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The 1995–1997 FIRA Trophy was arranged again with a new format. Due the work to prepare the 1995 Rugby World Cup, France, Italy and Romania were not able to participate in the 1994-95 season of any competition, so for that season a "Preliminary Tournament" was organized with ten other teams. The better seven teams were admitted to this tournament, with France, Italy and Romania. The tournament lived a great crisis, due to lower interest of the strongest teams: France sent usually minor teams, and Italy was involved in more important matches with the strongest teams of the world like Australia, England and Wales. This is evident looking the results and the program. France played the first round robin with the Military team, Italy and Romania didn't arrange a match for this tournament, but considered valid the match played in neutral ground in Argentina for the "Latina Cup". Italy sent two lower level teams to play (in the same weekend) the last two matches. The final between Italy and France was played only in March 1997, while the 1996-97 edition was already progressing at half way. This edition was important because it was the first ever triumph of Italy in the competition, defeating France by 40-32 in the final, thus cementing their claims to be the sixth European rugby nation powerhouse. Italy had started to play in this tournament with France in 1966 and, despite some close results, had never previously beaten their strong rivals. Italy win, shortly after France had carried the 1997 Five Nations Championship, was a historical feat that proved to be crucial for Italy's admission at the Six Nations Championship in 2000. == First division == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1995–97 FIRA Trophy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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