Germany at the 2010–12 European Nations Cup

Germany
2010-12 season
Head coach Torsten Schippe
Chairman Claus-Peter Bach (-July 2011)
Ralph Götz (July 2011-)
ENC First Division-B ongoing
Top try scorer League: Jordaan (3)
All: Jordaan (3)
Top points scorer League: Heimpel (41)
All: Heimpel (60)

Germany at the 2010–12 European Nations Cup sees a return of the German national rugby union team to the ENC Second Division, having been relegated without a win from the First Division in 2008–10. The renaming of division within the ENC however meant, that the former Second Division is now named First Division B.

Germany will face Belgium, Czech Republic, Moldova, Poland and the Netherlands in a competition that has been enlarged from five to six teams.[1] Germany kicked-off its campaign on 20 November 2010, when they played and lost to Poland in Frankfurt am Main, followed by a game against the Netherlands a week later in Amsterdam. The next matches were then played in March and April 2011, when Germany met the remaining three teams.[2] Germany's first game of the autumn campaign in 2011 was against the Netherlands on 12 November 2011. Its next game is away against Czech Republic on 10 March 2012.

Germany also played, like in the previous year, a friendly against Hong Kong, on 11 December 2010 at Heidelberg.[3]

Contents

Games

Germany suffered a defeat in its opening game of the 2010–2012 European Nations Cup First Division, losing to Poland 17-22 after leading 17-9 at half time. The defeat was seen as unnecessary by the President of the German Rugby Federation, Claus-Peter Bach, but he also considered Poland's victory as deserved. Germany went into the match with a new coach and assistant, a new captain, Alexander Widiker and five uncapped players.[4]

Germany finally achieved its first win in the ENC since 26 April 2008, when it beat the Netherlands in Amsterdam on 27 November 2010. Its last victory in the European competition had come at the same place against the same opposition, just over 31 month earlier.[5] It also won the following game, a friendly against Hong Kong, cementing its position as No 30 in the rugby world ranking.[6] A loss in this game could have meant for Germany a drop as far as to position 37 in the ranking, instead, the country managed to cut down its deficit to 29th placed Ukraine.[7]

Germany began its 2011 spring campaign with an unofficial friendly[8] against a New Zealand Ambassadors XV, made up almost exclusevly of players from New Zealand which are active in Germany and the Netherlands. The New Zealand embassy in Germany donated a cup for this match, the Ambassadors Cup.[9]

The first competitive game of 2011, against the Czech Republic in Heidelberg, brought a disappointing 23-29 defeat for the German team. Germany lost the game in the first half, after which the Czech Republic lead 26-13.[10]

The German team continued its 2011 campaign with a third defeat in the third game, against Belgium in Brussels. Belgium lead 28-13 after 59 minutes but Germany clawed back to earn a bonus point in its 25-28 defeat.[11] The fifth game of Germany's ENC campaign also ended in defeat, this time in Moldova, ending all German hopes for promotion and instead condeming the team to struggle against relegation.[12]

In an attempt to improve the performance of the team it was decided to have weekly training sesions for the members of the national team, held at different locations.[13] Germany started with an improved performance in its 2011 autumn campaign, defeating the New Zealand Ambassadors XV 19–17 despite fielding a number of uncapped players, a side it had lost to 19–43 eight month earlier.[14]

The German team nominated eight new, uncapped players for the encounter against the Netherlands on 12 November 2011,[15] which the team won 23–7, thereby making a major step torwards avoiding relegation.[16]

In its second game of the 2011 autumn campaign, away against Poland, Germany took an 8–0 lead after 14 minutes but did not score another point after that. Poland scored 34 points after that of which 26 were scored by the Polish No 15, David Chartier.[17]

Management & coaching

After the resignation of Rudolf Finsterer after the final game of the 2008-10 campaign, Bruno Stolorz, under the supervision of Peter Ianusevici, Germany's Director of Rugby, remained in charge of the German team. A final decision on the position was scheduled to be made in a meeting of board of the German Rugby Federation in May 2010 in Hanover.[18] However, no new German coach was announced until July 2010. On 11 July 2010, Torsten Schippe was introduced as the new German coach,[2] with South African Jakobus Potgieter as Schippes assistant.[19] Schippe had been coach of Germany once before, leading the team from 2000 to 2001.

Mustafa Güngör, who served as the captain of the German team since December 2009[20] was replaced by Alexander Widiker before the first match of the campaign. Pieter Jordaan was also confirmed as the new vice-captain of the German team.[4]

Debuts and retirements

Four players made their debut in Germany's first game of the campaign, against Poland, those being Arthur Zeiler, Sven Wetzel, Tim Menzel and James Keinhorst. Two more uncapped players, vice-captain Pieter Jordaan, who missed the game due to injury but hoped to play in the following game against the Netherlands and Dustin Eaton, who was part of the wider squad but not selected for the game, were originally also part of the squad.[4]

With Jordaan in the starting line-up against the Netherlands as well as Sam Henderson, Germany fielded two more debutants in its second ENC game. Jordaan however was injured just before kick-off, during the warm-up, and had to be substituted. Nico Kanning was part of the squad as a substitute, being the third uncapped player in the line-up, and was substituted in during the game, receiving his first cap.[21]

In the friendly against Hong Kong, Bastian Himmer made his debut and scored his first international try, while another debutant, Jannis Läpple, came on as a substitute.

Daniel Armitage made his debut for Germany against the Czech Republic in the first competitive game of 2011.

After a number of failed attempts, Pieter Jordaan finally made his debut for Germany against Belgium, where he scored two tries but was unable to prevent another defeat.[11] In the game against Moldova, Gilles Valette and Felix Bayer made their debut for Germany.[12]

For its first game of the return round of the ENC in November 2011 against the Netherlands, Germany nominated eight uncapped players, those being Rob May, Sean Armstrong, Callum Sauer, Olivier Galli, Raynor Parkinson, Guillaume Kasdorf, Mika Tyumenev und Stéphane Kohler.[22] Of those, Kohler, Sauer, May, Armstrong, Parkinson and Galli were in the starting line-up while Kasdorf and Tyumenev were not fielded in the game.[16]

Mika Tyumenev and Carlos Soteras-Merz made their debuet for Germany against Poland in November 2011.[17]

Table

The table as of 28 November 2011:

Place Nation Games Points Table
points
played won drawn lost for against difference
1  Poland 8 5 1 2 193 150 +43 25
2  Moldova 7 5 1 1 145 114 +31 24
3  Belgium 6 5 0 1 178 88 +90 23
4  Czech Republic 9 4 0 5 143 197 -54 19
5  Germany 7 2 0 5 140 158 -18 11
6  Netherlands 7 0 0 7 91 183 -92 1

Games

Friendlies

The two games against the New Zealand Ambassadors XV are not official international tests, no caps were awarded and matches were not counted in statistics[8]

ENC matches

Player statistics

Squad

The following players are part of the German team during its 2010-12 campaign:[23][24]

Backs
Player
Position Club
Mustafa Güngör Scrum-half RG Heidelberg (2010–11)
TV Pforzheim (2011–12)
Tim Menzel Scrum-half US Colomiers (2010–11)
TSV Handschuhsheim (2011–12)
Raphael Pyrasch Scrum-half Heidelberger RK
Sean Armstrong Scrum-half Heidelberger RK
Kieron Davies Fly-half Luton RFC
Fabian Heimpel Fly-half RG Heidelberg
Raynor Parkinson Fly-half RC Hilversum
Benjamin Simm Centre DSV 78 Hannover
Clemens von Grumbkow Centre Cavalieri Prato
Gilles Pagnon Centre RC Draguignan
Pieter Jordaan Centre Heidelberger RK
Anjo Buckman Centre Heidelberger RK
Olivier Galli Centre RC Orleans
Carlos Soteras Merz Centre TV Pforzheim
Marten Strauch Wing SC Neuenheim
Steffen Liebig Wing Heidelberger RK
James Keinhorst Wing Otley R.U.F.C.
Mark Sztyndera Wing SC 1880 Frankfurt
Guillaume Franke Wing RC Orléans
Bastian Himmer Fullback RG Heidelberg
Matthieu Franke Fullback RC Orléans
Forwards
Player
Position Club
Alexander Widiker (c) Hooker Heidelberger RK
Sven Wetzel Hooker TSV Handschuhsheim
Gilles Valette Hooker Cahors Rugby
Mika Tyumenev Hooker DSV 78 Hannover
Benjamin Krause Prop DSV 78 Hannover
Damien Tussac Prop RC Toulon
Arthur Zeiler Prop Heidelberger RK
Patrick Schliwa Prop Heidelberger RK
Nico Kanning Prop AC Bobigny
Felix Bayer Prop TSV Handschuhsheim
Stéphane Kohler Prop CA Lannemezan
Lukas Hinds-Johnson Lock RK 03 Berlin
Michael Poppmeier Lock Amatori Catania
Jens Schmidt Lock TSV Handschuhsheim
Daniel Armitage Lock Heidelberger RK
Jannis Läpple Lock SC 1880 Frankfurt
Benjamin Danso Lock Heidelberger RK
Manuel Wilhelm Lock RG Heidelberg
Kehoma Brenner Flanker Heidelberger RK
Tim Kasten Flanker Heidelberger RK
Alexander Hug Flanker TSV Handschuhsheim
Sam Henderson Flanker SC 1880 Frankfurt
Rob May Flanker TSV Handschuhsheim
Callum Sauer Flanker TV Pforzheim
Alexander Hauck Number eight SC 1880 Frankfurt
Robert Mohr Number eight La Rochelle

Games

The following players have been selected for Germany from 2010 to 2012 in the country's European Nation Cup campaign and in friendlies:

Player Caps 2010 2011 2012
Pol Ned HK Cze Bel Mol Ned Pol Cze Bel Mol TBA TBA
Benjamin Krause 45 17 1 1 16 1 16 1
Alexander Widiker 46 2 (c) 2 (c) 2 (c) 2 (c) 2 (c) 1 (c) 2 (c) 2 (c)
Stéphane Kohler 2 3 3
Robert Mohr 8 4
Callum Sauer 2 4 5
Kehoma Brenner 20 6 6 6 7 6 18 6
Alexander Hauck 12 7 5 7 5 7 7 7
Rob May 2 8 8
Sean Armstrong 2 9 9
Raynor Parkinson 2 10 10
Raphael Pyrasch 11 20 20 21 19 11
Anjo Buckman 6 13 12 21 12 12
Olivier Galli 2 13 13
Bastian Himmer 4 14 22 14 14
Mustafa Güngör 39 9 22 20 15 11 15 15
Patrick Schliwa 5 16 3 3 3 22 16
Mika Tyumenev 1 20 17
Benjamin Danso 15 17 18
Manuel Wilhelm 33 19
Mark Sztyndera 6 21 20
Carlos Soteras-Merz 1 21
Tim Menzel 6 21 9 9 9 9 9 21 22
Arthur Zeiler 7 1 16 16 1 3 16 1
Daniel Armitage 4 4 4 4 5
Tim Kasten 30 8 8 8 8 6 8 6
Matthieu Franke 14 14 11
Pieter Jordaan 3 12 10 12
Gilles Valette 1 2
Felix Bayer 1 3
Alexander Hug 13 6 19 4 18 19 5
Gilles Pagnon 7 12 14 13 13 13
Steffen Liebig 4 22 22 15 22 20 14
Guillaume Franke 3 15 21 15
Sven Wetzel 4 18 17 17 17 16 17
Jannis Läpple 2 19 19 18 18
Lukas Hinds-Johnson 6 19 18 19
Fabian Heimpel 8 10 10 10 10 10 20
Benjamin Simm 21 11 11 13 12 11
Nico Kanning 2 18 17
Marten Strauch 13 14 12 11 11 22
Jens Schmidt 41 4 4 5
Sam Henderson 2 7 7
Michael Poppmeier 5 5
Clemens von Grumbkow 30 13
James Keinhorst 2 15 15
Damien Tussac 5 3
Kieron Davies 34 20

Scorers

As of 12 November 2011

ENC

Try scorers

Tries Name Pld
3 Pieter Jordaan 3
2 Steffen Liebig 2
Alexander Hauck 6
1 Matthieu Franke 3
Guillaume Franke 2
James Keinhorst 2
Bastian Himmer 2
Jens Schmidt 3
Marten Strauch 4
Mustafa Güngör 6
Tim Kasten 6
Alexander Widiker 7

Points scorers

Points Name Pld
41 Fabian Heimpel 5
15 Pieter Jordaan 3
11 Raynor Parkinson 1
10 Steffen Liebig 2
Alexander Hauck 5
9 Mustafa Güngör 5
8 Guillaume Franke 2
5 James Keinhorst 2
Bastian Himmer 2
Matthieu Franke 3
Jens Schmidt 3
Marten Strauch 4
Tim Kasten 6
Alexander Widiker 7

Friendlies

Matches against the New Zealand Ambassadors XV not included

Try scorers

Tries Name Pld
1 Bastian Himmer 1
Benjamin Simm 1
Alexander Widiker 1

Points scorers

Points Name Pld
19 Fabian Heimpel 1
5 Bastian Himmer 1
Benjamin Simm 1
Alexander Widiker 1

References

  1. ^ 2010-12 Schema ENC FIRA-AER website, published: 5 February 2010, accessed: 6 May 2010
  2. ^ a b Torsten Schippe wird Trainer des 15er-Nationalteams (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 11 July 2010, accessed: 26 July 2010
  3. ^ IRB gibt Okay für Spiel gegen Hongkong (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 8 September 2010, accessed: 17 September 2010
  4. ^ a b c DRV XV: Unnötige Auftaktniederlage gegen Polen (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 21 November 2010, accessed: 21 November 2010
  5. ^ DRV XV: Verdienter Sieg in Amsterdam (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 28 November 2010, accessed: 28 November 2010
  6. ^ Deutschland besiegt Hongkong mit 34:13 (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 11 December 2010, accessed: 12 December 2010
  7. ^ Hong Kong aim for big rise in rankings IRB website, published: 10 December 2010, accessed: 12 December 2010
  8. ^ a b Match report Germany vs. New Zealand Ambassadors XV (German) DRV website, accessed: 8 March 2011
  9. ^ International News (German) DRV website, accessed: 15 February 2011
  10. ^ Match report Germany vs. Czech Republic (German) DRV website, accessed: 20 March 2011
  11. ^ a b Match report Belgium vs. Germany (German) DRV website, accessed: 20 March 2011
  12. ^ a b Match report Moldova vs. Germany (German) DRV website, accessed: 2 April 2011
  13. ^ DRV XV: Wöchentliche Trainings für die Nationalmannschaft (German) totalrugby.de, published: 10 August 2011, accessed: 21 August 2011
  14. ^ Testspiel 15er (German) DRV website, published: November 2011, accessed: 9 November 2011
  15. ^ ENC: Kader nominiert (German) DRV website, published: November 2011, accessed: 9 November 2011
  16. ^ a b Germany versus Netherlands game report (German) DRV website, accessed: 12 November 2011
  17. ^ a b Poland versus Germany game report (German) DRV website, accessed: 28 November 2011
  18. ^ Deutschland steigt ab / Finsterer tritt zurück (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 20 March 2010, accessed: 20 March 2010
  19. ^ Kobus Potgieter neuer Co-Trainer der Nationalmannschaft (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 16 July 2010, accessed: 26 July 2010
  20. ^ Güngör neuer Kapitän der National-XV (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 8 December 2009, accessed: 24 March 2010
  21. ^ a b Verdienter Sieg in Amsterdam (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 27 November 2010, accessed: 29 November 2010
  22. ^ Heidelberg - ENC-Heimspiel gegen Niederlande: Nationaltrainer Schippe nominiert acht Neue (German) mrn-news.de, published: 7 November 2011, accessed: 10 November 2011
  23. ^ DRV-Kader für Spiel gegen Polen nominiert (German) Rugby-Journal, published: 19 November 2010, accessed: 21 November 2010
  24. ^ ENC Division 1B 2010-2012 - Mannschaftskader Deutschland (German) totalrugby.de, accessed: 21 November 2010

External links