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

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

Table

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Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1   Latvia 3 3 0 0 98 23 +75 9
2   Moldova 3 1 1 1 64 71 −7 6
3   Hungary 3 1 0 2 63 96 −33 5
4   Serbia and Montenegro 3 0 1 2 58 93 −35 4

Results

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5 October 2002
  Latvia26–5Hungary  
Riga

26 April 2003
  Hungary47–23Serbia and Montenegro  
Esztergom

26 April 2003
  Latvia43–0Moldova  
Riga

3 May 2003
  Serbia and Montenegro18–29Latvia  
Beograd

10 May 2003
  Moldova47–11Hungary  
Chişinău

24 May 2003
  Moldova17–17Serbia and Montenegro  
Chişinău

Pool B

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

Table

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Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1   Malta 4 4 0 0 101 54 +47 12
2   Lithuania 4 3 0 1 147 53 +94 10
3   Luxembourg 4 2 0 2 58 113 −55 8
4   Austria 4 1 0 3 65 88 −23 6
5   Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 0 0 4 40 103 −63 4
  •   Malta promoted to Pool A

Results

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27 October 2002
  Luxembourg21–5Bosnia and Herzegovina  
Cessange

23 November 2002
  Malta22–18Lithuania  
Marsa

26 November 2002
  Lithuania32–10Austria  
Vilnius

30 November 2002
  Austria16–25Malta  
Wien

29 March 2003
  Malta34–6Luxembourg  
Marsa

5 April 2003
  Bosnia and Herzegovina14–20Malta  
Sarajevo

10 May 2003
  Luxembourg25–14Austria  
Cessange

24 May 2003
  Lithuania60–6Luxembourg  
Klaipėda

7 June 2003
  Bosnia and Herzegovina15–37Lithuania  
Zenica

14 June 2003
  Austria25–6Bosnia and Herzegovina  
Wien

Pool C

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

26 October 2002
  Bulgaria21–12Norway  
Sofia

Semifinals

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5 June 2003
  Israel30–13Norway  
Ibiza

5 June 2003
  Bulgaria42–3Finland  
Ibiza

Third place final

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7 June 2003
  Finland20–55Norway  
Ibiza

First place final

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7 June 2003
  Israel23–25Bulgaria  
Ibiza

See also

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Sources

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  • www.irb.com