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
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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. Twelve 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

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Spain	2	2	0	0	102	17	+85	6
2	Belgium	2	1	0	1	24	80	−56	4
3	Germany	2	0	0	2	20	49	−29	2

16 November 1996

Belgium	24–3	Germany

Brussels

24 November 1996

Germany	17–25	Spain

Heidelberg

8 December 1996

Spain	77–0	Belgium

Madrid

Pool B

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Georgia	2	2	0	0	47	34	+13	6
2	Russia	2	1	0	1	57	43	+14	4
3	Czech Republic	2	0	0	2	28	55	−27	2

22 September 1996

Czech Republic	14–18	Georgia

Prague

20 October 1996

Georgia	29–20	Russia

Tblisi

26 October 1996

Russia	37–14	Czech Republic

Moscow

Pool C

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Portugal	2	2	0	0	66	17	+49	6
2	Tunisia	2	1	0	1	26	26	0	4
3	Netherlands	2	0	0	2	26	75	−49	2

27 October 1996

Netherlands	15–20	Tunisia

Leiden

24 November 1996

Portugal	55–11	Netherlands

Lisbon

7 December 1996

Tunisia	6–11	Portugal

Tunis

Pool D

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Poland	2	2	0	0	33	26	+7	6
2	Morocco	2	1	0	1	33	22	+11	4
3	Denmark	2	0	0	2	15	33	−18	2

28 September 1996

Poland	16–10	Denmark

Danzig

19 October 1996

Morocco	16–17	Poland

Casablanca

2 November 1996

Denmark	5–17	Morocco

Copenhagen

Second round

• First to Fourth places Semifinals

19 April 1997

Portugal	21–17	Georgia

Lisbon

20 April 1997

Spain	44–10	Poland

Madrid

• 5th to 8th places Semifinals

20 April 1997

Belgium	9–14	Morocco

Brussels

20 April 1997

Tunisia	25–30	Russia

Tunis

• 9th to 12th places Semifinals

20 April 1997

Denmark	8–13	Germany

Aalborg

19 April 1997

Czech Republic	19–18	Netherlands

Prague

Finals

• First Place Final

11 May 1997

Spain	25–18	Portugal

Madrid

• 3rd Place Final

10 May 1997

Poland	29–23	Georgia

Sopot

• 5th Place Final

17 May 1997

Morocco	20–7	Russia

Settat

• 7th Place Final

10 May 1997

Belgium	22–29	Tunisia

Brussels

• 9th Place Final

11 May 1997

Czech Republic	9–14	Germany

Prague

• 11th Place Final

10 May 1997

Netherlands	48–5	Denmark

Amsterdam

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

• (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) ISBN 88-87374-40-6.
• (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).

External links

• FIRA-AER official website