{"id":237681,"date":"2025-10-24T13:51:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:51:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237681\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T13:51:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T13:51:05","slug":"the-return-of-the-mens-rugby-europe-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/237681\/","title":{"rendered":"The return of the Men\u2019s Rugby Europe Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tWelcome back to another season of the Men\u2019s Rugby Europe Trophy<\/a>! The second division of the men\u2019s Rugby Europe competitions kicks off this next Saturday when Lithuania hosts Poland in the opening match.<\/p>\n

The Trophy will span throughout 15 games, granting fans several weekends of intense and passionate rivalries.<\/p>\n

Poland, Czechia, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, and Lithuania are the 2025\/2026 contestants. Poland won the previous edition of the Trophy<\/a>, with Sweden closing in second place, while Czechia took the podium\u2019s last place. <\/p>\n

With that in mind, what can we expect from a season that will decide who will win promotion to the Men\u2019s Rugby Europe Championship?\u00a0<\/p>\n

FORMAT AND CALENDAR<\/p>\n

The competition will consist of a round-robin format, with each team playing a total of five games. Bonus points will be awarded to teams that have scored three (3) or more tries than the opposition and that have lost by 7 points or fewer.<\/p>\n

In the previous season, Poland were undefeated, although Sweden came close to bagging an upset in the closing game of the competition, as the Polish survived a last-minute attempt from the Swedish to hold a 29-25 win.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s in the past, and with the dawn of a new season, the promotion is still possible for the likes of Poland, Sweden and Czechia.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Denmark is the newest member of the Trophy ensemble, having won promotion from the Conference, while Luxembourg dropped to the third tier of Rugby Europe\u2019s men\u2019s competitions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

As already stated, the competition goes live this Saturday with two games: Lithuania vs Poland and Sweden vs Croatia. The competition will continue until November 22nd, pause briefly until February, and resume\u00a0on February 28th. <\/p>\n

The closing round is scheduled for April 10th, when Poland and Denmark will welcome Sweden and Czechia to their turf, respectively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A TROPHY PACKED WITH STAR POWER<\/p>\n

For new Rugby Europe Trophy fans, if you are searching for some stellar players, there are more than a few names to satisfy your appetite.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Poland, you can find the behemoth Mateusz Bartoszek, who has left a mark playing for his French club Bassin D\u2019Arcachon. An enforcer of superior quality, Bartoszek encapsulates Poland\u2019s best traits, with a fighting spirit and an insatiable hunger to deliver bone-shattering tackles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sweden has its fair share of flaming hot superstars, who range from Leicester Tigers prop Ale Loman to skipper and Trinity College\u2019s flanker Philip Murphy. Loman is one of the very best props from the Rugby Europe universe due to his scrummaging excellence and unstoppable work rate.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Adam Koblic is one of Czechia\u2019s greatest menaces, as the speedster can turn any strong defence into a rag in the blink of an eye, as shown in previous seasons. He isn\u2019t the only stellar operator over the Czechian camp, but he is certainly the one to watch.<\/p>\n

Croatia is on the rise, and Nik Jurisic is a perfect example of that growth, as the centre possesses a variety of skills that can unlock the glorious gates of try-land. Number eight Ivo Peric and centre Deon Mu\u2019u are also on the same page as Jurisic, adding power and pace to the Croatian side.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Utility back Domantas Baguzis has the power to break through most defences, painting a colourful rugby canvas for his country of Lithuania.<\/p>\n

And finally, Denmark, the newly promoted nation to the Trophy, isn\u2019t deprived of star power, as utility forward and captain Mikkel Andresen and fullback Henry Coleman are two of their finest players.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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WORDS FROM THE STARS<\/p>\n

After going through the timetable and identifying some of the main stars, it\u2019s time to give the word to the players. Poland\u2019s captain Piotr Zeszutek, Sweden\u2019s skipper Philip Murphy and wing Adam Koblic share here a few of their thoughts, and let\u2019s start with the former.<\/p>\n

Piotr, what can we expect from team Poland? Do you think you can win back promotion to the Championship? <\/p>\n

Firstly, we already had a good season so far, won 5 games in 2024\/25. Now we are starting with a new chapter and want to repeat our achievement.\u00a0Our approach is to always focus on an upcoming game. Lithuania first. We will play away, so I\u2019m sure it will be a tough game, and hopefully it will be a nice performance from both sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What it means to you to lead Poland?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a captain since 2017, which was one of my biggest sports dreams which came true. I\u2019m glad I can lead the team and do my best to win every single game as a pack. Individually, I really want to get a promotion to the Rugby Europe Championship again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three words to describe the Bia\u0142o-czerwoni?<\/p>\n

\u2060Determined, united and\u00a0fearless.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Philip, your turn, what can fans expect from Sweden? Do you think you can win the competition and get promoted to the Championship? <\/p>\n

We\u2019re in a good place as a group. There\u2019s been a lot of hard work since the Poland game, and we\u2019ve learned a lot from last season. Our aim is to keep building on that \u2014 to be competitive in every detail in the game, stick to our structures, and play the kind of rugby that represents Sweden well. Promotion is obviously something every team wants, but our focus is on executing and consistency first. If we get those right, the results will come.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to you to be Sweden\u2019s captain? And can you share some individual goals?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a real privilege to captain Sweden \u2014 something I don\u2019t take lightly and will never be forgotten. We\u2019re a group that\u2019s growing together, and it means a lot to help guide that process. Personally, I just want to lead by example, do my job well, and make sure the lads around me feel supported, confident in their roles, and understand how every action feeds into the larger strategy.<\/p>\n

Three words to describe this Swedish Men’s team that is\u00a0about\u00a0to\u00a0compete in another RE Men\u2019s Trophy season.<\/p>\n

Physical, Connected and proud.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Daniel Storch<\/p>\n

Finally,\u00a0Adam! Czechia finished 3rd last season, but can your team go the extra mile? What can fans expect from you? <\/p>\n

The new season will bring a fresh start. There have been significant changes in the Czech national team setup \u2014 new coaches, players and most importantly, a new goal. Currently, most of the Czech national team is getting valuable game time and experience through the Rugby Europe Super Cup. So I reckon the team will finally be ready to challenge and bring down Sweden and Poland. I have never been too good at maths (jokingly), but unfortunately, given last year\u2019s results, it will be challenging to get to the top of the table. <\/p>\n

What it means to you to be perceived as Czechia\u2019s biggest threat? And what are your personal goals? And how would you define yourself?<\/p>\n

Obviously, it sounds very flattering; however, my being able to do my job as a finisher is mainly due to the whole team doing theirs perfectly. My personal goals are to be as valuable as possible. However, I cannot deny my love for scoring tries. I consider myself a player still learning and growing. I never sleep on an opportunity to get better. Currently, the environment I am in is nurturing the best out of me.<\/p>\n

To finish, can you describe your team, Czechia, in three words?<\/p>\n

Speed, aggression and intelligence<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Travis Prior<\/p>\n

The Rugby Europe Trophy will be broadcast on Rugby Europe TV, and you can access every fixture by just signing in our platform<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to another season of the Men\u2019s Rugby Europe Trophy! The second division of the men\u2019s Rugby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-237681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}