The Netherlands and Belgium secured the wins they needed in the final round of pool play at the weekend to gain home advantage in the fifth-place semi-finals of the Rugby Europe Men's Championship 2025.
After two straight losses, the Netherlands beat tournament newcomers Switzerland 73-0, while Belgium overcame Germany 39-19, to ensure they also finished third in their pool.
The Netherlands will face Germany in the first fifth-place semi-final, while Belgium are up against Switzerland as they bid for their best finish in the tournament. Both fixtures will be played on the weekend of 1-2 March. Germany and Switzerland propped up their respective pools after failing to pick up any points from three straight defeats.
As the team with the better points difference from the pool stage, the Netherlands will also have home advantage in the fifth-place play-off if they manage to see off the threat of Germany in a fortnight.
The team that finishes fifth in the Rugby Europe Men's Championship 2025 will go forward to play three teams from other regions at the Final Qualification Tournament for Men's Rugby World Cup 2027. The winner of that tournament will secure the 24th and final ticket to the showpiece event in Australia.
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Here is how the semi-final fixtures will look with Georgia, Portugal, Netherlands and Belgium having home advantage.
Kick off times & venues TBC soon.. pic.twitter.com/izU9XujKXY
None of the four teams competing in the fifth-place semi-finals have ever competed at a Men's Rugby World Cup, although two of the head coaches have experience at that level. Switzerland's Olivier Nier was an assistant coach of Romania at RWC 2011, while Netherlands head coach Lyn Jones coached Russia in 2019.
Jones' team will enter the semi-finals in a buoyant mood after achieving their highest score and biggest win in test rugby, after scoring 13 tries (including a penalty try) against Switzerland. The winning margin would have been a lot wider had the Dutch managed to kick more than three of their 12 conversion attempts.
After a rampant first half in Amsterdam, the Netherlands led 46-0. Number eight Chris Raymond crossed twice before the break, while scrum-half Boris Hadinegoro and winger Te Campbell went on to join him in bagging braces.
The Pool B match between Germany and Belgium then took place 24 hours later at the Auestadion in Kassel.
Tries from Dazzy Cornez and Felipe Geraghty and eight points from the boot of Hugo De Francq put the Black Devils into a commanding 18-0 half-time lead.
Hugues Bastin extended Belgium's lead shortly after the restart with their third try. Further tries from Charles-Henri Berguet and Isaac Montoisy secured the win before the hosts got a couple of scores of their own to deny Belgium a chance of getting the 38-point margin of victory they required to go through to the fifth-place semi-finals as the highest-ranked team.
By winning both of their first two games, Georgia, Portugal, Spain and Romania had already confirmed their place in the semi-finals, and an automatic ticket to Australia 2027, with a round to go. However, with top spot in the pool and a home semi-final to play for, there was still plenty riding on the weekend's games.
Portugal were also in record-breaking form on Saturday, with Os Lobos achieving their biggest-ever win in more than 50 years of playing Romania. Raffaele Storti, Manuel Vareiro and Vasco Baptista scored tries as Portugal turned a 12-3 half-time lead into a 34-6 win. Portugal will now be at home to Spain in the semi-finals.
In a game of multiple cards and a flurry of tries, Georgia beat Spain 62-32 in Madrid on Sunday to finish top of Pool A. Six players were sin-binned and Giorgi Kveseladze received a red card for two yellow card offences, while 14 tries were scored.
Davit Niniashvili marked his first game as Georgia captain and fly-half with a Player of the Match performance capped by a hat-trick of tries. Meanwhile, Aka Tabutsadze became one of the top 10 try-scorers in the history of test rugby after taking his tally to 46 tries from just 48 tests with a brace of scores.
Georgia will now be at home to Romania in the semi-finals, as they look to extend their 36-game unbeaten run in the competition and secure an eighth consecutive Rugby Europe Men's Championship title.
For more on the Men's RWC 2027 qualification process, click here.
