2002–03 European Nations Cup Third Division

The 2002–2004 European Nations Cup was the fourth edition of the newly reformed European Championship for tier 2 & 3 Rugby Union Nations. This was the second two-year cycled championship, the first to be planned from the start.

The Third division had a controversy development. The team were divided into three groups according to the ranking of previous edition to play, but there were several problems:

  • In pool "A" Andorra withdrew and only four teams remained.
  • In pool "C" Monaco were banned after the match with Finland, because of the presence of a French player that was not eligible to play for Monaco.
  • Again in pool "C" the match between Bulgaria and Norway was annulled because the designed referee wasn't able to arrive in Sofia and was substituted by another referee, called by the Bulgarian federation.

So the European federation decided to change from a two-years formula to a one-year formula again, considering the two matches played in Pool "C" as friendlies and turning the Pool into a short knock-out tournament held in Ibiza, Spain. Furthermore, the winners of Pools B and C were promoted, respectively, to Pools A and B for the 2003–04 edition. No promotions from Pool A to Second division were awarded, nor relegations to lower Pools.

Pool A

The highest level was the Pool "A", with five teams:

Table

Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1 Latvia33009823+759
2 Moldova31116471−76
3 Hungary31026396−335
4 Serbia and Montenegro30125893−354

Results

5 October 2002
 Latvia26–5Hungary 
Riga


26 April 2003
 Latvia43–0Moldova 
Riga


10 May 2003
 Moldova47–11Hungary 
Chişinău


Pool B

The middle level was the Pool "B", with five teams:

Table

Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1 Malta440010154+4712
2 Lithuania430114753+9410
3 Luxembourg420258113−558
4 Austria41036588−236
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina400440103−634
  •  Malta promoted to Pool A

Results


23 November 2002
 Malta22–18Lithuania 
Marsa

26 November 2002
 Lithuania32–10Austria 
Vilnius

30 November 2002
 Austria16–25Malta 
Wien

29 March 2003
 Malta34–6Luxembourg 
Marsa


10 May 2003
 Luxembourg25–14Austria 
Cessange

24 May 2003
 Lithuania60–6Luxembourg 
Klaipėda


14 June 2003
 Austria25–6Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Wien

Pool C

  • "No official" match :
19 October 2002
 Monaco90–0Finland 
Monte Carlo

26 October 2002
 Bulgaria21–12Norway 
Sofia

Semifinals

5 June 2003
 Israel30–13Norway 
Ibiza

5 June 2003
 Bulgaria42–3Finland 
Ibiza

Third place final

7 June 2003
 Finland20–55Norway 
Ibiza

First place final

7 June 2003
 Israel23–25Bulgaria 
Ibiza

See also

Sources

  • www.irb.com
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