Rugby Europe confirm 2025 schedule

Rugby Europe has confirmed the European qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2027, set to take place in Australia in 2027.

24 teams will take part in the next Rugby World Cup, meaning four teams will automatically qualify from the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship, with the fifth place side qualifying for the World Rugby Repechage tournament, which has been scheduled for November 2025.

After extensive discussions with World Rugby and the participating nations, 2025 competition will be a one-off qualifier to the Rugby World Cup, unlike the two-year cycle used for previous World Cups.

The eight nations have been split into two pools, using a serpentine system based on the results of the previous two seasons.

• Pool A: #1 Georgia, #4 Spain, #5 Netherlands and #8 Switzerland
• Pool B: #2 Portugal , #3 Romania, #6 Germany and #7 Belgium

These 20 games will be played throughout February and March 2025 and will consist of the following format.

• Each team will still play five fixtures, regardless of their ranking.
• Round-robin phase the first 3 week-ends of February 2025, 4 games each week-end. Seeds #1 to #4 will host two games in the pool phase.
• Play-offs system after the pool phase: Semi-finals between the top 4 teams and the bottom 4 teams played on March 1-2 (4 games)
• The tournament will culminate with a “Sunday Finals” on March 16 where all positions from #1 to #8 will be at stake, with four games taking place on that day.

After a successful 2024 edition, which saw Georgia crowned for a seventh time in a row after lifting the trophy in Paris, REC 2025 will continue with the same format of competition.

While 2025 will be the sole year qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027, the promotion / relegation system for REC will still run across two years, using the combined results of REC 2025 and 2026.

With Poland finishing in eighth place during the REC23-24 cycle they have been relegated to Trophy division with Switzerland earning their spot in the top-flight after coming out on top overall during the Men’s Trophy 23-24 tournaments.

The fixtures for 2025 are as follows:

Round 1 (Weekend of 1-2 February)

Georgia v Switzerland
Spain v Netherlands
Portugal v Belgium
Romania v Germany

Round 2 (Weekend of 8-9 February)

Georgia v Netherlands
Switzerland v Spain
Portugal v Germany
Belgium v Romania

Round 3 (Weekend of 15-16 February)

Spain v Georgia
Netherlands v Switzerland
Romania v Portugal
Germany v Belgium

The semi-finals will take place on 1-2 March with the competition coming to a crescendo on 16 March for the four final games.

Exact kick off times and days will be announced once confirmed with the unions.

With 12 teams having qualified directly by finishing top three in their pool at France 2023, 12 teams will be determined via the RWC 2027 global qualification process:

Europe (4) - Rugby Europe Championship 2025 top four teams
Africa (1) - Rugby Africa Cup 2025 champions
Asia (1) - Asia Rugby Men’s Championship 2025 champions
South America (1) - Sudamerica Rugby Championship 2025 champions
Pacific (3) - Pacific Nations Cup 2025 top three teams (minus Fiji and Japan already qualified)
South America / Pacific Play-off (1) - Sudamerica Rugby Championship 2025 runners up against Pacific Nations Cup’s bottom team (not including qualified teams)
Final Qualification Tournament (1)

Teams qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027 will also qualify for World Rugby Nations Championship Division 2 set to begin in 2026.

Rugby Europe President, Octavian Morariu, said: “On the back of increased viewership, both on linear and digital channels in 2025, and concluding with our flagship finals day in Paris, we have no doubt that with the added ingredient of Rugby World Cup Qualifying places up for grabs that we are set for another exciting tournament ahead in 2025, with more opportunities for our teams to make a global event than ever before.”

All games will be Live-streamed on the platform – www.rugbyeurope.tv

Specific broadcast arrangements for Men Rugby Europe Championship will be announced in due course.