Portugal Retain Rugby Europe Trophy
Portugal beat Poland 25 – 7 in Lodz on Saturday to retain the Rugby Europe Trophy. Portugal were 25- 10 down with half an hour to play. Winger Rodrigo Freudenthal got the winning try for Portugal. This is Portugals 2nd title in a row. Poland had flanker Aleksander Nowicki sent off. This is Portugals first ever win in Poland.
Portugal will play Germany in a relegation/promotion play-off on May 19th. The winner will take the final place in the 2019 Rugby Europe Championship.
In Conference 1 South Malta beat Andorra 89 – 3. This means Malta have won Conference 1 South. Malta will play the winner of Conference 1 North in a play-off for a place in the Rugby Europe Trophy.
In conference 2 South, Cyprus beat Slovenia 17 – 5. Cyprus top the conference by 5 points. Austria beat Slovakia 56 – 0. Austria are in 2nd. Slovakia are bottom of the table.
Americas Rugby Challenge
A new competition will take place in Colombia this August and September. The Americas Rugby Challenge has been formed, and will be contested between Colombia, Guyana, Mexico, and Paraguay.
Colombia will host the tournament, with the games taking place in the Estadio Cincuentenario in Medellin. It is a round-robin tournament, with each team playing each other once. The games will take place on 26th August 29th August, and 1st September.
In the World Rankings, Paraguay are 40th, Colombia are 41st, Guyana are 58th, and Mexico are 54th.
Cook Islands Replace Tahiti In Play-off
Cook Islands have replaced Tahiti in the Asia/Oceania play-off for a place in the repechage. Tahiti were found to have breached player eligibility rules during their match against Cook Islands. Tahiti had won 13 – 9 in the match played last August to original progress.
World Rugby said:
"Independent Judicial Officer Tim Gresson (New Zealand) heard the case and, having considered all the facts, ... he determined that the Tahiti Rugby Union had breached Regulation 8 by fielding two ineligible players for the match," the world governing body said”.
Cook Islands will play the winner of the 2018 Asian Rugby Championship, which will be contested between Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Korea. Hong Kong are ranked 22nd in the World, South Korea are 31st, Malaysia are 45th. Cook Islands are 55th in the world.
The first leg will take place on July 30th in Cook Islands. The 2nd leg will take place in the home of the winner of the 2018 Asian Rugby Championship on July 7th.
Ciarán Duffy (@TheVoiceDepth) is a Leinster supporter and self-proclaimed ‘big cheese’ of Post To Post (@PostToPostSport). He’ll write about anything rugby under the condition he gets to take it too seriously.
*****
Want to see your own rugby opinions on the web?
Click "Write for us" in the sidebar to find out how.
