This past October saw the reinstitution of the Tri-Nations Tournament between England, Scotland and Ireland. A round-robin was played over 3 days in Scotland. The surprise result was the Ireland Men, defeating both England and Scotland to take the title (hey, I didn’t even know they played Team Handball in the “Old Country.“). Both the English and Scottish sides, however, were missing key players who are currently playing in Denmark. http://www.sportfocus.com/webpro/handball/nlstory.cfm?ID=20924&NLID=42045 The English Women secured the women’s title, by also sweeping the competition.

England Report Women): http://www.sportfocus.com/webpro/handball/nlstory.cfm?ID=20928&NLID=42045
England Report (Men): http://www.sportfocus.com/webpro/handball/nlstory.cfm?ID=20925&NLID=42045
Scotland Report: http://www.scottishhandball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=2
Ireland Report: http://www.olympichandball.org/news/news/225/00239.html

Side Note: In case you are wondering why there are separate England, Scotland and British Handball Federations it’s related to the rather complicated sporting and national relationships that exist. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For many sporting competitions, (e.g. world cup soccer) England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate teams. The IOC, however, only recognizes the UK for Olympic Competitions, so a British team has to be fielded. Hence, the three separate federations with a linked relationship. For Handball, the IHF recognizes the British Handball Federation and British teams (if they qualified) would participate in IHF events.
The EHF recognizes the British and Scottish Federations and they have played in the European Challenge Tournaments. At some point in the future, however, the combined team might seek to participate in EHF tournaments as it would provide a consistent roster in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.