Rugby-Bundesliga

This article is about the top level of rugby union in Germany. For the top level of rugby union in Austria, see 1. Rugby Bundesliga.

Rugby-Bundesliga

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Rugby-Bundesliga
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1971;53 years ago (1971)
Administrator	DRV
No. of teams	16
Country	Germany
Most recent champion(s)	SC 1880 Frankfurt (4th title) (2021–22)
Most titles	Heidelberger RK (11 titles)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	2. Rugby-Bundesliga

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

The league has a mix of professional, semi-professional and amateur players, with four club in the league being officially professional outfits. ^[1]

From 2012 to 2015 the Bundesliga was expanded from ten to 24 and the league divided into four regional divisions of six teams each. Below the Bundesliga the 2. Bundesliga was organised in a similar fashion. From 2015 onwards the league returned to sixteen clubs.

History

Hamburger RC
St. Pauli

Hannover 78
Germania List

Berliner RC
RK 03 Berlin
BSV 1892

Leipzig

Neuenheim
Handschuscheim
RG Heidelberg
Heidelberger RK

Frankfurt

Köln

Luxemburg

München

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Location of teams in the Rugby-Bundesliga 2024-25

The German rugby championship was first played in 1909 and, with the exception of 2002, has always been determined by a final. ^[2]

The Rugby-Bundesliga was first played in two divisions in the 1971-72 season and soon consisted of six teams in the North and ten teams in the South. However, of the eight southern teams, five were located in Heidelberg and after 1975 all northern teams were from Hanover. The founding members of the league were SV Odin Hannover, SV 1908 Ricklingen, DSV 1878 Hannover, TSV Victoria Linden, SC Siemensstadt and FC St. Pauli Rugby in the north and SC Neuenheim, RG Heidelberg, Heidelberger RK, Heidelberger TV, TSV Handschuhsheim, RC Hürth, Bonner SC, ASV Köln Rugby, SC 1880 Frankfurt and Eintracht Frankfurt Rugby. ^[3]

The league has changed its format a number of times over the years. In 1997-98, it played as a single-division league with eight teams. From 1998 to 2001, it was divided into two regional divisions again. The top-three teams from each of the two divisions then qualified for the finals round, held in a home-and-away format. The top two teams out of this round then played the German Final in a home-and-away format. The bottom three teams in each division played a spring round together with the top three teams of the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga to determine the clubs who would play in the Bundesliga in the next season.

Since 2001, the Bundesliga has been organised as a single division again with eight teams playing each other in a home-and-away season. The top two teams play each other in the championship final. In its first season, 2001–02, no final was held and the regular season winner was also the German champions. In the first 34 editions of the Final, there was always a team from Hanover present. Only in 2006 did this stop, and no team from Hanover has played in the final since.

Below the Bundesliga, two 2nd Bundesligas, north and south, form the second tier of the league system, with the winners promoted to the Bundesliga. The third tier of rugby is formed by the nine Regionalligen , regional leagues.

SC 1880 Frankfurt, the 2007-08 champions, had to wait 83 years for its fifth title, having last won the championship in 1925. ^{[4] [5]}

On 19 July 2008 at the annual general meeting of the German rugby association, the DRV decided to expand the Bundesliga and slightly change its modus. It was decided to expand the league to nine teams for 2008-09 and ten teams for 2009-10, meaning only one club will be relegated in 2009, and two promoted. Also, the play-off format was changed, with four teams qualifying for the finals. At the bottom end, in 2008-09, the last two teams would determine one relegated club via playoff. From 2009-10, the bottom four clubs will play-off to determine two relegated teams. ^[6]

The women's Rugby-Bundesliga consists of six teams in 2008 and also plays a final between the top two clubs at the end of the season. ^[7]

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. ^{[8] [9]} DSV 78 protested the decision to reduce the league to eight teams again and thereby relegating the club. ^[10] The annual convention of the German Rugby Federation however decided in early July 2010 to allow DSV 78 to stay in the Bundesliga. ^[11]

In February 2011, the DRV decided that the league would continue to play with ten teams in the near future. ^[12]

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 Bundesliga increased from ten to 24, the league divided into four regional divisions of six clubs each and the finals series expanded from four to sixteen teams. 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. ^{[13] [14] [15]} 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. ^[16]

At the annual general meeting of the DRV in July 2015 it was decided to return to a sixteen club format with two regional divisions of eight. The last placed in each division would be relegated while the seventh placed teams would have to play-off against the third and fourth best team of the 2. Bundesliga. ^[17] The German championship in turn will be contested by the best two teams in each group. ^[18]

Clubs participating in 2023-24

1. Bundesliga - 16 clubs
North/East • FC St. Pauli • Berliner RC • Hamburger RC • DSV 78 Hannover • RC Leipzig • RK 03 Berlin • SC Germania List • Victoria Linden	South/West • RG Heidelberg • München RFC • ASV Köln Rugby • RK Heusenstamm • SC Frankfurt 1880 • SC Neuenheim • TSV Handschuhsheim • Offenbacher SCR

Championship finals

Main article: German rugby union championship

The German rugby champions are determined by a final (except in 2001-02), currently contested by the two top teams of the Bundesliga:

Finals

Season	Winner	Runner–Up	Result
1971–72	TSV Victoria Linden	SC Neuenheim	17–16
1972–73	Heidelberger RK	SV 08 Ricklingen	3–0
1973–74	SV 08 Ricklingen	Heidelberger TV	15–9
1974–75	TSV Victoria Linden	Heidelberger RK	12–4
1975–76	Heidelberger RK	TSV Victoria Linden	35–0
1976–77	SC Germania List	Heidelberger RK	16–9
1977–78	FV 1897 Linden	TSV Handschuhsheim	24–16
1978–79	SC Germania List	Heidelberger TV	9–0
1979–80	RG Heidelberg	FV 1897 Linden	16–10
1980–81	SC Germania List	Heidelberger RK	28–19
1981–82	DSV 78 Hannover	RG Heidelberg	15–6
1982–83	DSV 78 Hannover	RG Heidelberg	16–12
1983–84	DSV 78 Hannover	TSV Victoria Linden	27–6
1984–85	DSV 78 Hannover	RG Heidelberg	24–9
1985–86	Heidelberger RK	DSV 1878 Hannover	15–9
1986–87	TSV Victoria Linden	DSV 1878 Hannover	24–0
1987–88	DRC Hannover	DSV 1878 Hannover	12–9
1988–89	TSV Victoria Linden	Berliner RC	20–6
1989–90	DSV 78 Hannover	SC Neuenheim	31–4
1990–91	DSV 78 Hannover	TSV Victoria Linden	6–3
1991–92	TSV Victoria Linden	SV 08 Ricklingen	59–3
1992–93	TSV Victoria Linden	DSV 1878 Hannover	18–14
1993–94	TSV Victoria Linden	Heidelberger TV	15–3
1994–95	SC Neuenheim	TSV Victoria Linden	14–13
1995–96	TSV Victoria Linden	RG Heidelberg	9–8
1996–97	RG Heidelberg	TSV Victoria Linden	15–13
1997–98	DRC Hannover	TSV Victoria Linden	25–20
1998–99	DRC Hannover	RG Heidelberg	24–10 / 11–22 [19]
1999–2000	DRC Hannover	TSV Victoria Linden	45–12 / 34–3 [20]
2000–01	DRC Hannover	SC Neuenheim	28–16 / 8–13 [21]
2001–02	DRC Hannover	RG Heidelberg	not held [22]
2002–03	SC Neuenheim	DRC Hannover	18–9 [23]
2003–04	SC Neuenheim	DRC Hannover	23–18 [24]
2004–05	DRC Hannover	TSV Handschuhsheim	21–9 [25]
2005–06	RG Heidelberg	SC Neuenheim	13–9 [26]
2006–07	RG Heidelberg	SC 1880 Frankfurt	23–15 [27]
2007–08	SC 1880 Frankfurt	RG Heidelberg	28–13 [28]
2008–09	SC 1880 Frankfurt	Heidelberger RK	11–8 [29]
2009–10	Heidelberger RK	SC 1880 Frankfurt	39–22
2010–11	Heidelberger RK	SC 1880 Frankfurt	12–9
2011–12	Heidelberger RK	TV Pforzheim	20–16
2012–13	Heidelberger RK	SC Neuenheim	41–10
2013–14	Heidelberger RK	TV Pforzheim	43–20
2014–15	Heidelberger RK	TV Pforzheim	53–27
2015–16	TV Pforzheim	Heidelberger RK	41–36
2016–17	Heidelberger RK	TV Pforzheim	39–35
2017–18	Heidelberger RK	RG Heidelberg	47–12
2018–19	SC 1880 Frankfurt	TSV Handschuhsheim	22–12
2019–20	Canceled due to COVID-19
2020–21	Canceled due to COVID-19
2021–22	SC 1880 Frankfurt	TSV Handschuhsheim	29–17
2022–23	SC 1880 Frankfurt	SC Neuenheim	30-16
2023–24	-	-	-

Source: "Die Deutschen Meister der Männer". Deutscher Rugby Verband. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-12-25.

Winners & Finalists

As of 2016, this is the standing in the all-time winners list of the Bundesliga:

Club	Championships	Finals
Heidelberger RK	9	14
TSV Victoria Linden	8	15
DRC Hannover	7	9
DSV 78 Hannover	6	10
SC 1880 Frankfurt	5	7
RG Heidelberg	4	10
SC Neuenheim	3	7
SC Germania List	3	3
FV 1897 Linden	1	2
SV 08 Ricklingen	1	3
TV Pforzheim	1	4
Heidelberger TV	0	3
TSV Handschuhsheim	0	4
Berliner RC	0	1

League placings

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:

Club	98	99		00		01		02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13		14		15		16
		A	S	A	S	A	S												I	II	I	II	I	II
Heidelberger RK	8	?	9	5	11							6	7	6	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
RK 03 Berlin 2											7				8	7	8	8	2	3	2	3	1	2	1
TV Pforzheim																		3	4	3	2	2	2	2	2
SC Germania List		5	8	4	7	4	8			7	8								3	5	3	4	2	3	2
RG Heidelberg	5	?	2	3	5	3	3	2	4	3	3	1	2	2	5	2	4	6	3	4	4	4	3	4	3
DSV 78 Hannover 1	4	3	3	3	4	2	6	6	3							9	7	7	1	1	1	1	1	1	3
SC Neuenheim	2	?	4	2	3	2	1	3	2	1	4	2	4	5	3	5	5	4	2	2	5	3	4	3	4
Berliner RC		4	7	5	9		7	7	7	5	5	7	5	4	4	6	6	9	1	2	1	2	2	4	4
TSV Handschuhsheim	6	?	7	1	6	1	4	4	5	4	2	4	6	3	6	4	3	5	5		3	6	5	5	5
FC St Pauli Rugby					12														2	4	2	5	3	6	5
SC 1880 Frankfurt			12										1	1	1	1	2	2	1	5	2	7	2	7	6
RC Leipzig																			5		4		6		6
RK Heusenstamm		?	8	6	10		11							8	7	8	9	10	2	6	1	5	1	6	7
Hamburger RC																			5		6		4	5	7
ASV Köln Rugby		?	6	4	8	6	9									10			4	7	3	8	3	8	8
RU Hohen Neuendorf																							4	7	8
SG Siemensstadt/Grizzlies																							3	w
RC Aachen																			6		5		4
TSV Victoria Linden	1	2	5	2	2	3	5	5	6	6	6	8							4	7	4	6	5
Berliner SV 92 Rugby																			4	8	3	7	5
Heidelberger TV																			6		6		6
08 Ricklingen/Wunstorf 3																					5	8
RC Mainz																			3	8	4
Veltener RC																					5
TuS 95 Düsseldorf																					6
USV Potsdam Rugby																			3	6	6
RC Luxembourg																			5
DRC Hannover	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	1	3	3	7	9
DSV 78/08 Ricklingen 1										8		7	8
München RFC			10		9	4	8		8
BSC Offenbach							7	8
RC Bonn Rhein-Sieg					7	5	12
Post SV Berlin Rugby 2							9
Stahl Hennigsdorf Rugby			11		8	5	10
VfR Döhren			9	6	11	6	11
SC Siemensstadt			10		10		12
SV 1908 Ricklingen 1			12
SV Odin Hannover	8

• ¹ DSV 78 Hannover and SV 08 Ricklingen fielded a combined team, the DSV 78/08 Ricklingen, from 2003 to 2009.
• ² Post SV Berlin Rugby left Post SV in 2003 to form RK 03 Berlin.
• ³ TuS Wunsdorf and SV 08 Ricklingen fielded a combined team, the 08 Ricklingen/Wunsdorf, from 2012 onwards.

Key

Champions

Championship round participants

Player statistics

The top try and point scorers in recent season were:

Season	Player	Tries	Player	Points
2007–08
2008–09	Alexander Pipa (TSV)	22	Thorsten Wiedemann (TSV)	212
2009–10	Alexander Pipa (TSV)	22	Fabian Heimpel (RGH)	225
2010–11	Caine Elisara (HRK)	27	Keiran Manawatu (SC 1880)	282
2011–12	Caine Elisara (HRK)	31	Luke James Muggeridge (HRK)	234

References

1. Getränke-Hersteller gegen Gold-Händler (in German) Offenbach-Post , published: 28 May 2011. accessed: 21 August 2011
2. Die Deutschen Meister der Männer Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine (in German) List of German rugby championship finals, accessed: 25 December 2008
3. Geschichte Archived 2014-10-15 at the Wayback Machine (in German) DRV website – History, accessed: 9 October 2014
4. SC Frankfurt 1880 Deutscher Meister, RK 03 Berlin steigt auf (in German) scrum.de, accessed: 26 December 2008
5. In Deutschland müssen Profis dem Platzwart helfen (in German) Die Welt online, published: 5 September 2007, accessed: 29 December 2008
6. DRT beschließt Reform des Spielbetriebs Archived 2008-09-17 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Rugby-Journal - Reforms 2008, accessed: 7 January 2009
7. Rugby Spielpläne - Archiv 2007/2008 - 1. Frauenbundesliga (in German), accessed: 29 December 2008
8. Victoria Linden verzichtet auf den Bundesligaaufstieg (in German), totalrugby.de, published: 27 May 2010, accessed: 29 May 2010
9. RC gewinnt Zweitligameisterschaft - verzichtet aber dennoch auf den Aufstieg (in German), totalrugby.de, published: 31 May 2010, accessed: 1 June 2010
10. Abstieg von Hannover 78 besiegelt - Bundesligasaison 2010/2011 mit nur 8 Mannschaften (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 8 June 2010. accessed: 14 June 2010
11. Deutscher Rugby-Tag beschloss neuen Pokal-Austragungsmodus (in German) Rugby-Journal , published: 4 July 2010, accessed: 5 July 2010
12. Es bleibt bei 10 Vereinen in der Bundesliga (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 9 February 2011, accessed: 5 March 2011
13. DRT 2012: Ligareform kommt / Vertrag mit DRV-Vermarkter wird überprüft (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 16 July 2012, accessed: 24 July 2012
14. DRT (in German) DRV website, published: 16 July 2012, accessed: 24 July 2012
15. Rugby-Vizemeister TVPforzheim will 2013 den Titel holen (in German) Pforzheimer Zeitung , published: 9 May 2012, accessed: 24 July 2012
16. Bundesligaausschuss beschließt Modifikation des Spielsystems (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 5 June 2013, accessed: 7 June 2013
17. Rugby-Verband modifiziert Spielsystem (in German) Frankfurter Neue Presse , published: 7 July 2015, accessed: 9 July 2015
18. Rugby-Bundesliga startet am Wochenende in ihre 45. Saison - Spielmodus erneut reformiert (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 27 August 2015, accessed: 12 September 2015
19. 1. Rugby Bundesliga (in German) Results of the 1998–99 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
20. 1. Rugby Bundesliga (in German) Results of the 1999–2000 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
21. Rugby Archiv – Endrunde Frühjahr 2001 (in German) Results of the 2000–01 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
22. Rugby Archiv – Rugby Spielpläne – 2001/2002 (in German) Results of the 2001–02 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
23. Rugby Spielpläne – 2002/2003 (in German) Results of the 2002–03 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
24. Rugby Spielpläne – 2003/2004 (in German) Results of the 2003–04 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
25. Rugby Spielpläne – Archiv 2004/2005 (in German) Results of the 2004–05 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
26. Rugby Spielpläne – Archiv 2005/2006 (in German) Results of the 2005–06 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
27. Rugby Spielpläne – Archiv 2006/2007 (in German) Results of the 2006–07 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
28. Rugby Spielpläne – Archiv 2007/2008 (in German) Results of the 2007–08 season, accessed: 25 December 2008
29. Rugby–Journal – Bundesliga 2008–09 Archived 2010-03-23 at the Wayback Machine accessed: 26 December 2008

attendance

Rugby Bundesliga has not got a lot of attendance

Total attendance for tournament = 10,221 average attendance for match = 50

External links

• German Rugby Community
• German Rugby Federation website
• Scrum.de - Result archive
• Rugbyweb.de - Result archive