'Big Challenge' Awaits Luxembourg Rugby in Finland, Says James Kent

On Thursday 7 May 2026, Luxembourg’s men’s senior XV rugby team held its final training session at the Josy Barthel Stadium in Luxembourg-Belair ahead of the upcoming Rugby Europe Conference Pool A match against Finland, scheduled to take place in Helsinki on Saturday 9 May 2026.

The fixture will determine whether James Kent’s side qualifies for the play-offs on the road to the Rugby Europe Trophy, where Luxembourg could face the winner of the Pool B decider between Austria and Serbia. Following the cancellation of the scheduled match against Latvia at the beginning of April, Luxembourg was awarded a 28-0 technical victory. 

The Red Lions currently lead Pool A with three wins and fifteen points, while Finland trail by two points. The coaching staff has a 24-player squad available, with the team reported to be in strong condition despite not having played an international match for six months.

James Kent told Chronicle.lu that Luxembourg will travel to Finland without several players due to injuries, including Noé Tropiano, Oscar Whiteman and Thibault Tomasetto. “We've had quite a few injuries, but it's a good opportunity for those that are pushing for selection to make their name and step up as well for the jersey,” he said, describing the situation as “a good test of our depth”.

Speaking about the impact of the cancelled Latvia fixture, Kent admitted that the lack of matches over the past six months had affected the team’s momentum. “That match against Latvia would've been good for cohesion, but also good for us in terms of trying to get enough points,” he said. “Now we need to make sure that in Finland we can try and get a win, but also try and score as many points as we can in the process.”

Commenting on Saturday’s opponents, Kent described Finland as “big, physical, direct” and stressed the importance of adapting to different playing conditions. “We'll have to adapt and play to those conditions and obviously adapt and play to the opponents in front of us,” he added.

Securing both victory and as many points as possible against Finland will be crucial for Luxembourg’s hopes of hosting the promotion play-off match at home, according to Luxembourg Rugby President Jean-Francois Boulot. “I hope that they're going to win with many points because we want to play in Luxembourg,” he said, noting that the current points difference is not in Luxembourg’s favour.

Jean-Francois Boulot added that promotion to the Rugby Europe Trophy has been a key objective since the arrival of head coach James Kent last year. “We said we wanted to reach Trophy within two years,” he explained. “So if we can do it after one year, it's wonderful. It's good for us.”

He also stressed that reaching the higher division would only be the first step. Referring to Luxembourg’s previous Rugby Europe Trophy campaign in the 2024/2025 season, which the team completed without a victory, he noted that the standard was “very strong” and said the longer-term objective would be to remain competitive at that level.

On Thursday, the team also held a gym session at the Coque, before departing for Helsinki on the morning of Friday 8 May 2026.