The European Rugby explosion hit an apex in the southern Holland town of Nijmegan in late June. It was quite appropriate that the Dutch host the 2nd European Championship. They have fostered the most growth in number of teams (15) and players (100+). A country of 15 million people, Holland has developed fifteen teams and two leagues. The Dutch Quad Rugby Association has done a spectacular job within their country, and now a great task of hosting a European Championship faced them. With ten different countries speaking eight different languages it would not be an easy task during the four-day tournament. However, the Dutch organizing committee delivered with flying colors.

After a brief opening ceremony the competition began Sunday June 21st. Key match-ups featured Sweden and Holland who were only one goal apart in the 1995 World Championships. A vocal crowd, dressed in bright orange, filled the stands at the Jan Massinkhal Sport Hall to support the local favorites. Sweden could not take the crowd out of the game but managed to take out the opposition quickly. The Swedes built an early lead behind the top high-point player in Europe, Tomas Erikkson 3.5, and class 2.0's Jesper Nilsson and Jan Owe Matteson. The Dutch battled back to cut into the lead against Sweden's bench, only to have the starters come back to push the lead to double digits. The impressive play from Sweden lead them to a 38-28 win, virtually guaranteeing a semi-final advancement. Sweden would only have to beat teams seeded lower than Holland to win their pool. They accomplished that task by whipping Belgium 37-18 later in the day. The following day, they easily defeated Austria and Denmark while only allowing 10 goals to each team.

The Dutch would also sweep the rest of pool A by pressing their European counterparts into oblivion. Holland used a rotation of three different lines to topple Denmark 47-13, Belgium 49-23, and Austria 53-27. Would the energy exerted in these blowouts cost the Dutch down the road?

In pool B, Great Britain dominated Switzerland and the newly developed Czech Republic who were making their International debut. They came with a motto of "We will see!", and they quickly found out that they were outmatched by more experienced National teams. For the most part, teams took it easy on them, except for Denmark, looking for their first win. They got it at the hands of the Czech's in a close 33-27 battle. For Denmark it was their first international win. Great Britain rolled into trouble against the Germans and found themselves down 5 - 8 in the first period. The Brit's turned it around by going on an amazing 14-2 run that was fueled by Germany's lack of depth. When Germany took out All-Tournament class 2.0 Boris Grundl and their class 3.0 Bernd Jannsen at the same time, the game abruptly slipped away from them. Trailing 10 - 19, the Germans conceded the game and started to set their sites on Switzerland.

The Swiss and the Germans had a strong rivalry from past battles which included many close games. Germany remembered getting snubbed from a World Championship appearance despite defeating the Swiss prior to the Worlds. Germany came at the Swiss with an aggressive press, immobilizing Switzerland's offense. An 8 - 3 lead was quickly amassed as Germany used their bench to finish the Swiss and advance to the semi-finals. With only one loss to the defending European Champs Great Britain, the Germans felt confident going into the semi-final cross over game with Sweden. The confidence turned to doubt in the first three minutes as Sweden's press produced a 6-1 lead. With an early five goal lead, the Swedes went to their bench to maintain a lead. Germany cut into the lead, but used valuable time on the clock. When Germany crept close, the Swedes would counter with their starting line-up which was more than enough to take them to the final with a 36-28 win.

In the other semi-final, Great Britain went up against the host Holland team for the best game of the tournament. The Dutchwere well aware of the ramifications of this game and came to play. A win here would be their first against G.B. and send them into the finals. The lopsided line-up of high-pointers Theo Duijvestein (3.0), Ruud van Luyk (3.5) and low-pointers Edwin ter Steege (1.0), and John van Marwijk (.5) would have the first rotation against G.B.. In contrast, the Brit's would run a more balanced line. Anyone who had watched these two teams knew that many substitutions would follow. Holland's starters rolled out to an early lead before being replaced by the Utrecht line which featured three players from the same club team, (Utrecht Scorpions) with .5 Michel de Clercq. Great Britain also used their depth. However, they never seemed to establish a go-to line up throughout the championships. The Dutch rotation manufactured a three goal lead by the start of the second period. With the Swedes having their game against Germany in hand, all eyes seemed focused on the potential upset on court one. Great Britain did not panic and for the most part were very patient as they stayed within three goals of the Dutch. The fourth period began with Holland holding a three-goal advantage which they held until late in the fourth quarter. Then the unthinkable started to happen as the Dutch quickly unraveled. Two turnovers from inability to beat G.B.'s press led to the tying goals. Then, to make matters worse, a technical foul was issued to van Luyk, the Dutch 3.5, when he disputed a back court violation. These events gave the G.B. squad the ball with their opponent's 3.5 in the box. The Brit's wisely used this advantage to use the clock and score to go up by two-goals. After the goal, Holland struck quickly to close the gap to one. In G.B.'s attempt to run out the rest of the clock, Holland was able to get a held ball. The buzzer went off a second later and Great Britain started to celebrate their narrow victory. However, the Dutch Coach Robert Kersten pointed out to the ref that one second remained when the held ball occurred. The Referee agreed and had one second put back on the clock, then awarded the ball to Holland who had alertly set up a post play off the throw in. Great Britain now had to defend this last attempt or face going into overtime. As the referee handed the ball to the inbounder, contact was made by GB’s Darren Ransome but, no call was made. The contact moved Duijvestin forward, the whistle blew and van Luyk's lob into his teammate was too far out front and Ransome was able to force him out-of-bounds to secure 27-26 victory.

Wednesday, June 25th, marked the final day of the tournament. First through sixth place would be determined on this day. Leading off the menu was Belgium and Austria for fifth place. Belgium hoped to avenge a pool loss to Austria when they were nipped 39-38 in the final seconds. Spectators were looking forward to a match that might go either way. Unfortunately for the crowd, this game was all Belgium, as they established an early lead and never looked back. Tournament MVP Bob Vanacher led Belgium to a 48-29 onslaught of the Austrians. The 19-goal win was quite a turn from a one point loss. They may have been fatigued in their first meeting due to Belgium playing Sweden in the morning and Austria playing Denmark. However, the Belgium team came from behind to catch the Austrians in pool play. On this day, Belgium looked like they were on a mission. Their starting line-up painted their faces black, yellow, and red, symbolic of the Belgian flag. With the win, Belgium achieved their goal of finishing fifth and Austria qualified for the World Championships by taking sixth place.

Next, third and fourth place would be decided between Germany and the Dutch. The fifth seed Germany had never beaten Holland, but would Holland shake off the disappointment that the previous day brought them? Germany stole the tip and scored to take an early advantage. The Dutch came back with a goal. Holland employed a T-Press that they had used throughout the Championships. Germany was ready for it as (2.5) Hani Al Bawardi threw long inbound passes over the front of the "T" to Grundl (2.0) or Janssen (3.0). This left Holland's Theo Duijvestin to cover two players. With Germany's All Tournament (.5) Peter Schreiner also supplying picks on Duijvestin, Germany beat the "T" press with regularity. On the other end of the court, Germany's zone defense started to produce turnovers when the Dutch offense was not barely escaping it. As Germany's lead built, one could see the look of defeat in the Dutch players faces. When van Luyk's camber bar broke after he tried to stop Grundl on a break away it was the beginning of the end. He eventually came back in the game in a different chair. His frustration was very apparent and lead to his second technical foul of the Championships. After trailing early, the Dutch played like a beaten team that would never recover. Tragically, they went from title game rematch with Sweden to fourth place after a 31-42 loss to Germany.

Great Britain's narrow victory over Holland to advance to the final made them an underdog. Sweden's dominate performance in pool play and a decisive victory over Germany in the semi-final also made them a strong favorite. The crowd had no idea what Great Britain was going to put on the court, and neither did the G.B. players. They had never established a main to line while using almost every combination possible during the Championships. Sweden, however, knew exactly what they were going to run. The same line-up that opened every game and provided them an early lead in every contest. The Swedes had balance with class 2.0's Mattsson and Nilsson along with a dominate 3.5 in Eriksson to counter the balance of Great Britain.

Sweden won the opening tip and took the lead immediately. G.B. turnovers soon followed, as Sweden found themselves in a familiar position: in command of the game from the start. The Brit's tried several lineups but none could handle Sweden's press. High-point substitutions Loa Rissmar, and Tomas Engblom gave Sweden's starters ample rest just as they had done the entire tournament. Their .5 players Peter Andersson and Andreas Lundgren were practically interchangeable in their roles on the soon to be crowned European Champions. With the game in hand, Sweden sensed victory and their coaching staff made sure everyone played a part. The Championships final buzzer sounded and the score read Sweden 31 and the former Champs Great Britain 23.

After all the games had been played only three teams held their pretournament ranking. Those three were the eighth through the tenth spots. Germany made the greatest climb by moving up from 5th seed to third place. Switzerland slipped from fourth seed all the way down to seventh place. The World Championships in 1998 will be the next chance for the Europeans to challenge the top Three (USA, Canada, and New Zealand) Rugby powers.

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