2012–2014 European Nations Cup Second Division Explained

2012–14 European Nations Cup
Date:	2012–2014
Countries:	Division 2A: Division 2B: Division 2C: Division 2D:
Matches:	Division 2A: 1 Division 2B: 4 Division 2C: 3 Division 2D: 2
Top Point Scorer:	Division 2A: Bart Viguurs (44) Division 2B: Boris Martić (31) Division 2C: Marcus Holden (75) Division 2D: Armin Vehabovic (45)
Top Try Scorer:	Division 2A: Cyril Lin (3) Division 2B: Eitan Humphreys (4) Division 2C: 4 Try scorers (4) Division 2D: 6 Try scorers (2)
Previous Year:	2010–12
Previous Tournament:	2010–12 European Nations Cup Second Division
Next Year:	2014–16
Next Tournament:	2014–16 European Nations Cup Second Division

The 2012–14 European Nations Cup Second Division is the third tier rugby union in Europe behind the Six Nations Championship and the 2012-2014 European Nations Cup First Division.

The second division comprises four pools (2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D). Teams within each division play each other in a home and away round robin schedule over a two-year period.

At the end of every season a champion was declared according but for relegation and promotion only the two years ranking are considered.The first in the 2012–2014 ranking of each pool will be promoted while last place teams will be relegated. Winners of pool 2A, will be promoted to division 1 pool B for the 2014–16 edition while the last place team in pool 2A will be relegated to pool 2B. Likewise, winners of 2B will be promoted to 2A, last place in 2B will be relegated to 2C, winner of 2C will be promoted to 2B, last place of 2C will be relegated to 2D, winner of 2D will be promoted to 2C and last place of 2D will be relegated to 3; The winner of 3 replacing the relegated 2D team. Additionally, there will be playoff matches between second place teams and fourth place teams between pools. Winners of these playoffs will determine if additional promotions/relegation occur. There will no playoff between the fourth of 2D and the second of 3.

In addition to the season competitions, the 2012–2013 seasons in all four pools doubles as a 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifier. The winning teams in each pool will play off for the chance to challenge the Division 1 teams for the repechage place for Europe.^[1]

Division 2A

2012–2013

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Bonus points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	(47)	4	4	0	0	125	57	+68	2	18
2	(52)	4	3	0	1	92	75	+17	2	14
3	(44)	4	1	0	3	78	92	−14	3	7
4	(45)	4	1	0	3	73	104	−31	1	5
5	(36)	4	1	0	3	69	109	−40	0	4

Pre tournament rankings in parentheses.

Games^[2] ------------------------------------

2013–14

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	Bonus	for	against	difference
1		4	3	1	0	3	132	68	+64	17
2		4	3	0	1	1	89	75	+14	13
3		4	1	0	3	3	80	90	−106	7
4		4	1	1	2	1	78	84	−6	7
5		4	1	0	3	0	67	129	−62	4

Games------------------------------------

2012–2014

Promoted to Division 1B for 2014–16 ENC
Playoff to remain Division 2A in 2014–16
Relegated to Division 2B for 2014–16 ENC

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Bonus points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	(47)	8	7	1	0	257	125	+132	5	35
2	(52)	8	4	1	3	170	159	+11	3	21
3	(45)	8	4	0	4	162	179	−17	2	18
4	(44)	8	2	0	6	145	221	−76	3	11
5	(36)	8	2	0	6	149	199	−50	3	11

Pre tournament rankings in parentheses.

Division 2B

2012–2013

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Bonus points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	(56)	4	4	0	0	137	45	+92	3	19
2	(72)	4	2	0	2	85	82	+3	3	11
3	(61)	4	1	1	2	62	79	−17	1	7
4	(62)	4	1	1	2	48	77	−29	0	6
5	(73)	4	1	0	3	84	133	−49	2	6

Numbers in parentheses are pre-tournament rankings.
Games^[3] ------------------------------------

2013–14

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	Bonus	for	against	difference
1		4	3	0	1	3	89	67	+22	15
2		4	3	0	1	2	75	64	+11	14
3		4	3	0	1	2	83	63	+20	14
4		4	1	0	3	3	66	72	−6	7
5		4	0	0	4	0	52	99	−47	0

Games------------------------------------

2012–2014

Promoted to Division 2A for 2014–16 ENC
Playoff for promotion to Division 2A in 2014–16
Playoff to remain Division 2B in 2014–16
Relegated to Division 2C for 2014–16 ENC

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Bonus points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	(56)	8	7	0	1	212	109	+103	5	33
2	(72)	8	5	0	3	174	149	+25	6	26
3	(62)	8	4	1	3	131	140	−9	2	20
4	(61)	8	2	1	5	128	151	−23	3	14
5	(73)	8	1	0	7	136	232	−96	2	6

Numbers in parentheses are pre-tournament rankings.

Division 2C

2012–2013

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	Bonus	for	against	difference
1	(NR)	4	4	0	0	3	198	53	+145	19
2	(81)	4	2	0	2	2	52	96	−44	10
3	(85)	4	2	0	2	2	61	57	+4	10
4	(79)	4	2	0	2	1	65	128	−63	9
5	(84)	4	0	0	4	3	57	99	−42	3

Pre tournament rankings in parentheses. NR=no ranking

Games^[4] --------------------

This was the 18th consecutive Test match win for Cyprus, a new world record. The previous record of 17 was held jointly by New Zealand, South Africa, and Lithuania. (Although International Rugby Board records credit Lithuania with 18 consecutive wins from 2006 to 2010, ESPN Scrum pointed out that this streak should be reduced by one, as this 18-match sequence in fact included one loss.)^[5]

----------------

2013–14

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	Bonus	for	against	difference
1		4	4	0	0	3	148	39	+109	19
2		4	3	0	1	2	138	66	+72	14
3		4	2	0	2	1	98	67	+31	9
4		4	1	0	3	1	57	106	−49	5
5		4	0	0	4	0	51	214	−163	0

Games------------------------------------

2012–2014

Promoted to Division 2B for 2014–16 ENC
Playoff for promotion to Division 2B in 2014–16
Playoff to remain Division 2C in 2014–16
Relegated to Division 2D for 2014–16 ENC

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	Bonus	for	against	difference
1	(NR)	8	8	0	0	6	346	92	+254	38
2	(85)	8	5	0	3	4	176	111	+65	24
3	(81)	8	3	0	5	3	109	194	−93	15
4	(84)	8	2	0	6	4	143	143	0	12
5	(79)	8	2	0	6	1	116	342	−169	9

Pre tournament rankings in parentheses. NR=no ranking

Division 2D

2012–2013

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Bonus points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	(95)	4	3	0	1	74	62	+12	0	12
2	(93)	4	2	0	2	65	48	+17	3	11
3	(87)	4	2	0	2	78	71	+7	2	10
4	(NR)	4	2	0	2	61	64	−3	1	9
5	(96)	4	1	0	3	45	78	−33	2	6

Pre-tournament rankings in parentheses. NR=No ranking
Games^[6] ------------------------------------

2013–14

Table

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	Bonus	for	against	difference
1		4	3	0	1	1	100	46	+54	13
2		4	2	0	2	3	109	61	+48	11
3		4	2	0	2	2	76	87	−11	10
4		4	2	0	2	2	83	96	−13	10
5		4	1	0	3	0	71	149	−78	4

Games------------------------------------

2012–2014

Promoted to Division 2C for 2014–16 ENC
Playoff for promotion to Division 2C in 2014–16
Relegated to Division 3A for 2014–16 ENC

Place	Nation	Games	Points	Bonus points	Table points
played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	difference
1	(95)	8	6	0	2	174	107	+67	1	25
2	(87)	8	4	0	4	187	132	+55	5	21
3	(93)	8	4	0	4	141	135	+6	5	21
4	(96)	8	3	0	5	128	174	−46	4	16
5	(NR)	8	3	0	5	132	215	−81	1	13

Pre-tournament rankings in parentheses. NR=No ranking

Promotion/relegation playoffs

Division 2A-Division 2B

Division 2B's 2nd placed Latvia hosted Division 2A's 4th placed Croatia. Croatia won and retained their place in the ENC Division 2A for 2014–2016, while Latvia will play in the ENC Division 2B.

Division 2B-Division 2C

Division 2C's 2nd placed Hungary were due to host Division 2B's 4th placed Denmark. However, Denmark chose not to play the match, and therefore Hungary were promoted to Division 2B for 2014–16, while Denmark was relegated to Division 2C.^[7]

Division 2C-Division 2D

Division 2D's 2nd placed Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted Division 2C's 4th placed Austria. Austria won and retained their place in the ENC Division 2C for 2014–2016, while Bosnia and Herzegovina will remain in the ENC Division 2D.

Pre-game rankings in parentheses

Notes and References

Note: Though Cyprus is participating in ENC Division 2C, they are not IRB members and are thus not eligible to participate in Rugby World Cup qualifying. As Cyprus won this division's 2013 round, the runner-up team, Slovenia, entered the RWC play-offs.
Web site: ENC 2A First Leg. FIRA-AER. 2012-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20121017232715/http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/group-127.htm. 2012-10-17. dead.
Web site: ENC 2B First Leg. FIRA-AER. 2012-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20120824174228/http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/group-128.htm. 2012-08-24. dead.
Web site: ENC 2C First Leg. FIRA-AER. 2012-09-22.
News: Cyprus on verge of historic win . Stuart . Farmer . Andrew . Vou . ESPN Scrum . 16 March 2013 . 16 March 2013.
Web site: ENC 2D First Leg. FIRA-AER. 2012-09-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20120824174037/http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/group-130.htm. 2012-08-24. dead.
Web site: Mérkőzés nélkül kerülhetünk fel az ENC 2B csoportba. Hungarian Rugby Union. 2014-05-23. 2014-06-11.