2. Rugby-Bundesliga

Last updated
2. Rugby-Bundesliga
Deutscher Rugby-Verband.png
Sport Rugby union
Founded1990
No. of teams28
CountryFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
Most recent
champion(s)		 RC Luxembourg

The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third tier.

Contents

The league was undergoing a major revamp for the 2012-13 season with the number of clubs expanded from 20 to 24 and the league divided into four regional divisions of six teams each. Above the 2nd Bundesliga the Bundesliga was organised in a similar fashion.

History

The Second Bundesligas were formed after the German reunion in the early 1990s, originally as four regional leagues, North, East, West and South. Later, the four leagues were merged to form two leagues, South/West and North/East. By 2017 the league structure had been again divided into four groups. [1]

Since 2002, the two champions of the leagues play a 2nd Bundesliga championship final which also determines the clubs promoted to the Bundesliga.

The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third tier of rugby in Germany. The top-teams of the Regionalliga are promoted in turn.

The four groups cover the following states in 2017: [1]

State associations in the 2nd Bundesliga, 2017
NorthEastSouthWest
Schleswig-Holstein Brandenburg Baden-Württemberg North Rhine-Westphalia
Hamburg Berlin Bavaria Hesse
Bremen Saxony Rhineland-Palatinate
Lower Saxony Thuringia

In the 2008-09 season, only nine of the sixteen German states have clubs at this level. Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Saarland have no 2nd Bundesliga club.

With the RC Luxembourg, a team from Luxembourg, a non-German side competes in the league. The inclusion of this side in the 2009 promotion round to the 2nd Bundesliga caused some debate in regards to its legality, as the club had not qualified through the German league system and was not a member of any of the German regional rugby federations. However, RC Luxembourg's application was declared valid in regards to the German rugby federations rules and regulations and the team finished second in the promotion round, earning a place in the 2nd Bundesliga for 2009-10. [2]

As a sign of the gap between the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga, TSV Victoria Linden, who only won the 2009-10 North/East division in the last round of the championship, declined promotion, citing the additional cost of travelling and the limited player pool as their reason. The South/West champion, Stuttgarter RC, has also indicated that it would not take up promotion, leaving the Bundesliga with only eight clubs for the next season. It also meant, for the first time ever, that no club from Hanover would compete at the top level of German rugby. [3] [4] DSV 78 protested the decision to reduce the league to eight teams again and thereby relegating the club. [5] For the 2nd Bundesliga, this also meant, only one team each would be promoted to the two regional divisions to keep the strength at ten teams per league. In the North/East, this was SC Siemensstadt, the club being directly promoted, while, in the South/West, TV Pforzheim won the promotion tournament of the five southern Regionalliga champions in Nuremberg on 12 June 2010. [6]

On 22 August 2011, five days before the 2011-12 season start, the RG Heidelberg withdrew its reserve team from the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West, citing inability to guarantee a full player squad for the whole season and thereby forcing the South/West division to compete with nine clubs only. [7] The Berliner RC II withdrew during the season, also citing a lack of players as the reason while the RU Hohen Neuendorf was disqualified after not fielding a team in two league games.

In mid-July 2012 the Deutsche Rugby Tag, the annual general meeting of the DRV decided to approve a league reform proposed by German international Manuel Wilhelm. The new system saw the number of clubs in the 2nd Bundesliga increased from 20 to 24 and the league divided into four regional divisions of six clubs each. One of the main aims of the reform was to reduce the number of kilometres travelled by individual teams and therefore reduce the travel expenses. [8] [9] [10] The system will remain mostly unchanged for the 2013-14 season. The only changes will be a play-off between the fourth and fifth placed teams in each group after the first stage to determine the clubs advancing to the second stage. The championship play-offs after the second stage will be reduced from sixteen to twelve clubs with the top two teams in each group advancing directly to the quarter-finals while the remaining eight will play a wild card round to determine the other four quarter finalists. [11]

From 2015 onwards the Bundesliga was reduced to sixteen clubs while the 2. Bundesliga remains at twenty four, divided into four regional groups. The winners of these four divisions would play each other for two direct promotion spots to the Bundesliga while the two losers of these games would face the seventh placed clubs from the Bundesliga. [12]

Clubs Participating in 2018

2. Bundesliga - 26 clubs
North

• Bremen 1860 • DRC Hannover • FT Adler Kiel von 1893 • FC St. Pauli • TSV Victoria Linden

East

• Berliner RC II • Berliner SV 1892 e.V. • RC Dresden e.V. • USV Jena • USV Potsdam • Veltener RC

West

• Grashof RC Essen • RC Aachen • RC Luxembourg • RSV Köln • Rugby Tourists Münster e.V. • SC Frankfurt 1880 II • TGS Hausen • TuS 95 Düsseldorf

South

• Heidelberger TV • Karlsruher SV • München RFC • RC Rottweil • RC Unterföhring • StuSta München • Stuttgarter RC

2nd Bundesliga championship finals

SeasonNorth/EastSouth/WestResult
2001-02Post SV BerlinMünchen RFC21-23
2002-03SC Germania ListBSC Offenbach22-14
2003-04RK 03 BerlinBSC Offenbach28-23
2004-05DSV 78/08 RicklingenHeidelberger RK6-18
2005-06RK 03 BerlinSC 1880 Frankfurt5-39
2006-07SC Germania ListRK Heusenstamm10-52
2007-08RK 03 BerlinASV Köln22-6
2008-09DSV 78/08 RicklingenSC 1880 Frankfurt II10-24
2009-10TSV Victoria LindenStuttgarter RC10-59
2010-11TSV Victoria LindenTV Pforzheim0-89
2011-12FC St. Pauli RugbySC 1880 Frankfurt II22-32
2015-16München RFCRC Luxembourg9-12

2nd Bundesliga champions until 2001

Before the establishment of the single-division Bundesliga, the two 2nd Bundesligas determined their champion in the autumn half of the season before splitting each division into two groups, the upper half playing for Bundesliga promotion together with the bottom clubs of the Bundesliga, and the lower half against 2nd Bundesliga relegation. Teams from the two regional divisions did not meet and now country-wide 2nd Bundesliga championship as such was played. The autumn champions were:

SeasonNorth/EastSouth/West
1999–2000FC St. PauliRC Bonn-Rhein-Sieg
2000-01Berliner RCRK Heusenstamm

Placings in the 2nd Bundesliga since 2001

Since 1998, the following clubs have played in the league. From 1999 to 2001, the league consisted of two regional divisions of six teams each. After an autumn (A) round, the top three from each group would reach the championship finals round in spring (S). The bottom three, together with the top three from each of the two 2nd Bundesligas would play a promotion round in spring with the top three in each group playing in the Bundesliga the following autumn. In 1997-98 and from 2001 to 2012, the league has been played in a single-division format. From 2012–13 to 2014–15 it had been divided into a first (I) and second round (II), followed by play-offs:

North/East

Club98990001020304050607080910111213141516
ASASASIIIIIIIII
Berliner RC 1♦1♦311♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
RK 03 Berlin 21♦121♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
DSV 78 Hannover 1♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦1♦♦41♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
FC St. Pauli Rugby 87165763523534421♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
SC Germania List 2♦2♦1♦221♦♦2157632♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Hamburger RC 79610107467881094♦3♦2♦♦♦
RU Hohen Neuendorf 1112648634923♦♦♦
RC Leipzig ♦2♦1♦1♦
TSV Victoria Linden ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦422116♦♦♦♦♦31
Veltener RC 15♦7251
FT Adler Kiel Rugby 92
USV Potsdam 97673253♦♦♦52
Bremen 1860 4116263
Berliner RC II 8810173
SG SV Odin/VfR Döhren 4556414
RC Dresden 3233534
DRC Hannover ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦77528555
USV Jena 5754345
DSV 78 Hannover II 1142126
Berliner SC 6645466
Welfen Braunschweig 121183331327
USV Halle 677
SC Siemensstadt 4143436588102614♦♦
Berliner SV 92 Rugby 7610997♦♦♦♦♦4
08 Ricklingen/Wunstorf 24♦♦
Union 60 Bremen 6456
FC St. Pauli II 55
SG Grizzlies/Potsdam 48
DSV 78/08 Ricklingen 1♦1♦♦41
SG Schwalbe/DRC Hannover II 310
SV Odin Hannover 4♦5115436
Stahl Brandenburg Rugby 969858
Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby 52522♦434336
VfR Döhren 4343♦5♦57527
FC Schwalbe Hannover 37
Post SV Berlin Rugby 28472312
SV 1908 Ricklingen 1636584846
Hamburg Exiles RFC 12

South/West

Club990001020304050607080910111213141516
ASASASIIIIIIIII
Heidelberger RK ♦3♦5573221♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
SC 1880 Frankfurt 669485681♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
RK Heusenstamm ♦2♦415434221♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
TV Pforzheim 101♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
ASV Köln Rugby ♦♦♦2♦324744212♦64♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
TSV Handschuhsheim ♦1♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦1♦♦♦♦♦
Rugby Club Luxembourg 323♦131
München RFC 433♦21♦3336542372423311
RC Aachen 861079♦5♦4♦42
StuSta München 889666101331252
TGS Hausen 263
Heidelberger TV 55263465667472♦2♦1♦13
TG 75 Darmstadt 4
TSV Handschuhsheim II 553574815524
TuS 95 Düsseldorf 741097816♦7345
Neckarsulmer SU 4162435
Eintracht Frankfurt Rugby 12115628656
RC Rottweil 12126
Stuttgarter RC 29195343667
RC Regensburg 8
RC Mainz 79796♦♦♦657
RC Bonn Rhein-Sieg 811♦6443448
Freiburger RC 3255
TSV 1846 Nürnberg 126746
Wiedenbrücker TV 1135
SC 1880 Frankfurt II 34157168
Ramstein Rogues RUFC 2
Heidelberger RK II 8855
RG Heidelberg II 5678348
Karlsruher SV Rugby 125910
SG Heidelberger TV/SC Neuenheim II 510
RU Marburg 9
BSC Offenbach 95721♦1179
RFC Illesheim 11

Key

Team played in Rugby-Bundesliga Promotion round to the Rugby-Bundesliga Relegation round to the Rugby-Regionalliga

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DSV 78 Hannover</span> German rugby club

DSV 78 Hannover, founded as DFV Hannover in 1878, is Germany's oldest rugby club. The club played in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga under the name DSV 78/08 Ricklingen, having formed an on-the-field union with SV 08 Ricklingen, another club from Hannover.

The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation.

The Rugby-Bundesliga 2008-09 was the 38th edition of this competition and the 89th edition of the German rugby union championship. Nine teams play a home-and-away season with a finals round between the top four teams at the end. The bottom two teams determine which club is relegated in an end-of-season decider. The season started on 30 August 2008 and finished with the championship final on 23 May 2009, interrupted by a winter break from early December to late February.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DRC Hannover</span> Rugby team

The DRC Hannover is a German rugby union club from Hannover, currently playing in the Rugby-Regionalliga. The club should not be confused with the DRC 1884 Hannover, a rowing club and a separate entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SV 08 Ricklingen</span> Rugby team

The SV 08 Ricklingen is a German rugby union club from the Ricklingen suburb of Hanover. The team plays in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, the second tier of German rugby. After having formed an on-the-field union with DSV 78 Hannover from 2003 to 2009 instead of fielding an independent team, the club left this partnership at the end of the 2008-09 season. Instead, it formed a partnership with TuS Wunstorf from the 2009-10 season onwards. The team now plays as SG TuS Wunstorf/08 Ricklingen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSV Victoria Linden</span> Rugby team

The TSV Victoria Linden is a German rugby union club from the Linden suburb of Hannover, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports, such as triathlon and athletics.

The Rugby Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. It is set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and is organised in eight regional divisions.

The 2009–10 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 39th edition of this competition and the 90th edition of the German rugby union championship. Ten teams played a home-and-away season with a finals round between the top four teams at the end. The bottom two teams are relegated. The season started on 29 August 2009 and finished with the championship final on 29 May 2010, interrupted by a winter break from early December to late March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidelberger TV</span> Rugby team

The Heidelberger TV is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like basketball, tennis and badminton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USV Potsdam Rugby</span> German rugby union club

The USV Potsdam Rugby is a German rugby union club from Potsdam, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. It is part of a larger multi-sport club, the USV Potsdam, which also offers other sports like basketball, association football and tennis and consists of 19 departments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RC Mainz</span> German rugby union club

The RC Mainz is a German rugby union club from Mainz, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga.

The 2010–11 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 40th edition of this competition and the 91st edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, the first division, nine teams played a home-and-away season with a finals round between the top four teams at the end. The season started on 28 August 2010 and finish with the championship final on 28 May 2011, interrupted by a winter break from December to late February. Cold weather and heavy snow falls however meant that the last game before the winter break was played already on 6 November 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV Pforzheim</span> Rugby team

The TV Pforzheim is a German rugby union club from Pforzheim, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga, having won promotion to the league in 2011.

The 2011–12 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 41st edition of this competition and the 92nd edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, the first division, ten teams played a home-and-away season with semi-finals and a final between the top four teams at the end. The season started on 27 August 2010 and finished with the championship final on 5 May 2012, interrupted by a winter break from mid-December to late February. The league's top try scorer was Caine Elisara for the second year running while Luke James Muggeridge took out the honours of best points scorer for the first time. Both are from New Zealand and played for Heidelberger RK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RC Aachen</span> Rugby team

The RC Aachen is a German rugby union club from Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, currently playing in the 2e klasse, the 3 tier of Dutch Rugby after being promoted mid-seasob due to good results. From 2012 till 2015 Aachen played in Rugby-Bundesliga.

The 2012–13 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 42nd edition of this competition and the 93rd edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, twenty-two teams played in, initially, four regional divisions, the first stage of the competition. The season started on 25 August 2012 and finished with the championship final on 15 June 2013, interrupted by a winter break from 25 November to 3 March. The regular season finished on Wednesday 1 May and the play-offs started on the following weekend, 4 May, and the German championship final was held on 15 June 2013.

The 2013–14 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 43rd edition of this competition and the 94th edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, twenty-four teams played in, initially, four regional divisions, the first stage of the competition, followed by a championship round of sixteen clubs and, finally, the play-offs consisting of twelve teams. The season started on 24 August 2013 and finished with the championship final on 21 June 2014 in Pforzheim, interrupted by a winter break from 8 December to 22 February. The regular season finished on 19 April and the play-offs started on 3 May, with the German championship final held on 21 June 2014, which was contested between TV Pforzheim and Heidelberger RK. Heidelberg won its fifth consecutive national championship when it defeated Pforzheim 43–20 in the final.

The 2014–15 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 44th edition of this competition and the 95th edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, twenty-one teams played in, initially, four regional divisions, the first stage of the competition, followed by a championship round of sixteen clubs and, finally, the play-offs consisting of twelve teams. The season started on 30 August 2014 and finished with the championship final on 16 May 2015 in Heidelberg, interrupted by a winter break from December to late February. Nominally the league should consist of twenty-four teams however only twenty-one fulfilled the licensing requirements for 2014–15.

The RC Rottweil is a German rugby union club from Rottweil, Baden-Württemberg, currently playing in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga.

The 2015–16 Rugby-Bundesliga is the 45th edition of this competition and the 96th edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, sixteen teams play in two regional divisions, followed by play-offs consisting of the top two teams in each division. The regular season started on 29 August 2015 and finished on 24 April 2016, followed by the semi-finals and the championship final, the latter held on 7 May 2016, with the DRV-Pokal and the promotion-relegation play-off continuing until June 2016. The season was interrupted by a winter break from early November to early March.

References

  1. 1 2 "Anlage zu der 15-er Bundesligarichtlinie" [Annex to the 15s National League Guidelines](PDF). RugbyVerband.de (in German). July 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Karlsruhe und Luxemburg steigen in die 2.Liga Süd auf (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 6 July 2009, accessed: 19 March 2010
  3. ↑ Victoria Linden verzichtet auf den Bundesligaaufstieg (in German), totalrugby.de, published: 27 May 2010, accessed: 29 May 2010
  4. ↑ RC gewinnt Zweitligameisterschaft - verzichtet aber dennoch auf den Aufstieg (in German), totalrugby.de, published: 31 May 2010, accessed: 1 June 2010
  5. ↑ Abstieg von Hannover 78 besiegelt - Bundesligasaison 2010/2011 mit nur 8 Mannschaften (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 8 June 2010. accessed: 14 June 2010
  6. ↑ TV Pforzheim gewinnt das Aufstiegsturnier zur 2. Bundesliga Süd (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 13 June 2010. accessed: 14 June 2010
  7. ↑ RG Heidelberg zieht Reserveteam aus der 2. Bundesliga Süd zurück (in German) totlarugby.de, published: 22 August 2011, accessed: 29 August 2011
  8. ↑ DRT 2012: Ligareform kommt / Vertrag mit DRV-Vermarkter wird überprüft (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 16 July 2012, accessed: 24 July 2012
  9. ↑ DRT (in German) DRV website, published: 16 July 2012, accessed: 24 July 2012
  10. ↑ Rugby-Vizemeister TV Pforzheim will 2013 den Titel holen Archived 2014-10-14 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Pforzheimer Zeitung , published: 9 May 2012, accessed: 24 July 2012
  11. ↑ Bundesligaausschuss beschließt Modifikation des Spielsystems (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 5 June 2013, accessed: 7 June 2013
  12. ↑ Rugby-Verband modifiziert Spielsystem (in German) Frankfurter Neue Presse , published: 7 July 2015, accessed: 9 July 2015
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