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1995-97 FIRA Trophy
Date	19 November 1995 – 23 May 1997
Countries	Belgium  France  Germany  Italy  Morocco  Portugal  Romania  Russia  Spain  Tunisia
Tournament statistics
Champions	Italy
Matches played	41
← 1992–1994 (Previous) (Next) 1996–1997 →

The 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy was arranged again with a new format.

Due preparations for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, France, Italy and Romania did not participate in the 1994-95 season of the competition, so for that season a "Preliminary Tournament" was organised with ten other teams. The higher ranked seven teams were admitted to this tournament, with France, Italy and Romania.

The tournament was undergoing a difficult time, due to decreased interest from the strongest teams: France usually sent reserve teams, and Italy were playing matches with the likes of Australia, England and Wales.

This is evident looking the results and the programme. France played the first round robin with their Military team, Italy and Romania did not arrange a match for this tournament, but played a match on neutral ground against Argentina for the "Latina Cup". Italy sent two lower level teams to play (during the same weekend) the last two matches. The previous edition's final between Italy and France was played in March 1997, while the 1996-97 edition was already half completed.

This edition was the first ever triumph of Italy in the competition, defeating France by 40-32 in the final, thus cementing their claims to be the sixth European rugby nation powerhouse. Italy had started to play in this tournament with France in 1966 and, despite some close results, had never previously beaten their strong rivals. Italy's win, shortly after France had won the 1997 Five Nations Championship, was a historical feat that proved to be crucial for Italy's admission at the Six Nations Championship in 2000.

First Division

Preliminary Tournament

Three directly admitted

• 
   France
  


• 
   Italy
  


• 
   Romania
  

And seven qualified from the preliminary tournament

• 
   Belgium
  


• 
   Morocco
  


• 
   Poland
  


• 
   Portugal
  


• 
   Russia
  


• 
   Spain
  


• 
   Tunisia
  

Pool A

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	France	4	4	0	0	194	29	+165	12
2	Spain	4	3	0	1	91	90	+1	10
3	Russia	4	2	0	2	37	95	-58	8
4	Morocco	4	1	0	3	41	70	-29	6
5	Tunisia	4	0	0	4	11	78	-67	2

• France qualified to Final

19 November 1995

France Military	33 - 12	Russia

Blanc-Mesnil

10 December 1995

Tunisia	11 - 20	Morocco

Sousse

6 January 1996

Morocco	8 - 22	France Military

Casablanca

16 March 1996

Morocco	3 - 24	Spain

Casablanca

16 March 1996

France Military	58 - 0	Tunisia

Albertville

31 March 1996

Spain	9 - 81	France XV

Barcelona

14 April 1996

Spain	52 - 6	Russia

Madrid

28 April 1996

Spain	6 – 0 withdraw	Tunisia

Madrid

11 May 1996

Morocco	10 - 13	Russia

Safi

19 May 1996

Tunisia	0 – 6 withdraw	Russia

Tunis

Pool B

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Italy	4	4	0	0	249	35	+214	12
2	Romania	4	3	0	1	218	54	+164	10
3	Portugal	4	2	0	2	70	177	-107	8
4	Poland	4	1	0	3	61	195	-134	6
5	Belgium	4	0	0	4	43	180	-137	4

• Italy qualified to the final

21 October 1995	Italy	40 - 3	Romania	Stadium Etcheverri, Buenos Aires
	Try: Checchinato 2, Mazzariol, Moscardi, Roselli Con: Bonomi 3 Pen: Bonomi 3		Pen: Besarau	Referee: Efraim Sklar
Italy: 15. Paolo Vaccari, 14. Fabio Roselli, 13. Marco Platania, 12. Ivan Francescato, 11. Francesco Mazzariol, 10. Massimo Bonomi, 9. Alessandro Troncon, 8. Carlo Checchinato, 7. Andrea Sgorlon, 6. Massimo Giovanelli, 5. Mark Giacheri, 4. Pierpaolo Pedroni, 3. Andrea Castellani, 2. Carlo Orlandi, 1. Massimo Cuttitta (cap.) - replacements: 16. Alessandro Moscardi, 17. Orazio Arancio, 18. Carlo Caione, 19. Gabriel Filizzola
Romania: 15. Valentin Maftei, 14. Gheorghe Solomie, 13. Marius Nedelcu, 12. Tiberiu Luca, 11. Radu Fugigi, 10. Vasile Besărău, 9. Vasile Flutur, 8. Adrian Gîrbu, 7. Alexandru Gealapu, 6. Andrei Gurănescu, 5. Constantin Cojocariu (cap.), 4. Micușor Marin, 3. Adrian Saălăgeanu, 2. Ionel Negreci, 1. Gabriel Vlad - replacements: 16. Ionel Rotaru, 17. Cătălin Drăguceanu, 18. Dragoș Niculae, 19. Constantin Dragnea

28 1995

Poland	30 - 10	Belgium

Warsaw

3 March 1996	Portugal	3 - 64	Italy	Universitário, Lisbon
	Try: Babbo 2, Dominguez Francescato 2, Mazzucato, Orlandi, Platania 2, Properzi Con: Dominguez 7			Referee: Garcia Mostaza
Portugal: 15. José Vilar Gomes, 14. Paulo Murinello, 13. Nuno Durão, 12. Nuno Mourão, 11. Rohan Hoffmann, 10. N.M. Vilar Gomes, 9. Luís Pissarra, 8. Pedro Castro, 7. António Cunha, 6. J. Catulo, 5. Lopes Rodrigues, 4. Pedro Rogerio Arsenio, 3. Joaquim Ferreira, 2. Paulo Silva, 1. J.P. Costa - replacements: 16. Vasco Durão, 17. E. Galvão, 18. A. Lima
Italy: 15. Massimo Ravazzolo, 14. Nicola Mazzucato, 13. Marco Platania, 12. Ivan Francescato, 11. Simone Babbo, 10. Diego Dominguez, 9. Gianluca Guidi, 8. Orazio Arancio, 7. Andrea Sgorlon, 6. Carlo Caione, 5. Roberto Favaro, 4. Andrea Gritti, 3. Franco Properzi, 2. Carlo Orlandi, 1. Massimo Cuttitta (cap.) - replacements: 16. Piergiorgi Menapace, 17. Riccardo Piovan, 18. Francesco Mazzariol, 19. Walter Cristofoletto

16 March 1996

Belgium	18 - 29	Portugal

Brussels

13 April 1996

Romania	92 - 0	Portugal

Bucharest

19 April 1996

Romania A	83 - 5	Belgium

Bucharest

27 April 1996

Portugal	38 - 3	Poland

Lisbon

12 May 1996

Poland	9 - 40	Romania

Sochaczew

24 May 1996

Belgium	10 - 38	Emerging Italy[1]

Brussels

25 May 1996

Italy A	107 - 19	Poland

Udine

Final

22 March 1997

France	32 - 40	Italy
Try: 14' Penalty try 52' e 82' Bondouy 79' Sadourny Con: 14', 52' e 82' Aucagne Pen: 20', 24' Aucagne		Try: 5' I. Francescato 34' Gardner 56' Croci 74' Vaccari Con: 5', 34', 56' e 74' Domínguez Pen: 17', 30', 62' e 68' Domínguez

Stade Lesdiguières, Grenoble Attendance: 13,000 Referee: McHugh

France  Jean-Luc Sadourny Stephane Ougier Yann Delaigue Pierre Bondouy Philippe Saint-André David Aucagne Guy Accoceberry Fabien Pelous Arnaud Costes Philippe Benetton Hugues Miorin Olivier Merle Franck Tournaire Marc Dal Maso Marc de Rougemont   Serge Betsen Raphael Ibanez   Pierre Villepreux

FB 15 FB RW 14 RW OC 13 OC IC 12 IC LW 11 LW FH 10 FH SH 9 SH N8 8 N8 OF 7 OF BF 6 BF RL 5 RL LL 4 LL TP 3 TP HK 2 HK LP 1 LP Substitutions:     Coaches

Italy Javier Pértile Paolo Vaccari Stefano Bordon Ivan Francescato Marcello Cuttitta Diego Dominguez Alessandro Troncon Julian Gardner Andrea Sgorlon Massimo Giovanelli (c) Giambattista Croci Walter Cristofoletto Franco Properzi Carlo Orlandi Massimo Cuttitta   Francesco Mazzariol Gianluca Guidi   Georges Coste

Second Division

Pool 1 (Gold)

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Netherlands	4	3	1	0	107	31	+76	11
2	Georgia	4	3	0	1	40	61	-21	10
3	Germany	4	2	0	2	52	48	+4	8
4	Czech Republic	4	1	0	3	62	80	-18	6
5	Denmark	4	0	1	3	37	75	-38	4

23 September 1995

Germany	28 - 17	Czech Republic

Hanover

15 October 1995

Georgia	14 - 3	Germany

Tbilisi

29 October 1995

Denmark	20 - 20	Netherlands

Copenhagen

19 November 1995

Denmark	0 - W	Georgia

Aalborg Referee: Zboralsky (France) GEO duly arrived but DNK did not take the frozen field claiming it was not safe Reference: Georgia Rugby Record 1959-2009, p 152,155 http://issuu.com/qaflan/docs/ka-mataine50

24 November 1995

Netherlands	55 - 3	Georgia

Castricum

30 March 1996

Czech Republic	3 - 26	Netherlands

Ricany

12 April 1996

Georgia	20 - 3	Czech Republic

Kutaisi

21 April 1996

Netherlands	6 - 5	Germany

Hilversum

27 April 1996

Czech Republic	39 - 6	Denmark

Ricany

12 May 1996

Germany	16 - 11	Denmark

Hanover

Pool 2 (Silver)

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Serbia and Montenegro	2	2	0	0	69	21	+48	6
2	Andorra	2	1	0	1	25	38	-13	4
3	Bulgaria	2	0	0	2	17	52	-35	2

24 March 1996

Serbia and Montenegro	30 - 12	Andorra

20 April 1996

Andorra	13 - 8	Bulgaria

Andorra-la-Vella

18 June 1996

Bulgaria	9 - 39	Serbia and Montenegro

Third Division

Pool 1

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Ukraine	3	3	0	0	84	11	+73	9
2	Latvia	3	2	0	1	50	44	+6	7
3	Moldova	3	1	0	2	20	61	-41	5
4	Lithuania	3	0	0	3	38	76	-38	3

1 May 1996

Ukraine	38 - 0	Moldova

Kiev

11 May 1996

Latvia	34 - 20	Lithuania

10 October 1996

Latvia	3 - 19	Ukraine

Riga

21 October 1996

Latvia	13 - 5	Moldova

Riga

1996

Lithuania	8 - 27	Ukraine

Vilnius

1996

Lithuania	10 - 15	Moldova

Pool 2

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Hungary	2	2	0	0	55	19	+36	6
2	Slovenia	2	1	0	1	23	44	-21	4
3	Austria	2	0	0	2	18	33	-15	2

5 November 1995

Austria	8 - 21	Hungary

Wien

20 April 1996

Slovenia	12 - 10	Austria

11 May 1996

Hungary	34 - 11	Slovenia

Kecskemét

Pool 3

Place	Nation	Games				Points			Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff.
1	Croatia	2	2	0	0	37	18	+19	6
2	Israel	2	1	0	1	26	33	-7	4
3	Luxembourg	2	0	0	2	24	36	-12	2

28 October 1995

Luxembourg	12 - 16	Croatia

Luxembourg

7 April 1996

Israel	20 - 12	Luxembourg

Tel Aviv

27 April 1996

Croatia	21 - 6	Israel

Split

Notes and references

Bibliography

• 
  (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) ISBN 88-87374-40-6.


• 
  (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).

External links

• FIRA-AER official website