1996–97 FIRA Tournament
Date22 November 1996 – 17 May 1997
Countries Belgium
 Czech Republic
 Denmark
 Georgia
 Germany
 Morocco
 Netherlands
 Poland
 Portugal
 Russia
 Spain
 Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Champions Spain
Matches played24
← 1995–1997 (Previous) (Next) 1997–1998 →

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, in order to privilege 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 to continue to participate 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. 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.

Spain and Portugal qualified for the First Place final, which was won by the Spaniards by 25-18.

First round

Pool A

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 2 2 0 0 102 17 +85 6 Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals
2  Belgium 2 1 0 1 24 80 −56 4 Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals
3  Germany 2 0 0 2 20 49 −29 2 Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals
Source:
16 November 1996
Belgium 24–3 Germany
Brussels
24 November 1996
Germany 17–25 Spain
Fritz Grunebaum Stadium, Heidelberg
Referee: Romania M. Paraschivescu
8 December 1996
Spain 77–0 Belgium
Madrid

Pool B

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Georgia 2 2 0 0 47 34 +13 6 Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals
2  Russia 2 1 0 1 57 43 +14 4 Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals
3  Czech Republic 2 0 0 2 28 55 −27 2 Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals
Source:
22 September 1996
Czech Republic 14–18 Georgia
Tatra Simchov Stadium, Prague
20 October 1996
Georgia 29–20 Russia
Try: Kavtararhvili, Modebadze, Nadiradze
Con: Machitidze
Pen: Machitidze (2)
Drop: Iurini, Machitidze		Try: Boldakov
Pen: Boldakov (5)
National Stadium, Tbilisi
Referee: France G. Barrabes
26 October 1996
Russia 37–14 Czech Republic
Fili Stadium, Moscow
Referee: Lithuania A. Grombinas

Pool C

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Portugal 2 2 0 0 66 17 +49 6 Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals
2  Tunisia 2 1 0 1 26 26 0 4 Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals
3  Netherlands 2 0 0 2 26 75 −49 2 Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals
Source:
27 October 1996
Netherlands 15–20 Tunisia
Leiden
7 December 1996
Tunisia 6–11 Portugal
Tunis

Pool D

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1  Poland 2 2 0 0 33 26 +7 6 Qualified for 1–4th-place semifinals
2  Morocco 2 1 0 1 33 22 +11 4 Qualified for 5–8th-place semifinals
3  Denmark 2 0 0 2 15 33 −18 2 Qualified for 9–12th-place semifinals
Source:
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
Try: Pires (2)
Con: Amaral
Pen: Mourão (3)		Try: Nadiradze
Pen: Modebadze (3)
Drop: Machididze
Lisbon University Stadium, Lisbon
Referee: France A. Fernandez
20 April 1997
Spain 44–10 Poland
Campo Universitario, 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 Campo Universitário, Madrid  
Try: Gutíerrez Merelles, Puertas Soto, C. Souto
Con: Aurrekeotxea Arregui (2)
Pen: Aurrekeotxea Arregui (2)
 Try: Bento, Portela
Con: Mourão
Pen: 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
Poland 29–23 Georgia
Try: Fedorowicz, Wróbel
Con: Szwichtenberg, Wróbel
Pen: Szymański (2), Urbanowicz (2)		Try: Katsadze, Andghuladze
Con: Iruni (2)
Pen: Iurini (3)
Ogniwo, Sopot
Referee: Germany K. Blank
  • 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).
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