German sevens national rugby team

Germany
Nickname (s)	Wolfpack
Association	German Rugby Association (DRV)
Trainer	Damian McGrath
captain	Sam Rainger
home	Away

The German sevens national rugby team at the Oktoberfest Sevens in Munich 2017

National coach Vuyo Zangqa 2017

The German national rugby team of seven represents as a selection team of the German Rugby Association (DRV) on an international level Germany in the Olympic sevens rugby . The greatest success of the German national team is winning the 2019 European Championship .

history

The German national rugby team of seven was formed at the end of the 1980s, after the sevens rugby became increasingly popular within rugby . Germany finally gained its first match practice at various invitation tournaments. The DRV's selection won the bowl final against Thailand when they first took part in the renowned Hong Kong Sevens in 1990 .

Germany could not qualify for the first World Cup in 1992 . At the associated qualification tournament in Catania , Italy , the national team was eliminated after the third group stage. At the qualifying tournament for the 1997 World Cup , Germany advanced to the plate final . A win there would have meant the first participation in a world championship, but the DRV's selection was defeated by Argentina in the end .

In 2000, the national team took part in two stations of the new World Rugby Sevens Series . At the Punta del Este Sevens , she finished last in her group in the preliminary round. After victories over the USA and Spain , she reached the bowl final , which she lost to France . At the Mar del Plata Sevens , the German selection was able to win a game in the preliminary round for the first time, but this time the bowl semi-final against Chile was over .

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the German Rugby Association , one of the European qualifying tournaments for the 2001 World Cup was held in Heidelberg . There, however, the team retired after the group stage in second behind Ireland .

The European Championship was held for the first time in 2002, and the venue was Heidelberg. Germany fared significantly better than in the past for the national team and reached third place at the end of the tournament, which should remain the best placement for 16 years. In 2006 and 2010, the national team failed to qualify for the final round of the European Championship. After the reorganization of the European Championship into several divisions in 2011, the selection of the DRV initially took part in the second division, but was able to secure promotion with first place. Since then Germany has been part of the first division without interruption.

With the inclusion of rugby seven in the 2016 Summer Olympics , the development of the German national team was promoted significantly more. The consequences were more match practice and participation in international tournaments, as well as training at the highest level. At the Olympic qualifying tournament, Germany finally reached the semi-finals, but was eliminated there against Samoa .

The success of the stronger funding came in 2019. Germany became European champions in rugby seven for the first time. With the tournament victory at the second tournament of the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series in Łódź , Poland , the national team around national coach Vuyo Zangqa also secured a ticket for the World Rugby Challenger Series . Germany finally won the 2020 tournament in Viña del Mar , Chile, in the final against a selection from Hong Kong . Japan won the entire Challenger Series after the qualifying tournament in Hong Kong had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The world federation also decided that there would be no relegation for the following season and declared Japan the only promoted team.

The long-term goal of the national team is a permanent place in the Sevens World Series and a qualification for the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024 . For this, the coach Damian McGrath was won in autumn 2019 after Vuyo Zangqa had given up the coaching office for personal reasons.

Current

International matches

Squad

The following players formed the squad in Łódź for the European Rugby Seven Championship 2018:

player	position	society
Anjo Buckman	striker	Germany TSV Handschuhsheim
Max Calitz	striker	without a club
Jonathon Dawe	striker	Wales Bridgend Ravens
Bastian Himmer	striker	Germany RG Heidelberg
Onisimo Seremaia	striker	Germany TSV 1846 Nuremberg
Ben Ellermann	Back team	Germany FC St. Pauli
Robert Haase	Back team	Germany TGS Hausen
Tim Lichtenberg	Back team	Germany RG Heidelberg
Morne Laubscher	Back team	Germany RSV Cologne
Andrew Nurse	Back team	Wales Cardiff University
Sam Rainger	Back team	Germany RK Heusenstamm
Phil Szczesny	Back team	Germany Hanover 78

Organizational matters

Support of the squad athletes

Sports promotion group of the Bundeswehr

A total of eight male rugby players from the German Rugby Association serve in the sports promotion group of the Bundeswehr and are therefore professional players in the Olympic 7-man variant.

Study funding from Deutsche Bank and Sporthilfe

25 male athletes in Olympic 7-a-side rugby have been supported by the Deutsche Sporthilfe Foundation since 2014 with a monthly funding amount of € 200 (B-team) to € 300 (A-team). But since Sporthilfe is particularly interested in promoting the dual career of young athletes and the compatibility of competitive sport and studies is not easy, all students (from the 3rd semester) are also supported by the Deutsche Bank sports scholarship .

Balance sheets

European championships

year	place	division	space
2002	Heidelberg	-	3.
2003	Heidelberg	-	4th
2004	Palma	-	15th
2005	Moscow	-	6th
2006	Moscow	-	not qualified
2007	Moscow	-	10.
2008	Hanover	-	7th
2009	Hanover	-	9.
2010	Moscow	-	not qualified
2011	Gdansk , Heidelberg	2nd division	(2) 1.
2012	Lyon, Moscow, Odense	1st division	11.
2013	Lyon, Bucharest	1st division	11.
2014	Lyon, Moscow, Manchester , Bucharest	1st division	10.
2015	Moscow, Lyon, Exeter	1st division	5.
2016	Moscow, Exeter, Gdynia	1st division	4th
2017	Moscow, Lodz , Clermont-Ferrand , Exeter	1st division	5.
2018	Moscow, Marcoussis , Exeter, Lodz	1st division	2.
2019	Moscow, Lodz	division	1.

Individual evidence

↑ Past Champions at: hksevens.com, accessed on February 13, 2019 (English).
↑ IRB Sevens I Punta del Este, Uruguay. on rugby7.com, accessed February 13, 2019.
↑ Maximilian Kalkhof: The Return of Rugby In: Spiegel Online , August 5, 2016, accessed on February 13, 2019.
↑ The return of rugby rugby.de , July 21, 2019, accessed on September 10, 2019.
↑ Total Rugby - Sevens World Series: World Rugby declares Japan to be promoted, Wolfpack missed promotion. Retrieved July 14, 2020 .
^ 7 rugby: Englishman McGrath new national coach. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .
↑ Jens Beeskow: Some surprises in the GPS roster for Lodz (POL) In: DRV website, September 1, 2018, accessed on February 7, 2019.
↑ DRV 7s: Sporthilfe and Deutsche Bank improve student funding ”. In: TotalRugby.de , January 6, 2015. Accessed February 20, 2015.

[1] Past Champions at: hksevens.com, accessed on February 13, 2019 (English).

[2] IRB Sevens I Punta del Este, Uruguay. on rugby7.com, accessed February 13, 2019.

[3] Maximilian Kalkhof: The Return of Rugby In: Spiegel Online , August 5, 2016, accessed on February 13, 2019.

[4] The return of rugby rugby.de , July 21, 2019, accessed on September 10, 2019.

[5] Total Rugby - Sevens World Series: World Rugby declares Japan to be promoted, Wolfpack missed promotion. Retrieved July 14, 2020 .

[6] 7 rugby: Englishman McGrath new national coach. Retrieved May 15, 2020 .

[7] Jens Beeskow: Some surprises in the GPS roster for Lodz (POL) In: DRV website, September 1, 2018, accessed on February 7, 2019.

[8] DRV 7s: Sporthilfe and Deutsche Bank improve student funding ”. In: TotalRugby.de , January 6, 2015. Accessed February 20, 2015.