German national rugby union team

This article covers the men's rugby union team. For further meanings, see German National Rugby Union Team (disambiguation) .

Germany

Nickname (s)	Black eagles
Association	German Rugby Association
Trainer	Mark Kuhlmann
WR abbreviation	GER
WR rank	28. (54.64 points) (as of February 4, 2020)
home Away
First international match France 30-5 Germany (April 17, 1927)
Biggest win Serbia and Montenegro 0: 108 Germany (November 12, 2005)
Biggest defeat Russia 89: 6 Germany (April 16, 2000)
World Championship participations: so far none

The German national rugby union team represents the German rugby association as a selection team at international level in rugby union against teams from other national associations. She plays in the highest division of the Rugby Union European Championship , the Rugby Europe Championship , the European Continental Federation Rugby Europe and the qualifying games for the Rugby Union World Championship of the World Rugby Federation .

The greatest success of the national team is the second place at the 1900 Olympic Games , as well as two third places at the European Championships in 1952 and 2018.

history

Until 1945

France (white) versus Germany (dark stripes) at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Germany already took part in the II. Olympic Games , which took place in 1900 together with the World Exhibition in Paris , and achieved second place with a 17:27 against the host. Instead of a national team that did not yet exist, SC 1880 Frankfurt played for the German Empire.

For their first official international match, Germany played again in France on April 17, 1927 and lost with 5:30. Since then it has played eight more times against France, from 1929 twice against Spain, in 1931 against Czechoslovakia and in 1933 against the Netherlands. Then on January 2, 1934 in Paris and on March 25, 1934 in Hanover, it was one of the founding members of the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA, from 1999 FIRA-AER, since 2014 Rugby Europe ) - together with Belgium, France, Italy, Catalonia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain. Logically, it took part in an intensive international match with the FIRA members until the Second World War: From 1936 the DRV-Fifteen played three times against Romania and six times against Italy, in 1937 against Belgium, and another six times against France, twice against the Netherlands and once against Czechoslovakia. The last game in the war took place on May 5, 1940 in Stuttgart against Italy. The German balance sheet looked positive against all countries except France.

Second half of the 20th century

The first post-war international match was won on March 2, 1952 against Belgium (16: 9 in Hanover). The German team soon found that they had lost their position on the continent due to the effects of the war and the consistent development work of the competitors. Until 1969 France almost only competed with a B-team against the Germans and still won safely. Italy and Romania were also better, Spain was at least equal.

Germany's participation in the FIRA European Championship since the 1973/74 season increased the number of international opponents: Morocco, Sweden, the Soviet Union, Switzerland, Tunisia and Denmark were added.

In November 1988 the DRV was accepted as the 38th national association in the International Rugby Board (IRB, since 2014 World Rugby ), so that Germany was able to qualify for the 1991 World Cup for the first time in 1989 . However, the XV of the DRV was defeated by the Netherlands 6:12 in Heidelberg right at the beginning and was eliminated in the first round.

In 1989 and 1990 international matches against teams from overseas took place for the first time: Against Western Samoa and Namibia the DRV-Fifteen suffered heavy defeats (9:55 and 7:54 respectively).

To qualify for the 1999 World Cup , the DRV team played four games in their European group, of which they won two and lost two. First they won the only international match against Andorra with 56:11 in Andorra la Vella and against the Czech Republic with 31:17. Then they lost 6:30 in Portugal and 9:24 against Spain. This meant table position three out of five and thus the end.

The German national rugby team ended the millennium with a negative balance.

Since 2000

The German selection has never competed against national teams from the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) , but it does occasionally against club teams or county selections. In 2000 a DRV selection played in the renovated Eilenriedestadion in Hanover to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the DRV against the selection of the Barbarians , the world's most famous rugby invitation team (19:47).

The 2003 World Cup qualification went like the previous one: again two wins and two losses. In Sweden it was a 10:32 defeat. Victories were achieved against the competition from Denmark (34:24) and Latvia (44: 0). The 12:20 defeat in Poland meant second out of five in Europe group B. That was not enough for the next round.

In qualifying for the 2007 World Cup , the DRV team ended their preliminary round unbeaten against smaller opponents. In 2004 they defeated Moldova 27:18 and Luxembourg 96-0 . The other victories in 2005 were against Denmark 56: 0 and Austria 69: 9. Then she also won all four games in European Group B, with three-digit numbers against Serbia-Montenegro 108-0 for the first time in her history . Malta (43: 0), Croatia (25:15) and Belgium (33:15) were the other group opponents. After the play-off against Spain , the winners of Group A, Germany was eliminated. While the first leg in Heidelberg was decided 18: 6 in favor of the German national team, they lost 36:10 in Madrid .

After being promoted back to Division 1A of the European Nations Cup in 2014 , the European Nations Cup 2014-2016 succeeded for the first time after a 50:27 win against Portugal and a 17:17 draw against Spain . Previously, you had lost all games in the first half of the season. The autumn international games against Uruguay and twice Brazil could all be decided in favor of DRV Fifteen. The European Championship was renamed Rugby Europe International Championships the following year and changed to an annual rhythm. At the beginning of the 2018 season , they beat Romania in the Sparda-Bank-Hessen-Stadion with 41:38 . This was the first win against the Stejarii since 1972. A 6:50 loss to European champions Georgia was followed by a 34:29 win over Belgium. Since the games of the EM (except against the already qualified Georgians) also counted as World Cup qualifiers , they got off to a perfect start. However, the German national team lost in the games against Spain and Russia, so they had to be content with fifth place in the European Championship.

A first international match against Kenya could be organized for the summer , which they won 30:29 in Nairobi . The friendly against Brazil could also be won before the DRV Fifteen lost in their first international match against the United States . Before the game against Chile , the players employed by the WILD Rugby Academy broke with the association. They decided to go on strike three days before the game. Since they made up a large part of the team, a completely new squad had to be set up. The players who were called up at such short notice were dubbed “Offenbach Heroes” despite the 10:32 defeat.

Also in the new year there was no agreement, so there were several major defeats at the European Championship 2018 , although the DRV was able to secure the services of an internationally experienced trainer with Pablo Lemoine . The opening game against Romania in Cluj-Napoca was 6:85 the biggest defeat against this team so far. The home game against Georgia was lost 0:64. Against Belgium (15:69) and Spain (10:84) it set new record defeats. The last game was lost against Russia 3:57, so the German team ended the season without points. Nevertheless, they came in third behind Georgia and Russia in the championship after the teams of Romania, Spain and Belgium had been deducted points due to the use of ineligible players.

In addition, Germany qualified for the sixth round of the World Cup qualification for a play-off game against Rugby Europe Trophy winner Portugal. After the announcement of the dissolution of the WRA, all players were available again. Germany won in Heidelberg in front of 2,400 spectators with 16:13 and secured participation in the intercontinental play-offs against Samoa . In the run-up to the game in Apia , the German team was mocked by the Prime Minister of the multiple World Cup participant. The game was lost at 15:66. The German national team couldn't turn the tide in the second leg in Heidelberg and lost 28:42. This meant that qualification was only possible via the Repechage tournament against Hong Kong , Canada and Kenya . For this Mike Ford was hired as a coach, who was able to gain experience both as a coach of Bath Rugby and the RC Toulon and as a defensive coach of the English national team . Against the number one team from Hong Kong, the black eagles were able to prevail with 26: 9, but missed the offensive bonus point. The 10:29 defeat against the Canadian national team meant the end of the German World Cup dreams. With the final 43: 6 win against Kenya, the German team was able to claim second place in the tournament.

Play against British Forces

There were only regular games against the British armed forces stationed in Germany:

Rugby: Unofficial games against British Army selections in Germany

selection	Years	total	Won	Indecisive	Lost
BAOR	1952-1983	33	12	4th	17th
RAFG	1955-1982	26th	14th	4th	8th
BFG	1995-1999	5	3	0	2
Balance 1952–1999		64	29	8th	27

• BAOR: British Army of the Rhine ( British Army of the Rhine )
• RAFG: Royal Air Force Germany ( British Air Force in Germany )
• BFG: British Forces Germany ( British Forces in Germany )

National coach and team bosses

The previous national coaches of the German Rugby Association were:

Period	Surname
1952-1959	?
1959-1969	Helmut Flügge
1969-1981	Klaus Wesch
1981-1988	Fritz Raupers
1988-1990	Robert Antonin
1990-1992	Jean-Claude Rutault
1992-2000	Peter Ianusevici
2000-2001	Thorsten Schippe
2001-2010	Rudolf Finsterer
2010-2013	Thorsten Schippe
2013-2018	Frederik Jacobus Potgieter
2018	Pablo Lemoine
2018-2019	Mike Ford
2019-2020	Mark Kuhlmann & Alexander Widiker
2020-	Melvine Smith & Byron Schmidt

Well-known national players

• Aiman ​​Abdallah (* 1965), former national player and current television presenter
• Fritz Feyerherm (1935–2008), former national player, referee and sports official, 35 years president of the Berlin Rugby Club and holder of the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon .
• Christian Doering (* 1981), former national player and active referee in the Lower Saxony rugby association.
• Hansdieter "Pit" Borges (1933–2018), former national player, coach of the German Rugby Youth U18 national team, referee and youth leader of Hannover 1878 , SV Ricklingen 1908 and SC Germania List .

Current

International matches

→ Main article : List of international matches for the German national rugby union team

The international matches of the last twelve months as well as planned matches are listed.

date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion
09 Feb 2019	22:29	Belgium	A.	Brussels ( BEL ), King Baudouin Stadium, annex 2	REC 2019
16 Feb 2019	38:10	Romania	A.	Botoșani ( ROU ), Stadionul Municipal	REC 2019
02nd Mar 2019	18:26	Russia	H	Heidelberg , Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark	REC 2019
10 Mar 2019	3:51	Georgia	A.	Kutaisi ( GEO ), AIA Arena	REC 2019
17th Mar 2019	10:33	Spain	H	Cologne , Sportpark Höhenberg	REC 2019
June 15, 2019	32:37	Portugal	H	Frankfurt am Main , sports facility on Feldgerichtstrasse	REC 2019 Barrage
0Nov 2, 2019	35:15	Poland	A.	Łódź	RET 2020
23 Nov 2019	7:37	Netherlands	H	Heidelberg	RET 2020
Feb 29, 2020	:	Switzerland	H		RET 2020
21 Mar 2020	:	Lithuania	H		RET 2020
17th May 2020	:	Ukraine	A.		RET 2020

Legend:

• A = away game
• H = home game
• * = Play on a neutral place
• green background color = victory of the German team
• yellow background color = tie
• red background color = defeat of the German team

Squad

The following players make up the squad for the 2020 European Rugby Union Championship :

player	position	society
Marcel Becker	hooker	SC Frankfurt 1880
Mark Fairhurst	hooker	TSV Handschuhsheim
Elmar Heimpel	hooker	RG Heidelberg
Paul Schüle	hooker	TSV Handschuhsheim
Marcus Bender	pier	TSV Handschuhsheim
Antony Dickinson	pier	RG Heidelberg
Samy Füchsel	pier	SC Frankfurt 1880
Felix Martel	pier	TSV Handschuhsheim
Jörn Schröder	pier	Heidelberg RK
Paul Weiss	pier	SC Neuenheim
Marcel Henn	Second row striker	SC Frankfurt 1880
Michel Himmer	Second row striker	Atlantique Stade Rochelais
Maximilian Kopp	Second row striker	Hanover 78
Robert Lehmann	Second row striker	SC Neuenheim
Eric Marks	Second row striker	RC Vannes
Hassan Rayan	Second row striker	SC Frankfurt 1880
Tim Schiffers	Second row striker	RG Heidelberg
Mick Burisch	Third row striker	SC Neuenheim
Carsten Lang	Third row striker	RG Heidelberg
Justin Renc	Third row striker	Hanover 78
Nicolas Rinklin	Third row striker	SC Neuenheim
Emil Rupf	Third row striker	SC Frankfurt 1880
Felix Schippe	Third row striker	Hanover 78
Johannes Schreieck	Third row striker	RG Heidelberg
Chris Umeh	Third row striker	Berlin RC
Leonard Becker	Half of the crowd	SC Neuenheim
Pierre Mathurin	Half of the crowd	Heidelberg RK
Tim Menzel	Half of the crowd	Rennes Étudiants Club Rugby
Daniel Windolf	Half of the crowd	Hanover 78
Lukas Deichmann	Interconnects	SC Frankfurt 1880
Leon Hees	Interconnects	RK Heusenstamm
Nikolai Klewinghaus	Interconnects	TSV Handschuhsheim
Daniel Koch	Interconnects	SC Germania List
Pascal Fischer	Inner three quarters	Hanover 78
Jarrod Saul	Inner three quarters	Hanover 78
Emil Schäfer	Inner three quarters	TSV Handschuhsheim
Luke Wakefield	Inner three quarters	SC Neuenheim
Nico Windemuth	Inner three quarters	SC Germania List
Anton Gleitze	Outer three-quarters	Berlin RC
Philipp Gleitze	Outer three-quarters	Berlin RC
Zinzan Hees	Outer three-quarters	RK Heusenstamm
Felix Lammers	Outer three-quarters	Heidelberg RK
Onisimo Seramaia	Outer three-quarters	TSV 1846 Nuremberg
Joshua bag	Outer three-quarters	SC Neuenheim
Niklas Hohl	Goalkeeper	Heidelberg RK
Benedikt Müssig	Goalkeeper	TSV Handschuhsheim
Oliver Paine	Goalkeeper	SC Neuenheim

Organizational matters

Game clothes and shirt colors

As can be seen from the photos, the German team competed in white jerseys, white shorts and blue stockings / socks from their first international match in 1927 until (at least) the end of the 1980s. In the 1990s, colors like those used in other sports (e.g. football, ice hockey) were introduced: white jersey (with black, red and gold chest band), black trousers, red stockings. This clothing was also used by the women's national team. At the end of the 1990s there was a yellow jersey (with a black and red chest band), plus black trousers and red or black stockings (these with a yellow upper edge).

WILD Rugby Academy

The WILD Rugby Academy (WRA), a foundation founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Dr. Hans-Peter Wild , as a premium partner of the German Rugby Association and was therefore the most important partner of the DRV. The WRA, under the direction of ex-national player Robert Mohr , supported the 15 and 7 men’s national teams both organizationally and financially and played a key role in the upswing of the DRV selection teams. In addition to the two national coaches Kobus Potgieter and Pieter Jordaan, the WRA has also provided the national teams with optimal training opportunities all year round since the completion of the ultra-modern artificial turf field at the Heidelberg RK . In addition, the financial commitment of the WILD Rugby Academy enabled several important preparatory measures for the European Nations Cup , including the successful Brazil tour in November 2015, during which the national team of 15 climbed to 26th place in the world after two clear victories over Brazil. After victories over Uruguay, Romania, Belgium and Kenya, Germany even climbed to number 23 in the world in the summer of 2017. The contractually agreed cooperation between the WILD Rugby Academy - Foundation for the Promotion of Rugby Sport and the DRV ended in August 2017 and was not extended.

Fan club

On May 10, 2013, the non-profit association "Friends of the German National Rugby Team" was founded in the German Rugby Sports Museum in Heidelberg and a three-person board was elected. The club supports the sporting activities of the national teams (men, U-23 and U-19) of the German Rugby Association in non-Olympic rugby fifteen in a variety of ways. It collects funds through membership fees, donations and the support of sponsors and thus contributes to the financing of these teams, which are involved in the competitions of the European Rugby Federation Rugby Europe and the World Rugby Federation .

Balance sheets

International match records

As of March 25, 2019

country	Games	Won	Lost	draw
Andorra	1	1	0	0
Belgium	30th	20th	9	1
Brazil	5	5	0	0
Bulgaria	1	1	0	0
Chile	1	1	0	0
Denmark	9	8th	1	0
France	42	2	39	1
Georgia	8th	0	8th	0
Hong Kong	3	3	0	0
Italy	20th	4th	15th	1
Canada	1	0	1	0
Kenya	2	2	0	0
Croatia	3	1	1	1
Latvia	2	2	0	0
Lithuania	1	1	0	0
Luxembourg	2	2	0	0
Malta	1	1	0	0
Morocco	10	3	7th	0
Moldova	7th	4th	3	0
Namibia	3	0	3	0
Netherlands	40	28	11	1
Austria	1	1	0	0
Poland	17th	8th	9	0
Portugal	11	5	6th	0
Romania	20th	5	15th	0
Russia	16	1	15th	0
Samoa	3	0	3	0
Sweden	10	7th	3	0
Switzerland	7th	7th	0	0
Serbia	7th	6th	0	1
Spain	24	8th	14th	2
Czech Republic	23	12	10	1
Tunisia	4th	2	2	0
Ukraine	8th	5	2	1
Uruguay	1	1	0	0
United States	1	0	1	0
total	327	148	167	12

Remarks

1. ↑ including the Soviet Union
2. ↑ including Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro
3. ↑ including Czechoslovakia

Participation in the Olympic Games

15-a-side rugby was only Olympic four times. In the first tournament, the German selection came second.

year	venue	Participation until ...	space
1900	Paris	Placement game	2nd place
1908	London	no participation	-
1920	Antwerp	no participation	-
1924	Paris	no participation	-

Participation in world championships

Germany in a qualifying match against Belgium for the 2007 World Cup

Germany has never qualified for the Rugby Union World Cup.

year	Host country	Qualification until ...	space
1987	Australia and New Zealand	no participation	-
1991	England	1st qualifying round	-
1995	South Africa	2nd qualifying round	-
1999	Wales	2nd qualifying round	-
2003	Australia	2nd qualifying round	-
2007	France	3rd qualifying round	-
2011	New Zealand	5th qualifying round	-
2015	England	6th qualifying round	-
2019	Japan	Repechage	-

Participation in European championships

The German team has been participating in the Rugby Union European Championship since the competition was founded, mostly in the second division. At the end of the 2006–2008 season, Germany rose again to the top division and then immediately back down. She played in the 2012-2014 season in Division 1B of the European Nations Cup and was the first in the group to be promoted to the highest possible division.

year	Surname	division	Participation until ...	space
1952	European Cup	-	Preliminary round	3rd place
1954	European Cup	-	Semifinals	4th Place
1965/66	Nations cup	1st division	-	4th Place
1966/67	Nations cup	-	no participation	-
1967/68	Nations cup	1st division	-	4th Place
1968/69	Nations cup	1st division	-	4th Place
1969/70	Nations cup	-	no participation	-
1970/71	Nations cup	-	no participation	-
1971/72	Nations cup	-	no participation	-
1972/73	Nations cup	-	no participation	-
1973/74	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	(2) 3rd place
1974/75	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	(2) 3rd place
1975/76	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1976/77	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	(2) 4th place
1977/78	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1978/79	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1979/80	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	(2) 4th place
1980/81	FIRA European Championship	1st division	-	5th place
1981/82	FIRA European Championship	1st division	-	6th place
1982/83	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1983/84	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	(2) 3rd place
1984/85	FIRA European Championship	3rd division	-	(3) 3rd place
1985-87	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1987-89	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1989/90	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1990-92	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	no placement
1992-94	FIRA European Championship	1st division	-	6th place
1995-97	FIRA European Championship	2nd division	-	(2) 3rd place
2000	European Nations Cup	2nd division	-	(2) 5th place
2001	European Nations Cup	2nd division	-	(2) 3rd place
2002-04	European Nations Cup	2nd division	-	(2) 2nd place
2006-08	European Nations Cup	Division 2A	-	(2A) 1st place
2008-10	European Nations Cup	1st division	-	6th place
2010-12	European Nations Cup	Division 1B	-	(1B) 4th place
2012-14	European Nations Cup	Division 1B	-	(1B) 1st place
2014-2016	European Nations Cup	Division 1A	-	5th place
2016/17	Rugby Europe International Championships	Rugby Europe Championship	-	5th place
2017/18	Rugby Europe International Championships	Rugby Europe Championship	-	3rd place
2018/19	Rugby Europe International Championships	Rugby Europe Championship	-	6th place

1st division

1965/66, 1967–1969, 1981–1983, 1992–1995, 2008–2010, 2014–2019

1B division

2010-2014

2nd division

1966/67, 1969-1981, 1983/84, 1985-1992, 1995-2008

3rd division

1984/85

Individual evidence

1. ^ World Rugby Rankings. world.rugby, February 4, 2020, accessed November 26, 2019 . 
2. ↑ The German national rugby team is on strike In: Die Welt , November 22, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2018.
3. ↑ If necessary by train to Russia In: Offenbach-Post , November 27, 2017, accessed on November 7, 2018.
4. ↑ Russia handed World Cup place as Romania penalized for ineligible player . Published in The Guardian on May 15, 2018 . Accessed May 16, 2018.
5. ^ "No idea about this sport" In: Spiegel Online , June 26, 2018, accessed on November 7, 2018.
6. ↑ DRV: The coaching team is complete again . In: TotalRugby.de , May 1, 2013. Accessed August 12, 2013.
7. ↑ Jens Beeskow: NEW TRAINER TEAM FOR THE BLACK EAGLES. Retrieved May 15, 2020 . 
8. ↑ Jens Beeskow: 15-men: New start with a young team In: DRV website, October 1, 2019, accessed on November 25, 2019.
9. ↑ Premium sponsor: WILD Rugby Academy supports men's national teams from the DRV . In: totalrugby.de , September 16, 2004. Accessed December 31, 2015.
10. ^ Friends of the German national rugby team founded ( Memento from April 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: scrum.de , June 22, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2014.

swell

• Claus-Peter Bach (Ed.): 100 Years of the German Rugby Association . Without publisher information; probably: Gehrden-Leveste (Schroeder-Verlag), 2000. (Statistics and trainer until 1999).

Web links

Commons : German Rugby Union National Team  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• TotalRugby.de rugby community with extensive statistics on national teams and players
• German Rugby Association
• Statistics from Germany at rugbydata.com
• Germany on worldrugby.org