Romania became the fourth and final side to earn a place in the Rugby Europe Championship semi-finals despite a defeat in Portugal as pool play came to an end during a dramatic weekend of action.
On Sunday, Romania went down 44-7 at the Estadio Nacional Jamor in Lisbon, but will join fellow Pool B side Portugal and Pool A sides Georgia and Spain in the last four to battle it out for the title in March.
Romania just managed to finish second in Pool B - 80 points difference to 73 points difference with both sides on five points - ahead of Belgium who had defeated Germany 18-3 on Saturday with a bonus point.
It means that, on the weekend of March 7 - before Championship finals day in Leganés on March 15 - Pool A winners Georgia will host Romania in the Championship semi-finals with Pool B winners Portugal hosting Spain. All four sides are going to Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia.
Pool A third placed side Switzerland, who had an historic win over Netherlands on Sunday, will host Germany in the rankings semi-finals on the same weekend with Pool B third placed side Belgium hosting Netherlands. All four of these sides will be looking to avoid finishing eighth and the drop.
The Edelweiss has an opportunity to secure their place in the Championship if they can secure a win over Germany who finished in last spot during the 2025 edition.
In the case of a German victory, everything will be at stake during the Championship Finals in Madrid on March 15th.
Before we start thinking about the knock-out stages though, let’s tidy up what happened during round three of pool play.
First up on Saturday was Georgia versus Spain in the Avchala Rugby Stadium in Tbilisi to decide who would win Pool A.
Both sides had already secured Championship semi-final spots before kick-off, but they wanted to make it three wins from three and Georgia did that by coming out on top 42-30 with a bonus point.
Spain took the lead early on thanks to a penalty from stand-off Lucien Richardis and he would knock over two more during the first half, but Georgia led 21-9 after 40 minutes.
Hooker Vano Karkadze, centre Demur Tapladze and full-back Davit Niniashvili scored converted tries all converted by stand-off Tedo Abzhandadze.
Spain turned things on their head and led 23-21 after 55 minutes, replacement Tani Bay and Richardis scoring converted tries to put the visitors in front.
A converted try by Georgia sub Bachuki Tchumbadze then put Georgia into a 28-23 lead before Spain had a player yellow carded.
It was the 14 men who scored next though, a converted try from sub Bautista Guemes making it 30-28 before Tapladze’s second try, converted by sub Luka Matkava, gave Georgia a 35-30 lead in this epic clash.
And, despite Spain getting back to 15 just as Georgia went down to 14 when a player was given a 20-minute red card, Abzhandadze’s try converted by himself secured the win for Georgia.
Tapladze was named player of the match.
The second game on Saturday was in Pool B and saw Belgium welcome Germany to the Stade Charles Tondreau in Mons.
At kick-off both sides had hopes of a second place finish in the pool and, after winning 18-3, Belgium had a shot at that spot, but, come Sunday, Romania just held on.
Belgium could have been 10-0 up after 22 minutes here, but it was just 5-0 thanks to a try by Jean-Baptiste Declerc, the tighthead prop, and a missed conversion and penalty.
By half-time it was 5-3, Germany’s points coming from a penalty by full-back Christopher Hennig.
By half-time it was 5-3, Germany’s points coming from a penalty by full-back Christopher Hennig.
A penalty via stand-off Guillem Fernandez Grau made it 8-3 to Belgium before Germany had a man sin-binned.
A second try from Declerc when it was 15 versus 14 stretched the Belgium lead to 13-3 and, when it was 15 versus 15 and there were five minutes left, sub Bruno Vliegen’s try finished things at 18-3.
Declerc was named player of the match.
Into Sunday and, first up, the Stade Municipal in Yverdon-les-Bains was buzzing after Switzerland defeated Netherlands 29-23 in Pool A.
This game was nip and tuck from the first minute as both sides battled it out for their first wins of 2026 and, by half-time, Switzerland were just ahead 15-13.
Their first half points came thanks to tries from Cyril Fluckiger and back-row Nicolas Mousties and five points from the boot of stand-off Jules Porcher.
Netherlands, who were hit by a yellow card, scored first half points through a try by winger Bjorn Dolman and eight points from the boot of stand-off Vikas Meijer.
By the 53rd minute, Netherlands, who had led 10-0 early on, were up 23-15 after a penalty by Meijer and a converted try from winger Sem Verplancke.
Switzerland needed a big response and it came thanks to two converted tries. Full-back Lucas Schmid scored in the 53rd minute and then, with Netherlands with a man in the sin-bin, replacement Johnatan Dallet went over with five minutes to go.
Switzerland then held on despite a late yellow card of their own. Netherlands earned a losing bonus point, but it was scant consolation.
The last game of the weekend was Portugal-Romania on Sunday evening and the hosts made it 15 points from 15 in Pool B with a 44-7 bonus point victory.
Centre Rodrigo Marta scored two tries in the first half and full-back Simao Bento and winger Vincent Pinto also crossed with scrum-half Samuel Marques kicking five points as the home side led 25-7 at the interval despite suffering a yellow card.
Tudor Butnariu, the hooker, scored a try for Romania converted by scrum-half Alin Conache.
Romania had a man sin-binned after the break and, in that half, Portugal scored further tries via winger Manuel Cardoso Pinto (2) and No.8 Jose Monteiro with two of them converted.
Monteiro was named player of the match.
By Gary Heatly
