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2009 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship

The 2009 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 18 national rugby union teams in Europe.[1] The event was organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER).[2] The competition was contested by 32 men's junior national teams and was held in early April 2009. It was hosted by the French region of Var - Côte d'Azur, with the final held in Toulon.

2009 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship
Tournament details
Host nation France
Dates4 April 2009 – 11 April 2009
No. of nations32
Final positions
Champions  France
Runner-up  England
Tournament statistics
Matches played48
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The tournament was won by France, who won its fourth European championship and its third in a row,[1] with England finishing runners-up. The tournament marked forty years of international age grade rugby on the European continent, 1969 having been the year when the first European Under 19 competition was held.[3]

It was sponsored by French company Justin Bridou and therefore officially called the 2009 Justin Bridou European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship.[2]

Overview edit

History edit

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.[1]

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 three championships were held in Biarritz, Treviso again, and Toulon in 2009. All three were taken out by France, but of Europes top rugby playing nations, Wales and Scotland did not take part in the latest editions.[1]

Format edit

The championship, similar to previous editions, was organised in an A, B, C and D Division, with A being the highest and D 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.[2]

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.[2]

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.[2]

The winner of the A division was crowned European champions while the eighth placed team would originally be relegated to the B division. Similarly, the winner of B, C and D division would move up a division for 2010 while the last placed teams would nominally be relegated. This meant, France was crowned European champions while Italy finished on the relegation spot, but was reprieved of relegation by England choosing not to participate in the 2010 tournament. Germany won the B division, Czech Republic the C division and Luxembourg the D. The last placed teams, for the same reason as Italy, were all spared relegation, too.[2]

With a Côte d'Azur Selection, a non-national team took part to provide even numbers in all four divisions.[2] With Armenia and Monaco, two teams took part that hadn't taken part in previous editions and would not do so again in 2010, while Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had played the previous two tournaments, did also not take part in 2010.

The teams of England, Italy and Ireland at the tournament were B selections, as these nations had committed themselves to an Under-18 Festival in Parma, Italy, where Wales and Scotland also took part. The French team however opted to take part in the European Championship instead.[3]

Venues edit

The games of the 2009 championship were played at the following locations:[2]

Teams and final standings edit

The participating teams and their final standings were:[2]

Games edit

The results of the games:[2]

A Division edit

Championship edit

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
  France 59
  Belgium 5
  France 78
  Romania 3
  Italy 13
  Romania 27
  France 20
  England 19
  Ireland 32
  Russia 5
  Ireland 0
  England 7
  England 60
  Georgia 3
3rd Place Final
   
1   Ireland 51
2   Romania 10

Relegation edit

Semi-finals 5th Place Final
      
1   Belgium 28
4   Italy 9
  Belgium 18
  Russia 7
3   Russia 18
2   Georgia 17
7th Place Final
   
1   Georgia 18
2   Italy 3

B Division edit

Championship edit

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
  Spain 69
   Switzerland 12
  Spain 14
  Portugal 15
  Portugal 39
  Ukraine 0
  Portugal 3
  Germany 11
  Poland 20
  Lithuania 13
  Poland 0
  Germany 27
  Germany 31
  Netherlands 0
3rd Place Final
   
1   Spain 43
2   Poland 10

Relegation edit

Semi-finals 5th Place Final
      
1    Switzerland 6
4   Ukraine 15
  Ukraine 3
  Netherlands 54
3   Lithuania 8
2   Netherlands 31
7th Place Final
   
1   Lithuania 66
2    Switzerland 0

C Division edit

Championship edit

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
  Czech Republic 83
  Serbia 0
  Czech Republic 91
  Bulgaria 0
  Bulgaria 15
  Latvia 13
  Czech Republic 27
  Sweden 21
  Hungary 21
  Denmark 12
  Hungary 17
  Sweden 17
  Sweden 42
  Austria 0
3rd Place Final
   
1   Hungary 15
2   Bulgaria 0
  • The Hungary Sweden semi final was decided on number of tries scored, which Sweden won 3-2.

Relegation edit

Semi-finals 5th Place Final
      
1   Serbia 31
4   Latvia 3
  Serbia 24
  Denmark 33
3   Denmark 24
2   Austria 10
7th Place Final
   
1   Latvia 12
2   Austria 8

D Division edit

Championship edit

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
  Israel 10
  Monaco 29
  Israel 6
  Croatia 33
  Moldova 22
  Croatia 24
  Croatia 19
  Luxembourg 24
  Luxembourg 15
  Côte d'Azur Selection 52
  Luxembourg 20
  Armenia 5
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 5
  Armenia 13
3rd Place Final
   
1   Israel 10
2   Armenia 25

Relegation edit

Semi-finals 5th Place Final
      
1   Monaco 13
4   Moldova 30
  Moldova 45
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 14
3   Côte d'Azur Selection 34
2   Bosnia and Herzegovina 10
7th Place Final
   
1   Monaco 3
2   Côte d'Azur Selection 29
  • Quarter-final awarded to Israel after problems linked to Monacos players eligibility.
  • Quarter and semi final awarded to opposition after problems linked to Côte d'Azur Selection players eligibility.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d 2010 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship official website - History Archived 2011-03-13 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 5 May 2010
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j U18 - 2009 FIRA-AER Justin Bridou European Championship FIRA-AER website, accessed: 5 May 2010
  3. ^ a b c Forty years of age grade growth in Europe Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine IRB website, published: 16 April 2009, accessed: 5 May 2010

External links edit

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