mens
rugby-europe-championship
Officials at Rugby Europe have verified the schedule for the 2026 Men’s Championship, with the tournament slated to commence in February and March of the coming year, culminating with the final showdown in Madrid.
Mirroring Paris’s hosting of the 2024 finale, Madrid is set to host finals day on Sunday, March 15. All three contests will be held on the same day, with details regarding ticket availability to be revealed in December.
The competition will span six weeks this time, instead of the previous seven, and will adhere to the same structure as the prior season: featuring two groups of four, a preliminary round-robin phase, semi-final matches, and subsequently, the finals weekend.
Defending champions Georgia will lead Group A, joined by fellow 2027 World Cup participants Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Group B also includes World Cup competitors Portugal and Romania, with a potential third participant as Belgium participates in the World Cup Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai this month. Germany rounds out the teams in Group B.
Notably, Group A includes the two highest-ranked teams according to World Rugby rankings – Georgia ranked 11th, and Spain ranked 14th.
Spain
Fiji
Portugal holds the highest ranking in Group B at 20th, followed closely by Romania at 21st and Belgium at 22nd.
The tournament is scheduled to begin on February 7, with the Netherlands hosting Spain in Amsterdam, and Belgium facing Portugal in Mons.
The semi-finals are slated for March 7–8, hosted by the teams securing first place in their respective groups, with the third-place teams hosting the fifth-place final. The Championship will include relegation implications, as the lowest-ranked team from both the 2025 and subsequent Championship will be relegated to the Trophy division — where Poland and Sweden are presently vying for promotion.
Pool A: #1 Georgia, #4 Spain, #5 Netherlands and #8 Switzerland
Pool B: #2 Portugal , #3 Romania, #6 Germany and #7 Belgium
