The 1996–97 FIRA Tournament was the 32nd edition of the European rugby union championship for national teams organized by the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA).
France, Italy and Romania did not participate, because of other appointments. France and Italy had to play the final of the previous trophy, due to the large number of international matches, only on 23 March 1997, after this tournament was started. Both countries were not interested in continuing their participation in the FIRA senior competitions and this would be their last presence at the competition.
The tournament had a new formula. Twelve teams were divided into four pools of 3 teams each. After a round robin, they were ranked in 3 groups to define the ranking, also valid to divide the teams for the second round qualification to the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
There was no second division, the other 18 European teams played the first round of qualification to the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Spain and Portugal qualified for the First Place final, which was won 25-18 by the Spaniards.
First round
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C
Pool D
Second round
First to Fourth places Semifinals
5th to 8th places Semifinals
9th to 12th places Semifinals
Finals
First Place Final
3rd-place final
5th-place final
7th-place final
9th-place final
11th-place final
Final ranking
Bibliography Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) . Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).
External links 1996-97 FIRA Tournament at ESPN