Germany put in an excellent display in both attack and defence to secure a 29-0 bonus point away win in Sweden on Saturday and clinch the women’s Rugby Europe Trophy title.
In the three-team event before the weekend, Sweden won 18-7 in Finland in October and then Germany defeated the Finnish side 68-0 at home in February.
Those results left Germany top on five points and Sweden second on four points with a ‘winner takes all’ scenario ahead of them at the Trelleborg Rugby Arena as they met.
And it was the visitors, who finished second in 2024/25, who made sure they would finish top this time around by putting in a composed showing.
Things got off to the perfect start for Germany when centre Mette Zimmat scored a try after just four minutes. Scrum-half Charlotte Malaizier converted and it was 7-0.
Their second try came at the end of the first quarter through winger Sofie Fella, converted by Malaizier, and when stand-off Lara Bürger crossed for an unconverted effort just before the break it was 19-0 and they were in control.
Cheered on by the home crowd, Sweden knew they needed to score first in the second half to give themselves hope in this one, but try as they might they could not break down the visiting defence.
And the clincher for Germany came after 53 minutes when Zimmat scored her second try of the day.
That made it 24-0 and, in the 78th minute, the icing on the cake came when No.8 Sarah Gossman bagged their fifth try of the day.
In the end, Germany collected 10 points overall in the tournament with Sweden on four and Finland on zero.
Meanwhile, later on the same day at the same venue, Sweden’s men kept themselves in their own Rugby Europe Trophy title race with a thrilling 33-32 triumph over Denmark.
It was tricky and they did not manage to pick up a bonus point, but the triumph means that with one round of fixtures left to go in the six-team event the Swedes are third on 14 points with Poland second on 16 points and Czechia top on 18 points. Denmark are in fourth now.
Denmark built up a 20-12 lead in this game at half-time and a famous away win looked like it may be on the cards.
A converted try eight minutes into the second half by Sweden replacement Anthony Rafael closed the gap to one point before an unconverted effort by winger Lukas Maidens made it 25-19 to Denmark.
There was then loads of drama in the last seven minutes.
A try from Sweden replacement Jonatan Hector, converted by scrum-half Jack Tatu Robertsson, gave them a 26-25 lead and then Denmark had a player yellow carded.
The man advantage allowed Sweden to find space for sub Kristian Thomson to score with Tatu Robertsson converting with two minutes remaining.
That, crucially, gave them an eight-point lead before Denmark scored at the death - back-row Federico Haedo getting the try with scrum-half Daniel Wiggins converting - as it finished 33-32.
As well as the two Trophy matches in Sweden, there were three men’s Rugby Europe Conference pool stage games on Saturday.
Moldova defeated Türkiye 17-7 and are second in Pool C, Austria have won three out of three and top Pool B after a thumping 86-7 win in Hungary and Malta are top of Pool D after coming out on the right side of a 44-24 result in Andorra.
By Gary Heatly
