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
 Latvia 26–5 Hungary 
26 April 2003
 Hungary 47–23 Serbia and Montenegro 
26 April 2003
 Latvia 43–0 Moldova 
3 May 2003
 Serbia and Montenegro 18–29 Latvia 
Beograd
10 May 2003
 Moldova 47–11 Hungary 
24 May 2003
 Moldova 17–17 Serbia and Montenegro 

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
27 October 2002
 Luxembourg 21–5 Bosnia and Herzegovina 
23 November 2002
 Malta 22–18 Lithuania 
26 November 2002
 Lithuania 32–10 Austria 
30 November 2002
 Austria 16–25 Malta 
29 March 2003
 Malta 34–6 Luxembourg 
5 April 2003
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 14–20 Malta 
10 May 2003
 Luxembourg 25–14 Austria 
24 May 2003
 Lithuania 60–6 Luxembourg 
7 June 2003
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 15–37 Lithuania 
14 June 2003
 Austria 25–6 Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Pool C
  • "No official" match :
19 October 2002
 Monaco 90–0 Finland 
26 October 2002
 Bulgaria 21–12 Norway 

Semifinals
5 June 2003
 Israel 30–13 Norway 
5 June 2003
 Bulgaria 42–3 Finland 

Third place final
7 June 2003
 Finland 20–55 Norway 

First place final
7 June 2003
 Israel 23–25 Bulgaria 

See also

Sources
  • www.irb.com
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