Another Men’s Rugby Europe Championship pool stage wraps up, with the usual suspects earning the top 4 spots.
Georgia and Portugal will welcome Romania and Spain in the Championship semifinals, while Belgium and the Netherlands also clinched home semifinals for a chance to reach the Final Qualifying Tournament.
These were the main hot stats of another super week of Men’s Rugby Europe Championship action.
Discipline: 6
For the third time in a row, Portugal defeated Romania, registering also their biggest winning margin over their long-time rivals in a match where the Lobos were only penalized six times.
Completely opposite to what happened in round 1, Portugal was exemplary in their discipline sheet, timing well when to poach the ball at the breakdown and/or securing their ball carriers to avoid a Romanian turnover.
Prior to this match, the Lobos averaged twelve penalties conceded per match, opening the way for Belgium and Germany to reach the Portuguese in-goal area. However, this time around the 2024 Men's REC runner-up finished a game without conceding any tries, a first since the 11th of February 2023, and their exemplary discipline was key for that end.
Portugal’s defensive effort was nothing short of impressive, especially in the last ten minutes when Romania camped inside the Portuguese 22. In that period of time, the home side was unsuccessful in finding their way into the try area, with the visitors only committing two penalties and brushing aside the opposition.
Simon Mannix had demanded a more aggressive but clinical performance from his side, and his players produced their best game since the 2023 Men’s Rugby World Cup.
Carry distance: 884m
Even if the goal of reaching the top-4 of the Men’s REC didn’t come to fruition, the Netherlands showed in their match against Switzerland how powerful they can be when everything clicks.
The Oranje produced a stellar performance for their home crowd, scoring 13 uncontested tries in a record-point-scoring victory. The Swiss opposition tried to enact a smart defensive strategy, but Lyn Jones-men were insatiable, working hard to keep control of the ball possession from the very first kick-off.
But, beyond their prolific try-scoring prowess, there was a top stat that tells us how powerful and stable the Oranje were this past Saturday: 884 carry metres. In simpler terms, the home side took complete control of the oval ball and made every single opportunity pay off. Not only that, but they also squeezed the ball from Switzerland’s control in the few chances the visitors had a go with it.
Boris Hadinegoro's return to the Dutch setup was critical to smooth the ball passing sequences and enact a more resolute attacking strategy allowing the Oranje to earn a home semifinal for the 5th place race.
Metres made: 278 metres made
278 metres made, that’s the combined running stats from Davit Niniashvili and Akaki Tabutsadze, with the Lelos tricksters bagging a total of five tries in another outstanding performance from both.
Georgia left Madrid with another bonus point victory, putting up an exciting attacking show that was too much for the home team to withstand. The Leones committed too many defensive mistakes, especially in their strategy to control Niniashvili and Tabutsadze, giving too much space and time for the two to steal the show.
The two Lelos backs ran on average 12 metres per carry, enough to break through Spain’s defence and set up some of the weekend's most impressive tries. A small crack is enough for either Niniasvhili or Tabutsadze to build a rugby wonder, and against Spain they had more than enough opportunities to push their team towards victory.
Tabutsadze sits at the top of the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship try-scorers table. As Tabutsadze scored his 46th international five-pointer, he is now tied in 10th postion on the leading test try scorers list with All Blacks Julian Savea, Christian Cullen and Joe Rockocko.
Turnovers: 9
Belgium locked a home ranking semifinal after a successful trip to Kessel, taking down Germany in what was a fine physical clash between two long-time rivals.
The Diables Noirs' work in the ruck was one of the cornerstones of their remarkable 39-19 victory, completing a total of six jackals plus three penalties conceded by the home team for holding the ball while on the ground.
The Belgian visitors had already proven against Portugal their prowess at the breakdown, doing it again now on Germany’s turf. In the end, they were the dominant side in Sunday's game, especially in what concerned the physicality side of things.
Jean-Maurice Decubber, with three successful jackals, and Felipe Geraghty, with two, were some of Belgium’s top enforcers, and were pivotal for helping their country earn a home semifinal, which will be a must-win game if Belgium wish to keep their Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027 dream alive.
