1954 Rugby Union European Cup

1954 Rugby Europe Cup
Date	5–24 April 1954
Countries	Spain  Portugal  Belgium  West Germany  France  Italy
Tournament statistics
Champions	France
Matches played	5
← 1952 (Previous) (Next) 1965–1966 →

The Europe Cup 1954 was the fifth Rugby Union European championship, organised by FIRA and the second (and last) with this name.

With the exception of a preliminary, all the matches were played in Italy.^[1] As in the 1952 edition, France won the title after a victory over Italy in the final.^[2]

This was the last edition of this competition. A European tournament arranged by FIRA, returned only in 1965 with the Nations Cup.

Jean Prat (left) as captain of France at the final of the European Cup in 1955, with Paolo Rosi, captain of Italy

Results[]

First preliminary[]

5 April 1954

Spain	23 - 0	Portugal

Madrid

Second preliminary[]

11 April 1954

Spain	14-0	Belgium

Monigo, Treviso

Semifinals[]

19 April 1954

France XV	28 - 3	West Germany

Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma

19 April 1954

Italy	16 - 6	Spain

Naples Referee: A.Siccardi

Final[]

After an Italian try in the first minute, France took control of the match and won.^[2]

24 April 1954	Italy	12 - 39	France	Stadio Olimpico, Rome
	Try: Gabrielli, Lanfranchi Pen: Dari 2		Try: Boniface, Larreguy, Lepatey 2, Murillo 2, M. Prat Con: J. Prat 6 Pen: J. Prat 2	Attendance: 25.000 Referee: Peter Cooper
Italy: , , (cap), , , , , , Sergio Lanfranchi, , , , , ,
France: Pierre Albaladejo, , , Andre Boniface, , , , Jean Prat (cap), , , Michel Celaya, , , , Amedee Domenech

Bibliography[]

• (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Valerio Vecchiarelli (2000), 2000 Italia in Meta, Storia della nazionale italiana di rugby dagli albori al Sei Nazioni, GS Editore (2000) ISBN 88-87374-40-6
• (in Italian) Francesco Volpe, Paolo Pacitti (Author), Rugby 2000, GTE Gruppo Editorale (1999).

References[]

External links[]

• 1954 Rugby Union European Cup at ESPN