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Despite the name the European Nations Cup is in fact a series of 4 divisions of 6 teams with promotion and relegation between them. There is, however, at present little prospect of any of the teams being promoted to the Six Nations as the gap in terms of playing standards is simply too big. Georgia , Portugal , Romania , Russia , the Czech Republic and Ukraine are currently in Division One. Division One usually uses the same weekends as the Six Nations Championship ; other divisions play throughout the year. Initially started as one-year competition, the championship is now decided over two years with each team playing each other home and away. The format change occurred at the end of the 2001 championship. Georgia is still regarded as the 2001 winner, but the results from that season count in the final standings of the 2001-2002 tournament. FIRST DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS 2005-2006 The ongoing championships is also acting as a Qualifiying Group for the 2007 Rugby World Cup . The top 3 teams will enter the final European qualifying round for a place in the World Cup, whilst the bottom three will join one other qualifier, from one of the lower divisions, in play offs for the final two positions in the final qualifying round. The standings, As Of March 19 2006 are:
HISTORY 2000 Romania won the first competition by a large margin, recording victories in all four matches. 1. Romania 4 4 0 0 120- 39 12 pts 2. Georgia 4 2 0 2 125- 95 8 pts 3. Spain 4 2 0 2 94- 86 8 pts 4. Portugal 4 1 0 3 65- 97 5 pts 5. Holland 4 1 0 3 37-124 5 pts 2001 Georgia secured the title after a consistent performance, crowned with a decisive 31-20 win over Romania in Bucharest. As the competion format changed from one-year to two-years, Holland was not relegated after this season. 1. Georgia 5 5 0 0 167- 68 14 pts 2. Romania 5 4 0 1 188- 71 13 pts 3. Russia 5 3 0 2 152-143 11 pts 4. Spain 5 2 0 3 118-128 9 pts 5. Portugal 5 1 0 4 77-165 7 pts 6. Holland 5 0 0 5 57-184 5 pts 2001-2002 Romania started in 2002 trailing Georgia after 2001 results, but managed to win all of the remaining five games, including a hard-fought 31-23 victory in Tbilisi. 1. Romania 10 9 0 1 373-148 28 pts 2. Georgia 10 8 1 1 351-152 27 pts 3. Russia 10 6 1 3 332-230 23 pts 4. Spain 10 3 0 7 246-247 16 pts 5. Portugal 10 3 0 7 170-295 16 pts 6. Holland 10 0 0 10 84-484 10 pts 2003-2004 Portugal were surprise 16-15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves on the top of the 2003 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania seemed back on track (36-6 against Portugal in Constanţa ), but went down 24-33 to Russia in Krasnodar . Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19-18 win over Russia in Lisbon . The Russia - Czech Republic game was rescheduled due to bad weather and was eventually cancelled. 1. Portugal 10 9 0 1 245-180 28 pts 2. Romania 10 8 0 2 320-123 26 pts 3. Georgia 10 5 1 4 193-148 21 pts 4. Russia 9 4 0 6 198-175 15 pts 5. Czech Rep. 9 3 0 7 139-263 15 pts 6. Spain 10 0 1 9 129-335 11 pts SEE ALSO
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