After a six-week break, the men’s Rugby Europe Super Cup for 2025/26 returns this weekend and if the first three rounds of action are anything to go by then we are in for a treat in the coming days.
Six teams - Bohemia Warriors from Czechia, Brussels Devils from Belgium, Castilla Y Leon Iberians from Spain, Delta from the Netherlands, Lusitanos from Portugal and Romanian Wolves from Romania - are battling it out to make it into the knock-out stages which will take place in January.
And, after three rounds of five in the round-robin stage, Iberians and Lusitanos are both unbeaten and first and second while Bohemia Warriors and Delta are third and fourth, but there will be plenty of twists and turns between now and December 13 when round five finishes and the semi-final line-up is confirmed.
Having played three games in three weeks in October, all six teams will be champing at the bit to get going again for their last two fixtures before Christmas.
The first game of round four today (Friday) has the makings of an excellent contest between Iberians and Bohemia Warriors.
The game takes place in the Estadio Nueva Balastera in Palencia in Spain at 5pm local time (4pm UTC) and last time out Iberians thrashed Romanian Wolves at the same venue 62-7.
In round three, the Bohemia Warriors defeated the Devils 30-20 and they have been the surprise package so far in this competition with two victories already, but they know they will need probably their best ever performance to win here.
Two games then follow on Saturday to bring round four to a close and, first up, in the Arcul de Triumf stadium in Bucharest the Wolves are hosting Lusitanos at 6pm local time (4pm UTC).
The Wolves have had a torrid time of it so far in this year’s competition and have lost three from three to sit sixth in the standings. The third of those losses came last time out at Iberians as mentioned and they will be hoping home advantage helps them here.
They are coming up against an in-form side though and Lusitanos’ most recent win was against Delta 36-10 in round three at home.
With a big game to come in Lisbon next time out against Iberians, the Portuguese side will want to keep up momentum here whilst not taking the Wolves lightly.
© Razvan Pasarica
Then, on Saturday at 7.30pm local time (6.30pm URC), Delta and Brussels Devils meet in a fourth versus fifth clash.
The National Rugby Center in Amsterdam is the venue as Delta go looking for a second win and the Devils a first in a bid to keep their top four hopes alive.
As mentioned, they both lost out in round three and will be out to have a positive round four having recharged the batteries since late October.
By Gary Heatly
