Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship Explained

Current Season:2023 Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship
Sport:Rugby union
Founded:2004
Teams:8 (2023)
Country:Europe (Rugby Europe)
Season:2023
Count:8

The Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship is an annual rugby union championship for Under-18 national teams, held since 2004. The championship is organised by rugby's European governing body, Rugby Europe.[1]

It has been held alternatingly in France and Italy, except for 2012 when it was held in Spain. The past editions were won by France, who won the championship in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and England, which won it in 2005, 2006 and 2012.[2] Ireland became the third nation to win the tournament when they beat England in the 2011 final.

History

The European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was first held in 2004, in Treviso, Italy. It replaced the previously held European Under-18 Emergent Nations Championship, which had first been held in 2000.[3] The first championship in 2004 was won by France.

The following two championships, held in Lille, France, in 2005 and again in Treviso in 2006, were won by England. Alternating between France and Italy, the next four championships were held in Biarritz, Treviso again, Toulon and once more in Treviso in 2010. All four were won by France. Wales and Scotland did not compete in those years, and England did not compete in 2010.

The 2011 edition of the competition saw the introduction of an elite division, above division one, the former A, made up of four teams, France, England, Wales and Ireland. The divisions below remained unchanged. It marked the first time that all countries participating in the six nations send a team to the European championship. The 2011 tournament was held in the regions of Armagnac and Bigorre, in southern France.[4] It was won by Ireland and saw the French team not reaching the final for the first time.

England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy left the tournament for the 2016 edition.

On March 12, 2020, following the recent evolution of COVID-19, Rugby Europe has announced a suspension of all its matches and tournaments, from Friday, March 13, 2020 until April 15, 2020.[5] On March 26 Rugby Europe has decided to extend the suspension of all its matches and tournaments for an indefinite period of time.[6] On April 8 Rugby Europe Board of Directors decided to cancel 2019 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship.[7]

Format

In 2010, the championship, similar to previous editions, was organised in an A, B and C Division, with A being the highest and C the lowest. Each division consisted of eight teams and each team played three competition games, with a quarter final, semi final and final/placing game.[8] The D division, unlike in the past, was held in a separate tournament in 2010.

The quarter finals were played according to a seeding list, with the winners moving on to the first to fourth place semi finals while the losers would enter the fifth to eighth place semi finals.

The winners of the semi-finals one to four would play in the division final while the losers would play for third place. Similarly, the winners of the fifth to eighth semi finals would play for fifth place while the losers would play for seventh.

The winner of the A division was crowned European champions while the eighth placed team would be relegated to the B division. Similarly, the winner of B and C division would move up a division for 2011 while the last placed teams would be relegated. This meant, France was crowned European champions while Romania finished on the relegation spot. Portugal won the B division and earned promotion while the Ukraine was relegated and replaced by Sweden, the C champions.

The 2011 format saw the introduction of a four-team elite division. Below this level, the divisions remained unchanged but were now numbered instead of being ordered by letters.[4]

In 2012 the modus was changed once more. The elite division now consisted of eight teams, as did the A and B divisions, with all three played at the same time and location while the C division consisted of four and the D division of three teams and were played separately.

Championship finals

Emergent nations championship

Year Host width=1% rowspan=6Final width=1% rowspan=6Third place match
width=15%Winner width=8%Score width=15%Runner-up width=15%3rd place width=8%Score width=15%4th place
2000 [9] Sofia56 – 1728 – 10
2001 Split37 – 679 – 0
2002 Prague5 – 025 – 0
2003Amsterdam24 – 529 – 7

European championship

Year Host width=1% rowspan=22Final width=1% rowspan=22Third place match
width=15%Winner width=8%Score width=15%Runner-up width=15%3rd place width=8%Score width=15%4th place
12004 [10] Treviso32–019–6
22005 [11] Lille16–910–6
32006 [12] Treviso15–729–3
42007 [13] Dax8–8(Pen. 4 – 3)52–9
52008 [14] Treviso12–521–5
62009 [15] Toulon20–1951–10
72010 [16] Treviso27–318–15
82011 [17] Tarbes17–815–6
92012 [18] Madrid25–1310–7
102013 [19] Grenoble27–2240–0
112014 [20] Poznan30–1431–30
122015 [21] Toulouse57–039–12
132016 [22] Lisbon42–015–10
142017 Quimperlé36–1822–16
152018 [23] Poznan8–317–0
162019 [24] Kaliningrad20–1038–27
-2020 [25] KaliningradCancelledCancelled
172021 [26] Kaliningrad27–046–7
182022[27] 34–1040–6
192023[28] Prague19–326–13

Divisional champions

Emergent nations championship 2000 to 2003:

YearA
2000
2001
2002
2003

The divisional champions from 2004 to 2010:

YearABCD
2004Not held
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

The divisional champions after the reorganisation in 2011:

YearEliteABCD
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

The divisional champions after the reorganisation in 2016:

YearEliteTrophyConference 1Conference 2
2016
2017
2018Not held
2019Not held
2020Cancelled
2021
2022

Placings

The placings in the championship in order of the 2019 results:

Team2004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202120222023
6566673366722211111
8188421588863343222
1821832131255432333
6714653721772287654
7715548745348368785
3235154617624575446
767781547683353787
2522186847247158
24423164245364166
56777678521171545
122111143241112
535324451346162
833177738562614
4 56656863341486
54421535435577
318857447816828
185862211277141
7486843335152
816423228322533
2355153423674
465
673144872243386
21144
46457566413123
8221631665832
7646223322
45
3536
21133221113
343448527764
34535
5223212327
43415458
527332126818
6176878118
4654
3
Côte d'Azur Selection 7
8
Elite DivisionA Division/TrophyB Division/Conference 1C Division/Conference 2D Division

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=166 U18 - 2010 FIRA-AER Justin Bridou European Championship
  2. http://mediaofficina.com/rugbyeu18/albo-doro/ 2010 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship official website - History
  3. http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/regional/newsid=2030622.html Forty years of age grade growth in Europe
  4. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/article-127.htm U18 - 6 Nations play off
  5. Web site: Statement - Suspension of Games & Tournaments Rugby Europe . www.rugbyeurope.eu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200319193817/https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/statement-suspension-games-tournaments . 2020-03-19.
  6. Web site: Statement: Competitions Suspension Extended Rugby Europe . www.rugbyeurope.eu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200326074635/https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/statement-competitions-suspension-extended . 2020-03-26.
  7. Web site: COVID-19 Statement: Board of Directors.
  8. http://mediaofficina.com/rugbyeu18/calendario-fixtures/ 2010 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship official website - Fixtures
  9. Web site: Site Officiel de la FIRA A.E.R. - Compétitions Juniors . 2001-07-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010709183419/http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/eng/compjunior2000.html . 2001-07-09 . live .
  10. Web site: Rugby Union European Competitions.
  11. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=43 FIRA-AER website - 2005 results
  12. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=77 FIRA-AER website - 2006 results
  13. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=96 FIRA-AER website - 2007 results
  14. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=110 FIRA-AER website - 2008 results
  15. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=146 FIRA-AER website - 2009 results
  16. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition_detail.php?compet=166 FIRA-AER website - 2010 results
  17. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition-11.htm FIRA-AER website - 2011 groups
  18. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition-36.htm FIRA-AER website - 2012 groups
  19. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition-57.htm FIRA-AER website - 2013 groups
  20. http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/competition-72.htm FIRA-AER website - 2014 groups
  21. http://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competition-106.htm FIRA-AER website - 2015 groups
  22. http://www.rugbyeurope.eu/group-288.htm FIRA-AER website - 2016 groups
  23. http://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/2018-u18-men-xv-championship Rugby Europe website - 2018 edition
  24. http://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/2019-u18-men-xv-championship Rugby Europe website - 2019 edition
  25. https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/2020-u18-championship 2020 - U18 Championship
  26. Web site: U18 Championship 2021.
  27. Web site: U18 Championship 2022.
  28. Web site: U18 Championship 2023.