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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2010 →

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.

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

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.[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

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

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

Teams and final standings

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

Games

The results of the games:[2]

A Division

Championship

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

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

Championship

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

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

Championship

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

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

Championship

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
 Israel 10
 Monaco 29
 Israel 6
 Croatia 33
 Moldova 22
 Croatia 24
 Croatia 19
 Luxembourg 24
 Luxembourg 15
France 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

Semi-finals 5th Place Final
      
1  Monaco 13
4  Moldova 30
 Moldova 45
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 14
3 France Côte d'Azur Selection 34
2  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10
7th Place Final
   
1  Monaco 3
2 France 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

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