spain
8 December 1996
Spain  77–0  Belgium

Pool B

Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals
Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals
Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Georgia22004734+136
2 Russia 21015743+144
3 Czech Republic 20022855−272
22 September 1996
Czech Republic  14–18  Georgia
20 October 1996
Georgia  29–20  Russia
26 October 1996
Russia  37–14  Czech Republic

Pool C

Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals
Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals
Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Portugal 22006617+496
2 Tunisia 21012626 04
3 Netherlands 20022675−492
27 October 1996
Netherlands  15–20  Tunisia
24 November 1996
Portugal  55–11  Netherlands
7 December 1996
Tunisia  6–11  Portugal

Pool D

Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals
Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals
Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals
Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against diff.
1 Poland 22003326 +76
2 Morocco 21013322+114
3 Denmark 20021533−182
28 September 1996
Poland  16–10  Denmark
19 October 1996
Morocco  16–17  Poland
2 November 1996
Denmark  5–17  Morocco

Second round

19 April 1997
Portugal  21–17  Georgia
20 April 1997
Spain  44–10  Poland
20 April 1997
Belgium  9–14  Morocco
20 April 1997
Tunisia  25–30  Russia
20 April 1997
Denmark  8–13  Germany
19 April 1997
Czech Republic  19–18  Netherlands

Finals

11 May 1997
Spain  25–18  Portugal
10 May 1997
Poland  29–23  Georgia
17 May 1997
Morocco  20–7  Russia
10 May 1997
Belgium  22–29  Tunisia
11 May 1997
Czech Republic  9–14  Germany
10 May 1997
Netherlands  48–5  Denmark

Final Ranking

1.  Spain
2. Portugal
3. Poland
4. Georgia
5. Morocco
6. Russia
7. Tunisia
8. Belgium
9. Germany
10. Czech Republic
11. Netherlands
12. Denmark

Bibliography

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, July 15, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.