After an amazing first weekend of the Rugby Europe Championships, and with no real upsets happening. The predicted top 4 go into Round 2 with the the target of securing the top 2 spots in their pools. With the Road to Australia coming into full focus, can Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania start planning their preparations?
After an amazing first weekend of the Rugby Europe Championships, and with no real upsets happening. The predicted top 4 go into Round 2 with the the target of securing the top 2 spots in their pools. With the Road to Australia coming into full focus, can Georgia, Spain, Portugal and Romania start planning their preparations?
| # | Team | PL | W | L | D | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 1 | 05 |
| 2 |  Spain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 05 |
| 3 |  Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -29 | 0 | 00 |
| 4 |  Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -110 | 0 | 00 |
| # | Team | PL | W | L | D | PD | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Romania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 05 |
| 2 |  Portugal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 05 |
| 3 |  Belgium | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -10 | 0 | 00 |
| 4 |  Germany | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -38 | 0 | 00 |
Georgia host the Netherlands, who will be disappointed with their defensive performance against Spain in Madrid on Sunday. They will have a real focus this week to tighten that part of the game, especially, the maul defence which Spain took full advantage of at the weekend.
Georgia will be looking to continue going about their business, after a clinical masterclass against Switzerland, which saw them still squander another 5 tries during the game. They will have to work hard in defence against a very positive Dutch attack, which was a huge positive from their game in Madrid.
Expect to see Georgia win this tie to secure their spot in the REC Semi finals and the all important RWC Qualification.
First game in Round 2 this weekend, is in Mons, Belgium. Belgium will have memories of their upset against Portugal in last years tournament and after a solid display in Lisbon. Can they create another upset against Romania?
Well, Romania will have to sharpen up after their start against Germany on Friday night. They will also be fronting up against a solid and constant defensive line from Belgium. Romania will be looking to turn the screw at scrum time, which helped them massively against Germany. But I honestly believe this is the biggest chance we have of an upset this weekend.
Spain go to Switzerland off the back of a dominate display against the Netherlands and Switzerland still coming to terms with what Georgia did to them on Saturday.
However, Switzerland will not be turning up just to take another dismantling. However, Spain will be looking to use their devastating line out maul, to exploit another weakness from the Swiss last weekend. And with direct running, and kicking availability of Bontempo.
Spain should run out comfortable winners in this game and potentially double figure tries too. I do expect a couple of tries from the Swiss, as Spain still have a few defensive errors in their arsenal at the moment.
Portugal will be buoyed from a solid defensive display and clinical attacking plays against Belgium. With Germany arriving for a game under the Sunday night lights in Lisbon. Focus will be on to get the job done and secure their space at RWC 2027.
Germany will be looking to take confidence from their solid start against Romania, but their inefficiency in tackling let Romania take their opportunities well.
Can't see Portugal missing the opportunity to miss out at RWC qualification at the earliest opportunity. Another fast start by Portugal could put them in the right spot to manage the game out against Germany.
