History
After the setup of the divisional system in 2000, Romania won the first competition with maximum of points, with the initial season also including Morocco.
Russia then replaced Morocco in 2001 when Georgia secured the title after a consistent performance, crowned after a decisive 31-20 win over Romania in Bucharest. As the competition format changed from a one-year tournament to two-years, the Netherlands were not relegated after this season.
Romania started 2002 trailing Georgia after the 2001 results, but managed to win all of the remaining five games, including a hard-fought 31-23 victory in Tbilisi.
Portugal were surprise 16-15 winners over Romania in Lisbon and installed themselves at the top of the 2003-04 table. In the second half of the competition, Romania seemed back on track (36-6 against Portugal in Constanţa), but went down 24-33 to Russia in Krasnodar. Then Portugal clinched their first title with a last-minute 19-18 home win over Russia. The Russia - Czech Republic game was rescheduled due to bad weather and was eventually cancelled.
The 2005-06 championships also served as a qualifying pool for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Romania triumphed even though they finished level on points with Georgia, while Ukraine was relegated after losing all matches.
The 2007-08 edition saw the return of the Spanish to the top Division. The winners were Georgia, building on their impressive display at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The Russians showed their continuing emergence with their highest ever finish in second, pushing Georgia all the way. The Czech Republic were the team to finish on the bottom of the pile with a whitewash of defeats, relegating them back to Division 2A.
A new format change was decided at the beginning of 2009. Each calendar year has its own champion, but the cumulated ranking over two years decides the team to relegate. The 2009-10 edition was also basis for European Qualification to the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The 2009 season saw the début of Germany in the top division, Georgia defending their title, as well as some surprising results, like the wins of Portugal and Russia in Bucharest.
Faced with the possibility to miss for the first time ever a Rugby World Cup, Romania worked hard and were rewarded with the 2010 title. This feat was however not enough to overtake Georgia and Russia, who, helped by their good results from the previous year, gained the automatic qualification, leaving Romania to go through the Play-Off Qualification Rounds. Germany was relegated after failing to win any games.
Georgia won comfortably the 2011 edition, after beating Romania 18-11 in Tbilisi. The promoted team, Ukraine, failed to impress, losing again all matches.
Read more about this topic: European Nations Cup (rugby Union)
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