2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference
The 2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference is the third-level rugby union competition below the premier Championship and Trophy competitions. It is the inaugural Conference under its new format, that will see Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Sweden compete for the Conference 1 title. While Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey will compete for the Conference 2 title.
| 2016–17 Rugby Europe Conference | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 3 September 2016 – 6 May 2017 | ||
| Countries | 20 | ||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Champions | Czech Republic (2nd title) | ||
| Grand Slam | Czech Republic (2) Hungary (1) | ||
| Matches played | 36 | ||
| Attendance | 25,020 (695 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 237 (6.58 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) | Conference 1 Ori Abutbul (60) Conference 2 Gregorie Collet (48) | ||
| Top try scorer(s) | Conference 1 James Kirk (7) Conference 2 Gregorie Collet (6) | ||
| Official website | Rugby International Championship | ||
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The winners of Conference 1 North and South will play an additional match, a promotion play-off to the Trophy competition for the 2017–18 season. While the bottom placed teams of Conference 1 North and South will be relegated to Conference 2 for the following season, replacing the North and South winners of Conference 2. The team with the worst record in an aggregated Conference 2 table, will be relegated to the Development league for the following season.