The 2019–20 Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The 2019–20 season is the third of its new format and structure, where all Levels play on a one-year cycle, replacing the old format of a two-year cycle, with the teams playing each other both home and away. After their win against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the relegation play-off of the 2019 Championship season,

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 ...

was promoted to the Championship for

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. On 12 March 2020, as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Rugby Europe announced a suspension of all its matches and tournaments from 13 March 2020 until 15 April 2020. On 26 March, Rugby Europe decided to extend the suspension of all its matches and tournaments indefinitely. On 8 April, Rugby Europe Board of Directors decided to call off the season of Men's Senior XV Conference 1, Conference 2 and Development. There will be no promotion or relegation this year. The same pools will be kept for the 2020–21 season. On 20 October 2020, following the resurgence of COVID-19 pandemic across Europe and local authority restrictions, Rugby Europe has announced a suspension of all matches planned until the end of November 2020.

Countries

Pre-tournament

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

rankings in parentheses. Conference as of 16 September 2019. Trophy as of 21 October 2019. After winning the relegation play-off between the winner of the 2019 Trophy, Portugal, and the last placed 2019 Championship team, Germany, and the win by the former Germany were relegated to the Trophy level, whereas Portugal was promoted to the Championship. Following the 2018–19 season and the promotion of

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

as well as the relegation of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Rugby Europe Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby (the sport's global governing body). However, it ...

no changes to the reallocated groups were made, after last year's switch by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

from Conference 2 South to Conference 2 North for the 2018–19 Conference season. Championship * (27) * * (12) * ↑ (21) * (19) * (20) * (18) Conference 1
''North'' * ↓ (38) * (68) * ↑ (57) * (59) * (50) Conference 2
''North'' * ‡ (88) * (78) * (90) * ↓ (55) * (95) Development * * * * ↓ Trophy * ↓ (28) * (37) * (25) * (35) * (30) * ↑ (38)
''South'' * (47) * (NR) * (61) * • (39) * ↑ (71)
''South'' * (76) * ↓ (73) * (87) * (85) * ↑ (NR) Legend:
* Champion of 2018–19 season; ↑ Promoted from lower division during 2018–19 season; • Division Champion but not promoted during 2018–19 season; ‡ Last place inside own division but not relegated during 2018–19 season; ↓ Relegated from higher division during 2018–19 season

2020 Rugby Europe Championship

2019–20 Rugby Europe Trophy

2019–20 Rugby Europe Conference

Conference 1

Conference 1 North

Conference 1 South

Conference 2

Conference 2 North

Conference 2 South

2020 Rugby Europe Development

Play-offs

Championship–Trophy promotion play-off

Trophy–Conference 1 promotion play-off

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:International Championships 2019-20 2019–20 in European rugby union

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...