The playoffs, play-offs, postseason and/or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be either a single game, a series of games, or a tournament, and may use a single-elimination system or one of several other different playoff formats. Playoff, in regard to international fixtures, is to qualify or progress to the next round of a competition or tournament.
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation.
The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations.
The Andorra national rugby union team, nicknamed Els Isards represent Andorra in international rugby union competitions. As of 2 September 2018, they were ranked 70th out of 100 rugby-playing nations by the World Rugby. They play most of their home games in Andorra la Vella, the country's capital, though have had some matches in Foix, which is in France.
The First Professional Football League is a Bulgarian professional league for men's association football clubs. Standing at the top of the Bulgarian football league system, it serves as the country's primary football competition. The league determines the champion of Bulgaria and is contested by fourteen teams. It operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the second tier of the Bulgarian football league pyramid, the Second League. Known by its previous name A Group, the Bulgarian top-tier was fully restructured during the summer of 2016, when new licensing criteria were introduced.
The Bulgaria national rugby union team is governed by the Bulgarian Rugby Federation, and has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup will be the ninth Rugby World Cup, and is to be held in Japan from 20 September to 2 November. This will be the first time the tournament is to be held in Asia, the first time consecutive tournaments have been staged in the same hemisphere, and also the first time that the event will take place outside the traditional heartland of the sport.
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes annually in European competition. Ireland participates in the Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, having been promoted to the Grand Prix competition after winning the 2016 Rugby Europe Trophy division. Ireland has previously competed in individual tournaments within World Rugby Sevens Series, and has stated its goal of winning promotion to core team status in the World Series.
The Hungary national cricket team is a fledgling team which represents the country of Hungary in international cricket. In June 2012, Hungary was awarded the International Cricket Council (ICC) affiliate member status in annual conference at Kuala Lumpur. In 2017, they became an associate member.
FC Chernomorets Burgas or simply Chernomorets was a Bulgarian football club from the city of Burgas. Chernomorets plays its home matches at the local Chernomorets Stadium. The team was a runner-up in the Bulgarian Cup and Bulgarian Supercup competitions.
Rugby union in Montenegro is a minor but growing sport. The game has only recently been developed in the country since its independence in 2006. The governing body is the Montenegrin Rugby Union which was accepted as a member of Rugby Europe at the 2014 convention held in Split, Croatia. It is not yet affiliated with World Rugby but is applying for membership.
The 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the second edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual pan-European rugby union competition for professional clubs. It is also the 20th season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, following on from the now defunct European Challenge Cup. Due to the 2015 Rugby World Cup taking place during September and October 2015, the competition began slightly later than usual, with the first round of the group stage, on the weekend of 12/13/14/15 November 2015, and ended with the final on 13 May 2016 in Lyon.
The 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup was the third edition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup, an annual second-tier rugby union competition for professional clubs. Clubs from six European nations plus one Russian club competed. It was also the 21st season of the Challenge Cup competition in all forms, following on from the now defunct European Challenge Cup.
The 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, was the 18th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999–2000. South Africa won the Series with a comfortable 28-point margin over England; South Africa won five of the ten tournaments.
The 2016 Asia Rugby Sevens Series is the ninth edition of Asia's continental sevens tournament. It was played over three legs hosted in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Sri Lanka. The top two teams besides Japan qualifying for the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens for a chance to win a place as a World Rugby Sevens Series core team.
This page covers the major events of 2017 in rugby union.
The men's tournament in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at AT&T Park in San Francisco. New Zealand won the tournament and took home the Melrose Cup by defeating England 33–12 in the final; South Africa won the bronze by deafeating Fiji 24—19. The tournament was dominated by the World Series core teams, which accounted for all eight of the teams that reached the quarterfinals. Ireland was the highest placed non core team in ninth, notching wins against core teams Kenya, Wales, and Australia.
The 2017 Rugby Europe Sevens Conferences are the lower divisions of Rugby Europe's 2017 sevens season. Conference 1 was held in Burgas, Bulgaria, with the two top-placing teams advancing to the 2018 Trophy, while Conference 2 was held in Tallinn, Estonia, with the top two advancing to Conference 1 for 2018.
The 2016 Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy was the second division of Rugby Europe's 2016 sevens season. This edition was hosted by the cities of Malmö and Prague from 11 June to 3 July. The winner, Ireland, was promoted to the 2017 Grand Prix; the two teams with the least points, Monaco and Slovenia, were relegated to Conference 1.
