Rugby league in Germany
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[edit] History
Rugby league was formally introduced into Germany in August 2004 with the formation of Rugby League Deutschland. Prior to that it had been played informally by players from English-speaking associations such as British servicemen and students.The first ever game didn't take place until nearly 12 months later when on the 23rd July the Heidelberg Sharks beat München RLFC 72-64 in a 9 a side game played in Heidelberg. Since then Bad reichenhall have joined as well as a team in Innsbruck joining them. Rugby league is being played in 8 Schools in Germany mainly in the Heidelberg and Heilbronn area.
[edit] Teams and Competitions
There are no domestic competitions, although there are now three established teams;
- München RLFC
- Heidelberg Sharks
- Bad Reichenhall.
An Alpine 9-a-side league is planned for 2006 featuring teams from Germany and Austria.
[edit] Popularity
It was estimated that rugby league has around 100 regular players in Germany.
Internationally, Germany currently plays under a "Germany Development" tag as some of the players are of non-German background but these foreign players are used to help the German players understand and play the game better. Germany Development has played two games so far; losing to a Scotland Under-19 side by 13 points to 28, and a defeat to The Netherlands by 34 points to 28. Matches are scheduled against Estonia in Tallinn and a rematch against The Netherlands in Rotterdam in 2006. The Germans defeated Austria 34-32 in Bad Reichenhall on 25 June 2006. They now play Estonia on the 22 July.
Players who qualify to play for the national team and who have played for the Germany Development team include; Simon Cooper, Danny Stocks, Tillmann Stock, Christian Leitner, Olli Kempkens, Khristian Kleinhorst, Nicolaus Kleinhorst, Marcus Kleinhorst, Yalcin Ferat-Sampan, Carlos Martini, Leo Berngruber, and Daniel Folgmann.
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Rugby League Playing Nations |
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| Oceania |
American Samoa | Australia | Cook Islands | Fiji | New Caledonia | New Zealand | Niue | Papua New Guinea | Samoa | Tokelau | Tonga |
| Asia | |
| Home Nations | |
| Continental Europe |
Austria | Czech Republic | Estonia | France | Germany | Georgia | Greece | Hungary | Latvia | Moldova | Netherlands | Russia | Serbia |
| Africa | |
| Americas | |
| National Teams based in Australia | |
