The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations.
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi, represented Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
Rugby union in France is a popular team sport. Rugby union was first introduced in the early 1870s by British residents, which makes the country one of the few early exponents of the sport. Elite French clubs participate in the professional domestic club league, the Top 14. Clubs also compete in the European knock-out competition, the European Rugby Champions Cup, which replaced the Heineken Cup from 2014 to 2015.
Women's international rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century, but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture involving women's rugby union took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary: as part of the celebrations, on June 13, 1982, the French national women's team played the Dutch in Utrecht, Netherlands, with France winning 4–0 in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international rugby union match.
The Rugby Europe Women's Championship is an international competition contested between women's national teams who are members of Rugby Europe. The competition has its origins in a four nation "European Cup" held in 1988 but did not become an official FIRA competition until 1995. The competition has grown significantly and is some years attracts sufficient entrants for it to be divided into two "Pools" with the eight highest ranked entrants in any year in Pool A.
With most of the senior nations preparing for the World Cup, FIRA organised a "Women ENC XV a side Tournament" for the six leading nations who were not in the Six Nations. While it does not appear to be part of the Women's European Championship sequence, it was very similar to the European Championship, especially the Pool B competitions.
Italy women's national rugby union team are the national women's rugby union team that represents Italy at international level. It has been administered by the Italian Rugby Federation since 1991; previously, since its inception in 1985 up to 1991, it was administered by UISP – Unione Italiana Sport Popolari, an association which promotes amateur sports at every level of the society. The team competes in the Rugby World Cup, the Rugby Europe Women's Championship and the Women's Six Nations Championship.
The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship.
The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Women's European Championship. Ireland won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. In 2013 they also achieved both a Triple Crown and Grand Slam. They finished fourth in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup after defeating New Zealand in the pool stages. Ireland hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. The team was originally organised by the Irish Women's Rugby Football Union. However, since 2009 it has been organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union
The most successful teams in women's international rugby union have been England, France, and New Zealand.
The 2010 FIRA tournament included all the continent's major teams who did not qualify for the World Cup, plus Sweden and a France "A" team. Prior to the tournament Jean-Claude Baqué, Chairman of the FIRA-AER, explained the philosophy of the European Trophy. "The European Trophy is an important tournament for the development of women 15's rugby within Europe. The European Championship takes place each four years but the FIRA-AER must propose games to emerging unions through a serious competition and with the help of the big nations" Unusually, and for no published reason, all games were only 35 minutes per half.
The Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship is an annual rugby union championship for Under-18 national teams, held since 2004. The championship is organised by rugby's European governing body, Rugby Europe.
The 2009 European Sevens Championship was a rugby sevens competition, with the final held in Hanover, Germany. It was the eighth edition of the European Sevens championship and was organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER).
The Rugby Europe Women's Sevens, previously the FIRA–AER Women's Sevens until 2013, is a series of regional championships for women's international rugby sevens in Europe. Prior to 2012, the annual tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend in June, before the highest category tournament was reorganized as the Sevens Grand Prix Series, modeled after the format of the World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournaments are sanctioned and sponsored by Rugby Europe.
The 2012 Women's European Championship or "European Cup" was the 17th annual rugby tournament organised by FIRA for the continent's national teams and the ninth official continental championship. Only eight teams took part - the lowest entry since 1996 and also the first time since 1996 that Scotland, Wales and Ireland did not take part. The leading four teams played in Group A in Rovereto, Italy between 13 and 19 May, and the other four played at Enköping between 3 and 7 May. The latter tournament also started Europe's Women's Rugby World Cup qualification process, with both finalists qualifying for the continent's qualification tournament in 2013.
The Europe Cup 1952 was the fourth Rugby Union European championship, organized by FIRA.
The 2013 Women's Qualification Tournament was the 18th annual rugby tournament organised by FIRA for the continent's national teams and also a qualification tournament for 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. Six teams took part - the fifth and sixth ranked teams from the Six Nations, based on 2012 and 2013 results, Italy and Scotland; the finalist from the 2012 European Championship, Spain ; the two finalists from 2012 European Group B, Sweden and the Netherlands; and Oceania's entrant Samoa, who were disputing a qualification place from one of the European teams.
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. However, it is not responsible for the organisation of the Six Nations Championship or the competitions run by European Professional Club Rugby.
The 2021 Rugby Europe Championship was the 5th Rugby Europe Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and the Netherlands, and the 52nd edition of the competition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament spanned from March to December, compared to previous editions where the tournament would have been held between February and March.
The 2022 Rugby Europe Championship was the sixth Rugby Europe Championship, the annual rugby union for the top European national teams outside the Six Nations Championship, and the 52nd edition of the competition.
Italy 
Sweden 
