The FIRA/AER European under 18s Championship 2011 takes place in the Armagnac-Bigorre region of France between 15 and 24 April 2011. For the first time, all Six Nations are taking part, joining 22 other teams from across Europe in their annual Championship.

The FIRA/AER format involves 4 groups: an Elite group of the top 4 Six Nations countries (see below for ranking process) plus 3 groups (A,B & C) of 8 countries, with the fifth and sixth-placed Six Nations teams taking the top two seeded places in Group A.

Points system:

4 match points for a win, 2 for a draw and 0 points for a defeat but 1 losing bonus point if within 7 points of winning side's score and 1 bonus point for scoring 4 tries or more in a match.

Championship:

The winner of Pool A plays the runner-up in Pool B in first Elite group semi-final on Sunday 17th April.
The winner of Pool B then plays the runner-up in Pool A in second semi-final, also on Sunday 17th April.
Both semi-finals to be played in Auch.

The fifth-ranked team, based on points awarded in the Pool Fixtures above, is seeded 1 in Group A and the sixth-ranked team is seeded 2. Each team plays 3 matches in Group A, on 16th, 19th and 23rd April, within the FIRA/AER structure.

The final and 3rd place matches involving the 4 teams in the Elite Group will take place on Saturday 23rd April in Tarbes.