1996–1997 FIRA Tournament
| 1996–97 FIRA Tournament | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 22 November 1996 – 17 May 1997 | ||
| Countries |
 Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Georgia Germany Morocco Netherlands Poland Portugal Russia Spain Tunisia
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| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions |
Spain
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| Matches played | 24 | ||
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| Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 1–4th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 5–8th place semifinals |
| Qualified for 9–12th place semifinals |
The 1996–97 FIRA tournament was a rugby union tournament organized by the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA).
Italy, France and Romania did not participate, in order to privilege other appointments. Italy and France were not interested to continue to participate in the FIRA senior competitions. Really, the two teams had to play the final of the previous trophy. Due to the great number of matches, also for the European competitions reserved to clubs, they could play the final only on 23 March 1997, after this tournament was started.
The tournament had a new formula. Twelve teams were divided into four pools of 3 teams. After a round robin, they were ranked in 3 groups to define the ranking, also valid to divide the Teams for the second round qualification to 1999 Rugby World Cup.
There was no second division, the other 18 European teams played the first round of qualification to the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
1. Spain
2. Portugal
3. Poland
4. Georgia
5. Morocco
6. Russia
7. Tunisia
8. Belgium
9. Germany
10. Czech Republic
11. Netherlands
12. Denmark
...
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