6NB: Round 5 Preview
What is important is that two teams from this competition, the Rugby Europe Championship, will qualify to be one of the 20 teams at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. Georgia are not one of those two teams as they have already qualified by virtue of their performance in 2015, along with New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, England, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. Hosts Japan are also qualified. That leaves eight places to be filled.
So the team that comes second will qualify to go directly to the World Cup while the team coming third gets a chance through the cross-regional qualifiers. They will play, home and away, against the team that comes third in the Pacific Nations Cup. The loser of those two matches then gets another chance to qualify via répechage along with three other teams – one from America, one from Europe and one from Asia.
The 20 teams will be known on 18 November 2018.
Round 5 Fixtures
Spain vs Belgium in Madrid
Romania vs Georgia in Bucharest
Russia vs Germany in Sochi
Results
Round 1
Spain vs Russia, 16-6
Georgia vs Belgium, 31-6
Germany vs Romania, 41-38
Round 2
Georgia vs Germany, 50-6
Russia vs Belgium, 25-18
Romania vs Spain, 13-3
Round 3
Romania vs Russia, 30-10
Germany vs Belgium, 34-29
Georgia vs Spain, 20-10
Round 4
Romania vs Belgium, 33-17
Spain vs Germany, 32-15
Georgia vs Russia, 28-14
Log after Round 4
1. Georgia (18 pts)
2. Romania (13 pts)
3. Spain (8 pts)
4. Germany (8 pts)
5. Russia (4 pts)
6. Belgium (2 pts)
Spain vs Belgium in Madrid
Spain have hardly changed while Belgium are hardly recognisablele. The only backs left in place from the last match are Charles Reynaert, Jens Torfs who has taken over the captaincy and Craig Dowsett. Of the forwards only Jean-Baptiste De Clercq is back where he was.
Teams
Spain: 15 Brad Linklater, 14 Silvio Algorritz, 13 Fabien Perrin, 12 Dan Snee, 11 Jordi Jorba, 10 Mathieu Belié, 9 Guillaume Rouet, 8 Jaime Nava De Olano (captain), 7 Gautier Gibouin, 6 Pierre Barthere, 5 Ignacio Martín, 4 David Howarth, 3 Jesus Moreno Rodriguez, 2 Marco Pinto Ferrer, 1 Benat Auzqui
Replacements: 16 Fernando Perez, 17 Juan Anaya Lazaro, 18 Alberto Blanco Alonso, 19 Anibal Fernando Bonan, 20 Ilaitia Gavidi, 21 Sébastien Rouet, 22 Thibaut Alvarez, 23 Alvar Gimeno Soria
Belgium: 15 Alan Williams, 14 Charles Reynaert, 13 Jens Torfs (captain), 12 Florian Piron, 11 Craig Dowsett, 10 Kevin Williams, 9 Tom Cocqu, 8 Thomas Demolder, 7 Baptiste Lescarboura, 6 Bertrand Billi, 5 Thomas Vervoort, 4 Clément Veeckman, 3 Jean-Baptiste De Clercq, 2 Thomas Diensté, 1 Julien Massimi
Replacements: 16 Max Dubois, 17 Christophe Debaty, 18 Tuur Moelants, 19 Gillian Benoy, 20 Sven D'Hooghe, 21 Nathan Bontems, 22 Isaac Montoisy, 23 Maxime Jadot
Date: Saturday, 18 March 2017
Kick-off: 15.50
Venue: Campo Central de la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid
Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania)
Assistant referees: Radu Petrescu (Romania), Alexandru Ionescu (Romania)
Russia vs Germany in Sochi
Germany have changed flyhalf. Chris Hilsenbeck comes into the side for the first time this year while South African Raynor Parkinson moves to inside centre in the place of Jamie Murphy who drops to the bench.
In the pack South African Sebastian Ferreira moves from flank to lock with Kehoma Ferreira coming into his place on the flank.
Teams
Russia: 15 Yuri Kushnaryov, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 13 Dmitry Gerasimov, 12 Igor Galinovsky, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Ramil Gaisin, 9 Konstantin Uzunov, 8 Anton Rudoy, 7 Dmitry Krotov, 6 Victor Gresev, 5 Yevgeny Yelgin, 4 Bogdan Fedotko, 3 Innokenty Zykov, 2 Valery Tsnobililze, 1 Andrey Polivalov
Replacements: 16 Nazir Hasanov, 17 Vladimir Podrezov, 18 Azamat Bitiyev, 19 Pavel Butenko, 20 Tagir Hajiyev, 21 Alexey Shcherban, 22 Sergey Trishin, 23 Alexey Mikhaltsov
Germany: 15 Harris Aounallah, 14 Bastian Himmer, 13 Marcel Coetzee, 12 Raynor Parkinson, 11 Pierre Mathurin, 10 Chris Hilsenbeck, 9 Sean Armstrong (captain), 8 Jarrid Els, 7 Kehoma Brenner, 6 Jaco Otto, 5 Sebastian Ferreira, 4 Eric Marks, 3 Samy Füchsel, 2 Mika Tyumenev, 1 Julius Nostadt
Replacements: 16 Dash Barber, 17 Jörn Schröder, 18 Anthony Dickinson, 19 Timo Vollenkemper, 20 H-T Schmidt, 21 Tim Menzel, 22 Oliver Paine, 23 Jamie Murphy
Date: Sunday, 19 March 2017
Kick-off: 14.00
Venue: Central Stadium, Sochi
Referee: Cédric Marchat (France)
Assistant referees: Thomas Charabas (France), Thomas Déjean (France)
Romania vs Georgia in Bucharest
Teams
Romania: 15 Catalin Fercu, 14 Stephen Shennan, 13 Jack Umaga, 12 Sione Fakaosilea, 11 I Dumitru, 10 Florin Viaicu, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Mihai Macovei (captain), 7 Andrei Gorcioaia, 6 Viorel Lucaci, 5 Johan van Heerden, 4 Marius Antonescu, 3 Alexandru Tarus, 2 O Turashvili, 1 Ionel Badiu
Replacements: 16 E Capatana, 17 Constantin Pristavita, 18 Alexandru Gordas, 19 Valentin Poparlan, 20 Dorin Lazar, 21 Valentin Calafeteanu, 22 Jody Rose, 23 Madalin Lemnaru
Georgia: 15 Merab Kvirkashvili, 14 Irakli Svanidze, 13 Davit Kacharava, 12 Merab Sharikadze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Lasha Khmaladze, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Beka Gorgadze, 7 Mamuka Gorgodze (captain), 6 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 5 Konstantin Mikautadze, 4 Giorgi Nemasdze, 3 Soso Bekoshvili, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Shalva Mamukashvili
Replacements: 16 Zurab Zhvania, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Lasha Tabidze, 19 Lasha Lomidze, 20 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 21 Giorgi Begadze, 22 L Malaguradze, 23 Giorgi Koshadze
Date: Sunday, 19 March 2017
Kick-off: 15.00
Venue: Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
Assistant referees: Sean Brickell (Wales), Wayne Davies (Wales)
