The Campeonato Nacional de Rugby Divisão de Honra (more commonly known as the Divisão de Honra) is Portugal's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Divisão de Honra Championships are organized by the Federação Portuguesa de Rugby (Portuguese Rugby Federation) and currently consists of 12 teams. The last placed team in the competition is relegated at the end of the season to the Campeonato Nacional de Rugby I Divisão (Portugal's second level of men's rugby union) with one team from the second-tier competition promoted to the Divisão de Honra.
Format The Divisão de Honra will be divided by two tournaments: Torneio de Abertura Divisão de Honra Regular season Final season
The Torneio de Abertura will be played for an initial tournament consisting of two groups of 6 teams, played for one return, a 1/2 between 1st and 2nd classifieds and the final. The Torneio de Abertura is expected to be played from September 22 to November 28.
The Regular season of Divisão de Honra will be played by three groups of four (4) teams, which play in the system of all against all. At the end of regular season, the top 2 teams of each group will take part in the championship group that will determine the champion while the bottom 2 teams will play in "Plate Cup" group. The Divisão de Honra is expected to be played from December 7 and ends on May 25.
Points are awarded according to the following:
4 points for a win 2 points for a draw 1 bonus point is awarded to a team scoring 4 tries or more in a match, while scoring at least 3 more tries than the opponent. 1 bonus point is awarded to a team that loses a match by 7 points or fewer
Promotion and relegation Following the extension of the number of teams from 10 to 12, the same 10 teams that played last season will remain and compete again in the championship. The newcomers are the lower division champion Técnico and runner-up RC Montemor.
The bottom team of "Plate Cup" group will be relegated to the lower division.
Teams Team Manager Captain Stadium Capacity Académica Lodie Van Staden António Salgueiro Estádio Municipal Sérgio Conceição 2500 Agronomia Luís Pissarra João Lima Tapada da Ajuda 500 Belenenses João Mirra Tomás Sequeira Belém Rugby Park 500 Benfica Martim Aguiar Hayden Hann Campo nº2 - Lisbon University 1500 Cascais Gabriel Ascárate António Vidinha Estádio Municipal Dramático Cascais 1000 CDUL Kane Hancy Tomás Appleton Estádio Universitário de Lisboa 8000 CDUP Francisco Vareta Tomás Marrana Estádio Universitário do Porto 1500 Direito Bernardo Mota Duarte Diniz Complexo Desportivo Miguel Nobre Ferreira 2500 Lousã Claudio Venturino Paulo Marques Estádio Municipal de Rugby José Redondo 500 RC Montemor João Baptista Malta Manuel Marques dos Santos Parque Desportivo Municipal 500 São Miguel João Uva Robert Delai Bulldog Rugby Park 800 C. R. Técnico António Manzoni de Sequeira Rodrigo Bento Campo das Olaias 800
Torneio de Abertura The teams are distributed by two groups of six teams, in which they play with each other once:
+Group AGroup BBelenensesAgronomiaDireitoBenficaCascaisCDULAcadémicaSão MiguelLousãTécnicoCDUPRC Montemor
The Torneio de Abertura is expected to be played from September 22 to November 28.
Group Stage
Group A Group A TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints1Cascais55002094616330232Belenenses54012357016531203Direito5203121962511104CDUP520359154 -950195Lousã510490209 -1190156Académica510441180 -139004Green background (rows 1 and 2) advance to "Cup" Cup. Blue background (rows 3 and 4) advance to "Plate" Cup
Red background (rows 5 and 6) advance to "Silver" Cup. Updated: 24 June 2025
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Group B Group B TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints1CDUL5500167739430232Benfica54012168213421193São Miguel53021431034021154Agronomia5203135116 191095Técnico510476194 -1180046RC Montemor500560229 -169011Green background (rows 1 and 2) advance to "Cup" Cup. Blue background (rows 3 and 4) advance to "Plate" Cup
Red background (rows 5 and 6) advance to "Silver" Cup. Updated: 24 June 2025
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Final Phase
"Cup" Cup
Semifinals
"Plate" Cup
Semifinals
Final
"Silver" Cup
Semifinals
Final
Regular season The teams are distributed by three groups of four teams, in which they play between themselves in home and away matches for the regular season:
+Group AGroup BGroup CBelenensesAgronomiaDireitoCDULCascaisBenficaAcadémicaSão MiguelLousãRC MontemorCDUPTécnico
The Divisão de Honra is expected to be played from December 7 and ends on May 25.
Group Stage
Group A Group A TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints1Belenenses66002688318540282CDUL640233811322531203Académica6204128258 -1301094RC Montemor600694374 -280011Green background (rows 1 and 2) advance to "Champion" group.Red background (rows 3 and 4) advance to "Plate" group. Updated: 24 June 2025
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Group B Group B TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints1Cascais64112038511820202São Miguel64021641263810173Agronomia6312132111 2111164CDUP600684261 -177011Green background (rows 1 and 2) advance to "Champion" group.Red background (rows 3 and 4) advance to "Plate" group. Updated: 24 June 2025
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Group C Group C TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints1Direito66002524121150292Benfica640222511211331203Técnico6204100194 -9421114Lousã600647277 -230000Green background (rows 1 and 2) advance to "Champion" group.Red background (rows 3 and 4) advance to "Plate" group. Updated: 24 June 2025
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Final Phase
Champion Group Champion Group TableClubPlayedWonDrawnLostPoints ForPoints AgainstPoints Diff.Try BonusLosing BonusPoints1Belenenses1090130415115341412Cascais107032921959751343São Miguel10505233268 -3500204Direito10406216249 -3321195CDUL10316209221 -1221176Benfica10118178348 -170006Green background (rows 1) crowned champion. Updated: 24 June 2025
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Player of year At the end of the season, "Linha de Ensaio" publishes the Oval d'Ouro for the Top12. This award, voted on by the coaches and team captains of the teams that competed in the competition, rewards the best player in the championship.
# Name Club Pts 1 Santiago Jara Cascais 43 2 Duarte Azevedo Belenenses 26 3 Francisco Menéres Belenenses 25 4 Tomás Sequeira Belenenses 19 5 Shane Van Rooyen CDUL 15
Squads 2024/25 Squads are ordered by the last classification of the league. According to Portuguese Rugby Federation
+The Belenenses squad for the 2024–25 Campeonato Nacional de Rugby seasonProps Anthony Kent Joaquin Dominguez Lucas Bordigoni Manuel Worm Frederico Simões Pedro Braga Bernardo Veiga
Hookers
Guillermo Lawrie Miguel Nunes
Locks
Salvador da Cunha Manuel Lima José Moreira Francisco Simões António Andrade Tomás da Cunha Martim FerreiraBackrow Rafael Simões David Wallis André Cunha Manuel Pinto Pedro Cunha Tomás Sequeira Sebastião da Cunha Diogo Raposo
Scrum-halves
Duarte Azevedo Francisco Macedo
Fly-halves
Francisco Menéres Manuel MenéresCentres Rodrigo Fruedenthal Alex Thrupp Lourenço Pedras António Cunha António Claro Gonçalo Santos Tomás Monteiro
Wingers José Paiva dos Santos Duarte Moreira Owen Jenkins Diogo Rodrigues Francisco Galveias Lourenço Pedras Tomás Reis
Fullbacks
Manuel Marta Francisco Murta Salvador da Cunha Jr.(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Agronomia squad for the 2024–25 Campeonato Nacional de Rugby seasonProps Abel da Cunha Estéfano Aranda Cáceres Rodrigo Correa Abraão Ambrósio* Francisco Domingues Afonso Carreira Nicolau Turabelidze António Quiroga
Hookers
Pedro Vicente Frederico Tenório Francisco Cabral Diogo Carvalho Hugo Oliveira Joaquim Raimundo Bernardo Cardoso
Locks
José Rebelo de Andrade António Rebelo de Andrade Pedro Herédia Bernardo B. Cardoso Simão Salgueiro Manuel Bação Luís Rodolfo António Maria AndradeBackrow Omar Gutierrez Francisco Cabral Manuel Navalhinhas João P. Fernandes Francisco Uva Diogo Sarmento Vicente Guerra Pinto Duarte Vasco Costa João Louro Francisco Piano Gonçalves José Ramalho
Scrum-halves
Nicolas Herreros João Bandeiras Tomás Amado Duarte Alves
Fly-halves
Hugo de Franq Domingos Cabral Simão SousaCentres João Lima Vasco Ribeiro Vasco Leite Armand Patricio Sebastião Cardoso José do Carmo Câmara Bernardo Valente Manuel Ramalho
Wingers
José Cortes Pena Monteiro José Carmo Câmara Vasco Câmara António Pena Monteiro Pedro Ribeiro Rodrigo Castanheira Eduardo Leite Salvador Botelho João Castro
Fullbacks
Manuel Cardoso Pinto Gonçalo Vasco Costa(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Benfica squad for the 2024–25 Campeonato Nacional de Rugby seasonProps João Nobre Márcio Pinheiro André Antunes Isaías Camará José Maria Pereira Serafim Djassi Diogo Bernardo Marco López
Hookers
Luan Almeida Jason Cornelius Pedro Gouveia Eduardo Gomes
Locks
Volodymyr Grikh Lorenzo Palacio* Sérgio Moreira* Philippe Couto* Eurico Chichorro Afonso BoavidaBackrow Frederico Couto Giuseppe Piacenza Manuel Fati Frederico Silva Tomás Picado Pedro Ismael Tavares Rui Duarte João Ferreira
Scrum-halves
António Campos Reymond Dorian Tomás Boavida Francisco Russo Luís Chança
Fly-halves
José Rodrigues Facundo Rodriguez Santillan João FarinhaCentres José Lima Hayden Hann Guilherme Vasconcelos Francisco Bessa Diogo Salgado Rodrigo Urzay Soares
Wingers
Edgar Monteiro José Miguel Carvalho Harrison Stock Diego Caeiro Diogo Custódio Francisco Costa Felisbelo Vieira* Zyad Al Achouni*
Fullbacks
Elliott Ryan Rodrigo Sampaio(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Direito squad for the 2024–25 Campeonato Nacional de Rugby seasonProps David Costa António Prim José Lupi Giovanni Ramallo Luis Lopes Afonso Tapadinhas Lourenço Moita João Pissarra Leandro Nunes
Hookers
Duarte Diniz Afonso Bento
Locks
Duarte Torgal Pedro Ferreira João Vital António Peixoto Guilherme Valente Luis Semedo Henrique Cortes Duarte Pedro Nunes Guilherme SpratleyBackrow Manuel Picão João Granate Pedro Afra Rosa Nuno Peixoto Mateus Ferreira Sebastião Silva Diogo Matos Miguel Romero Rodrigues Luis Pina António Mello Frederico Castello Branco
Scrum-halves
João Dias Rafael Iriarte António Amaral Duarte Cortes
Fly-halves
Manuel Vareiro Ariel Diaz Tomás Redondo Francisco Teixeira Nuno RochaCentres
José Maria Vareta Francisco Nobre João Afra Rosa Manuel Reis
Wingers
Caetano Castelo Branco José Ferreira Francisco Afra Rosa Duarte Portela Duarte Matos João Burnay Ricardo Mieiro Francisco Pinto Martim Dias
Fullbacks
João Vaz Antunes Frederico Roquette(c) denotes the team captain, Bold denotes internationally capped players. * denotes players qualified to play for Portugal on residency or dual nationality.
+The Cascais squad for the 2024–25 Campeonato Nacional de Rugby seasonProps Nuno Mascarenhas Santiago Gramajo Ignácio Urueña Nicolas Griffiths José Lavos Duarte Conde Pedro Lopes
Hookers