2014 European Trophy details

The 2014 European Trophy will feature five teams next year - all from outside the Six Nations.

Published by John Birch, December 19th, 2013

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2014 European Trophy details

As is usual in a World Cup year, the 2014 European Trophy will not include any teams from the Six Nations, or any who have qualified for the World Cup.

FIRA see their annual fifteen-a-side tournament as a key development tool for new nations - especially in a year when all of the attention tends to be on the elite, and with the focus likely to be switching back to sevens after the World Cup (2014/15 should be the year when places at the Rio Olympics are decided) it is very encouraging that five teams have entered this year's tournament - including two who will be making their debut.

However, in a change to the tradition of FIRA championships, the main tournament has been pushed back from late spring/early summer to autumn.

Before that Switzerland and the Czech Republic will play their first test match in an official tournament when they meet in Prague on 29th June in a one-off qualification game. The teams met twice in 2013, and the Swiss will start as favourites despite conceding home advantage.

The winner of this game will then travel to Brussels at the end of October for the main Trophy tournament. The Dutch 15s team will be their opponents on 30th October - a significant step-up for whoever triumphs in Prague, but not an impossible target as the Netherlands prioritise sevens. None of the big names of Dutch women's rugby is likely to be taking part in the competition

The same applies in the other semi-final, where hosts Belgium make a welcome return to the FIRA championship and take on Russia - but a Russia almost certainly without any of their big sevens names.

The final and third place play-off will then follow on 2nd November.

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