This is the second season under its new format,[clarification needed] that saw Georgia, Germany, Romania, Russia, Spain and Belgium compete for the title.

Both the Championship and the Qualification Process were heavily affected by controversial disciplinary issues involving player eligibility and the selection of neutral officials (namely, Romanian referee Vlad Iordachescu in Belgium-Spain).

In respect of matters relating to the eligibility of players, following a full review of the evidence, including statements and submissions from World Rugby, Rugby Europe, Belgium, Romania, Spain and Russia, the independent committee found: In respect of sanctions, pursuant to Regulation 18, the independent committee determined the following: The deduction of 5 points for any match in which a union fielded an ineligible player.

in practice this meant the following Therefore, based on a re-modelling of the Rugby Europe Championship tables in the context of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifying, Russia would qualify as Europe 1 into Pool A replacing Romania and Germany will replace Spain in the European play-off against Portugal.

Ironically, Germany would now face Portugal in the Rugby World Cup European qualification play-off.