England win first Euro leg

Featuring a relatively inexperienced side, England went unbeaten all weekend and reached the final thanks to strong wins over Ireland and Netherlands in the quarters and semis.  Featuring three new caps in the squad the victory was an excellent return for Simon Middleton’s players.

With England focusing heavily on the World Cup this summer, this was a young squad with an eye on the future and to go unbeaten all weekend, with now the prospect of a championship win in Brive next weekend, would represent an excellent few weeks for the English.

Russia, while disappointed to not win their home competition, were in strong form over the weekend and put up a superb fight in the final. With their position on the world circuit already guaranteed next season, we may see a more experimental side next weekend in France but they will among the favourites regardless.

But this year’s tournament probably had more interest a little further down the rankings given that the top two teams other than England, Spain and Russia are fighting for spots in the World Series next season.

To that end Netherlands put in a strong showing as they battle fiercely to win a place back on the circuit and a third placed finish, thanks to a win over the surprise package Portugal will have pleased Chris Lane as his side are now in a strong position heading to France.

Portugal were no doubt the dark horses in Moscow putting up an enormous battle against the Dutch to finish fourth but also shocking Ireland in the pool and the French in the quarter-finals by the narrowest of margins, winning with a penalty from the final play. What had seemed unlikely a week ago for the Portuguese – a spot on the World Series – is definitely possible now and what a return that would be for a side we rarely see perform outside major tournaments.

Portugal’s results pushed the French into fifth place and the hosts of next weekend’s finale in Brive may be forced into picking a stronger team to try and battle their way into the reckoning.

With France winning the Plate, elsewhere Wales won Bowl by beating Belgium. Ireland's hopes of a swift return to the world series took a dent as they could only finish seventh, with a win over Italy in their play-off.