The 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy was the 31st edition of the European rugby union championship for national teams. The 1995-97 edition was arranged once again with a new format.
Due preparations for the
1995 Rugby World Cup
The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country.
The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
did not participate in the 1994-95 season of the competition, so for that season a
Preliminary Tournament was arranged with ten other teams. The higher ranked seven teams were admitted to this tournament, with France, Italy and Romania.
The tournament was undergoing a difficult time, due to decreased interest from the strongest teams: France usually sent reserve teams, and Italy were playing matches with the likes of Australia, England and Wales.
This is evident looking the results and the programme. France played the first round robin with their Military team, Italy and Romania did not arrange a match for this tournament, but played a match on neutral ground against Argentina for the "Latina Cup". Italy sent two lower level teams to play (during the same weekend) the last two matches. The previous edition's final between Italy and France was played in March 1997, while the
1996-97 edition was already half completed.
This edition was the first ever triumph of Italy in the competition, defeating France by 40-32 in the final,
thus cementing their claims to be the sixth European rugby nation powerhouse.
Italy had started to play in this tournament with France in 1966 and, despite some close results, had never previously beaten their strong rivals. Italy's win, shortly after France had won the
1997 Five Nations Championship
The 1997 Five Nations Championship was the sixty-eighth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the hundred-and-third series of the northern hemisphe ...
, was a historical feat that proved to be crucial for Italy's admission at the
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...
in 2000.
First Division
Preliminary tournament
Three directly admitted
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And seven qualified from the preliminary tournament
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Pool A
* France qualified to Final
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Pool B
* Italy qualified to the final
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* This was the heaviest defeat of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
until their loss to
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
(108-13) at the
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...
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Final
Second Division
Pool 1 (Gold)
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Pool 2 (Silver)
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Third Division
Pool 1
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Pool 2
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Pool 3
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Notes and references
Bibliography
* Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), ''2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni'', GS Editore (2000) .
* Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), ''Rugby 2000'', GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).
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{{DEFAULTSORT:FIRA
1995–97
1995–96 in European rugby union
1996–97 in European rugby union
1995 rugby union tournaments for national teams
1996 rugby union tournaments for national teams
1997 rugby union tournaments for national teams