Russia & France ahead of the rest
The European Grand Prix first leg in Malemort was a weekend of ups and downs, rises, falls, and unexpected results – but still the same two teams met in the final, where Russia beat France by a single point.
Published by John Birch, June 18th, 2017
4 minute read
There were many stories on the first day – the steamrolling performance of Russia, the strength of France, the focused determination of Ireland, the decline of the Dutch. But maybe the most memorable was the performance of Poland. We’ve seen teams do well in the second tier – Ukraine, Finland – but struggle to perform at the high altitude of the Grand Prix.
And, in honesty, when they opened with a 0-41 drubbing to Russia in the opening game, it looked like the same again. We had suspected a surprise when they played the Netherlands in our preview, and Poland did us proud with a 12-12 draw. What we had not expected was that they would so the same against Spain.
That Poland still missed out on a quarter-final spot was desperately unlucky, but never has a team in its first year at the top looked so comfortable.
Elsewhere France and Russia cantered through their pools, but Ireland winning the third pool was a slight surprise. Only a month ago they had never beaten England at sevens, now they recorded their second win – and quite comfortably, England only narrowing the score with a try at the end.
Day two, and the quarter-finals ended as expected but not without Wales giving England a severe scare which had their World Cup spot hanging in the balance. The semi-final outcomes were also as expected, though Ireland very nearly upset France.
In the battle for the minor places the Netherlands stood out for all of the wrong reasons. On the verge of the Olympics a couple of years ago, heavy defeats to Sweden and Portugal (only two late Dutch tries giving an air of respectability) now put the Dutch on the verge of the European Trophy next year.
Other results reduced World Cup qualification to two from three teams. Ireland – finishing in third place – look safest. England should join them, unless Wales finish better than two places ahead of them in Kazan. Given the draw this would probably need Wales to at least reach the semi-finals.
And so to the final, which was – perhaps appropriately – the best game of the weekend, with by far the best two teams coming together and with the result decided by a single point. Russia lead all the way, but France kept on coming back. The identity of the 2017 European Champion is still far from clear.
Pool A:Russia 41-0 Poland; Netherlands 0-19 Spain; Russia 17-0 Spain; Netherlands 12-12 Poland; Russia 48-0 Netherlands; Spain 12-12 Poland
Pool B:France 40-5 Sweden; Wales 28-0 Belgium; France 31-5 Belgium; Wales 24-12 Sweden; France 50-5 Wales; Belgium 31-5 Sweden
Pool C:England 45-0 Portugal; Ireland 22-7 Italy; England 19-15 Italy; Ireland 47-7 Portugal; England 12-24 Ireland; Italy 31-0 Portugal
Quarter-finals:Russia 46-0 Belgium; Wales 10-12 England; France 26-5 Italy; Ireland 15-0 Spain
Semi-finals:Russia 24-15 England; France 14-7 Ireland
Bronze final:England 7-24 Ireland
Gold final:Russia 22-21 France
5th/8th semi-finals:Belgium 7-12 Wales; Italy 0-19 Spain
7th place final:Belgium 0-17 Italy
5th place final:Wales 10-19 Spain
Challenge semi-finals:Poland 21-0 Portugal; Netherlands 0-28 Sweden
11th place final:Portugal 26-19 Netherlands
Challenge final:Poland 12-19 Sweden
Draw for 2nd leg (Kazan 8/9 July)should be:A: Russia, Wales, Italy, NetherlandsB: France, Spain, Belgium, PortugalC: Ireland, England, Sweden, Poland