Rugby Europe's Championship, Round 1
Rugby Europe's top competition, sometimes referred to as the Six Nations B, starts this weekend.
Georgia, who won all five of their matches in 2018, are the reigning champions.
2018 Log
The log is not only dependent on the match scores. The bottom three countries, Belgium, Spain and Romania, were penalised for playing ineligible players.
1. Georgia
2. Russia
3. Germany
4. Belgium
5. Spain
6. Romania
2019 Round 1 Fixtures
Romania vs Georgia in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Belgium vs Germany in Brussels
Spain vs Russia in Madrid
Teams
Romania vs Georgia in Cluj-Napoca
When Romania and neighbours Georgia meet, they play for the Antim Cup, for they have St Antim in common.
In 2018, Georgia beat Romania 25-16 in Tbilisi.
Teams
Romania: 15 Ionel Melinte, 14 Vladut Zaharia, 13 Catalin Fercu, 12 Florin Vlaicu, 11 Nicolas Onutu, 10 Daniel Plai, 9 Valentin Calafeteanu, 8 Andre Gorin, 7 Adrian Ion, 6 Mihai Macovei (captain), 5 Marius Antonescu, 4 Johan van Heerden, 3 Andrei Ursache, 2 Otar Turashvili, 1 Mihaita Lazar
Replacements: 16 Ionel Badiu, 17 Eugen Capatana, 18 Alexandru Gordas, 19 Dorin Lazar, 20 Viorel Lucaci, 21 Ionel Surugiu, 22 Alexandru Bucur, 23 Vladut Popa
Coach: Marius Tincu
Georgia: 15 Lasha Khmaladze, 14 Alexander Todua, 13 Merab Sharikadze (captain), 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Zurabi Dzneladze, 10 Tedo Abzhandadze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 6 Beka Saginadze, 5 Giorgi Nemsadze, 4 Davit Gigauri, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Replacements: 16 Vano Karkadze, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Nodar Cheishvili, 20 Giorgi Tkhilaishvili, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Mirian Modebadze, 23 Giorgi Aptsiauri
Coach: Milton Haig
Date: Saturday, 9 February 2019
Kick-off: 14.00
Venue: Stadionul Cluj Arena, Cluj-Napoca
Referee: Sean Gallagher (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Mark Patton (Ireland)
Belgium vs Germany in Brussels
In 2018 Belgium beat Germany 69-15 in Brussels.
Teams
Belgium: 15 Charles Reynaert, 14 Ervin Muric, 13 Craig Dowsett, 12 Jens Torfs, 11 Thomas Wallraf, 10 Vincent Hart, 9 Julien Berger, 8 William Van Bost, 7 Mathieu Verschelden, 6 Gillian Benoy, 5 Tom Herenge, 4 Sven D'Hooghe, 3 Maxime Jadot, 2 Thomas Dienst , 1 Jean-Baptiste De Clercq
Replacements: 16 Alexis Cuffolo, 17 Lucas Sotteau, 18 Bertrand Billi, 19 Amin Hamzaoui, 20 Louis Debatty, 21 Emiel Vermote, 22 Isaac Montoisy, 23 Romain Pinte
Coach: Guillaume Ajac
Germany:15 Harris Aounallah, 14 Nilkolai Klewinghaus, 13 Wynston Cameron-Dow , 12 Hagen Schulte, 11 Vito Lammers, 10 Raynor Parkinson, 9 Tim Menzel, 8 Sebastian Ferreira, 7 Jacobus Otto, 6 Marcel Henn, 5 Jorn Schroder, 4 Eric Marks , 3 Sammy Fuchsel, 2 Dasch Barber, 1 Tobias Williams
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Felix Martel, 18 Antony Dickinson, 19 Hassan Rayan, 20 Elias Haase, 21 Morné Laubscher, 22 Felix Lammers, 23 Eden Syme
Coach: Michael Ford
Date: Saturday, 9 February 2019
Kick-off: 15.00
Venue: Little Heysel Stadium, Brussels
Expected weather conditions: Rain with a high of 10°C, dropping to 7°C
Referee: Shota Tevzadze (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Sulkhan Chikladze (Georgia), Shota Tsagareishvili (Georgia)
Spain vs Russia in Madrid
In 2018, Spain beat Russia 20-13 in Krasnodar.
Teams
Spain: 15 Julen Goia, 14 Jordi Jorba, 13 Andrea Rabago, 12 Richard Stewart, 11 Federico Casteglioni, 10 Andrew Norton, 9 Lucas Rubio, 8 Kalokalo Gavidi, 7 Asier Usarraga, 6 Lucas Guillame, 5 Joshua Peters, 4 Mickaël De Marco, 3 Xerom Civil, 2 Benat Auzqui, 1 Fernando Lopez
Replacements: 16 Francisco Blanco, 17 Quentin García, 18 Victor Sánchez, 19 Michael Hogg, 20 Facundo Munilla, 21 Gauthier Minguillon, 22 Guillermo Dominguez, 23 Jon Zabala
Coach: Santiago Santos
Russia: 15 Vasily Artemiev, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Vladimir Ostroushko, 12 Dmitry Gerasimov, 11 Daniil Potikhanov, 10 Yuri Kushnarev, 9 Vasily Dorofeev, 8 Nikita Vavilin, 7 Vitaly Zhivatov, 6 Tagir Gadziev, 5 Bogdan Fedotko, 4 Andrey Ostrikov, 3 Vladimir Podrezov, 2 Stanislav Selskii, 1 Valery Morozov
Replacements: 16 Polivalov Andrey, 17 Matveev Evgeny, 18 Illin Alexander, 19 Sychev Anton, 20 Perov Dmitry, 21 Yanushkin Sergey, 22 Davydov German, 23 Zykov Inokenty
Coach: Lyn Jones
Date: Sunday, 10 February 2019
Kick-off: 12.45
Venue: Central de Madrid
Expected weather conditions: Partly cloudy with a high of 13°C and a low of 3°C
Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ireland), Chris Busby (Ireland) (Ireland)