Four big games take place in the Round 3 of the Rugby Europe Championship this weekend

Four big games take place in the men’s Rugby Europe Championship this weekend as the group stage comes to an end.

In March the knock-out phase will take place and over Saturday and Sunday there are two matches that are important for keeping four sides’ fifth place finish overall hopes alive.

Remember the team that finishes fifth when this event ends will go forward to the final Rugby World Cup qualification tournament in November.

And the other two matches on Saturday and Sunday feature teams who have already qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027, but who are all determined to finish top of their respective pools and take momentum into the next phase.

It all starts on Saturday at 1pm local time (noon UTC) when Netherlands, third in Pool A, host fourth placed Switzerland at the National Rugby Center in Amsterdam.

Netherlands go into this one having lost out to Spain 53-24 and Georgia 40-7, but they were both away from home and they are a different beast at home.

They will fancy their chances here given that they are 24 in the world and Switzerland are 28, but the Swiss are improving all of the time having stepped up to this level.

Week one was a sore one when they lost 110-0 to a rampant Georgia, but they showed much more of what they are about last week in a 43-13 reverse against Spain.

The second match on Saturday is from Pool B and features Rugby World Cup qualifiers Romania and Portugal who will both still be on cloud nine.

The game takes place at 5pm local time (3pm UTC) in the Stadionul Municipal and hosts Romania are currently second in the standings on nine points with Portugal top on 10 points.

They are 20 and 16 in the world rankings respectively and their final placings after this one will determine which semi-final they both play in.

They have both won two from two so far in the competition so something will have to give.

Into Sunday and the cracking action just keeps on coming.

The first game is the Pool A decider between Spain and Georgia and the Estadio Central UCM in Madrid is set to be bouncing as the hosts look to defeat the reigning champions at 12.45pm local time (11.45am UTC).

Both these sides are safely through to the Rugby World Cup and have 10 points from a possible 10 so they will both be going at it here in a bid to finish top of the standings.

Georgia are now 11 in the world and above Wales while Spain are 18.

And the weekend comes to a close back in Pool B when Germany and Belgium meet at the Auestadion in Kassel at 3.30pm (2.30pm UTC).

These sides currently sit fourth and third respectively and have no points each so the focus will have been laser sharp in training this week because they know they need a win.

Germany have lost 48-10 to Romania and 56-14 to Portugal so far, but like Netherlands, they are a different team at home in front of their own fans.

They are 31 in the world rankings with Belgium now 29 and there really is not much between these sides.

Belgium travel having lost 40-30 in Portugal and 31-14 at home to Romania, but the way they played in those games at times will certainly have them believing they can come out on top here.

The last two weekends have thrown up lots of thrills and spills in this eight-team competition and we can expect more in the next few days for sure.