The dust has settled, and Georgia and Portugal will be this year’s finalists, having both overcome Romania and Spain in two highly entertaining semifinal matchups.
As for the ranking semifinals, Switzerland and Belgium will compete for 5th place, while the Netherlands and Germany will face off to avoid finishing last.
So, what were the semifinals' Hot Stats? From Jules Porcher's sprinkling of magic to Portugal’s remarkable discipline, find out what the crucial data points were.
Switzerland: Jules Porcher was (again) a menace
Switzerland and Germany, a game that came back and forth more than a few times, but that in the end was conquered by the Swiss, and deservedly so.
But, in a highly competitive match, which specific detail ultimately determined the outcome?
Without wanting to sound like a broken record, Jules Porcher. Yes, yet again the ‘small’ Swiss fly half delivered a stellar performance, exercising his right as one of the Men’s REC’s leading threats, cracking open the German defence with ease and mastery.
Whilst he gathered 15 points from the tee, Porcher’s unpredictability disrupted Germany’s defence, making it easy for his side to reach the triumphantly try area.
Switzerland managed to reach the opposition’s 22 18 times, striking points in seven instances with Porcher directly involved in all but one of them.
A unique player for a unique team.
Belgium: clean breaks made the difference
As expected, the Low Countries derby had a bit of everything with Belgium racking up a 40-15 win, with 20 of those points scored in the game’s opening 20 minutes.
With Guillem Grau running a tight show, and Theo Adaba and Florian Remue acting like the world's best battering rams, allowing the Diables Noirs to breach the Dutch defence eight times, while the opposition failed to do so even once.
Despite both teams having the same number of defenders beaten, Belgium made it pay by cruising past the opposition’s defence, whether through line breaks or tries.
At the same time, the Netherlands' inability to break through the locals’ line of defence meant they had no path to victory, even when they seemed to have the ball under their control.
For all the improvements shown by the Dutch in this year’s Men’s Rugby Europe Championship, it wasn’t enough to overcome an experienced Belgium side targeting a 5th-place finish once again.
Georgia: when in doubt the scrum delivers
The Lelos are heading to Madrid to fight for the right to retain their status as the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship title holders, but they had to dig deep to defeat a spirited Romanian side.
While Marco Bortolomia’s Georgia managed to secure a 53-30 win in the end, the visitors held the lead twice and were mounting a good defensive pressure to deny the likes of Niniashvili, Tabutsadze and Metreveli from scoring any tries.
However, when the Lelos backline wasn’t clicking, the forward pack took it upon themselves to change the game’s direction, exercising complete dominance in the scrum.
In the opening 40 minutes, the locals decimated the Romanian scrum, making the opposition concede four penalties that paved the way for Tabutsdaze and Metreveli to score Georgia’s inaugural tries.
While in the second half, they weren’t as dominant, it was enough to put down what was a promising performance from Romania. If they exert the same power and will over Portugal in a few days, then Georgia will firmly hold the Champions' crown for another season.
Portugal: discipline clinched a final
Possibly Portugal’s finest performance after their historical victory over Fiji in the 2023 Men’s Rugby World Cup, the Lobos reigned supreme at the Estádio do Restelo, qualifying for the competition’s final after defeating Spain 26-7.
However, although the result was built on a stellar defensive and counter-attacking performance, the main ‘Hot Stat’ is Portugal’s remarkable discipline.
After the completion of the game’s first half hour, the Lobos had only conceded one penalty, something unheard of. Not even under Patrice Lagisquet did they manage to achieve such a feat, which proved crucial in securing a memorable victory over their all-time rivals.
Simon Mannix previously stated that limiting penalties to fewer than 10 was vital to securing victory against Spain, and this was validated in the match this past Sunday.
While they were less disciplined in the closing stages of the game, this did not affect the outcome, as Portugal had already secured a monumental victory.
The Lobos are now heading to Madrid after clinching a sixth consecutive win, and hope they still have enough gas in the tank to take on the Georgia challenge.
