2014–15 Rugby-Bundesliga

2014–15 Rugby-Bundesliga
Countries	Germany
Champions	tbd
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

The 2014–15 Rugby-Bundesliga is the 44th edition of this competition and the 95th edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, twenty-one teams played in, initially, four regional divisions, the first stage of the competition, followed by a championship round of sixteen clubs and, finally, the play-offs consisting of twelve teams. The season started on 30 August 2014 and will finish with the championship final on 16 May 2015 in Heidelberg, interrupted by a winter break from December to late February. Nominally the league should consist of twenty-four teams however only twenty-one fulfilled the licencing requirements for 2014–15.^[1]

The defending champions are Heidelberger RK who defeated TV Pforzheim in the 2014 final to take out its tenth championship and fifth in a row. Heidelberger RK remained unbeaten throughout the 2013–14 regular season, as it had been all throughout the 2012–13 Rugby-Bundesliga season, having last lost in the Bundesliga on 1 November 2011, when HRK was beaten 26–24 by TV Pforzheim.

Overview

The league saw only minor changes compare to the previous season, having played at full strength of 24 clubs in 2013–14 instead of only 21 in 2014–15. The 08 Ricklingen/Wunstorf withdrew from the league during the 2013–14 season, while TuS 95 Düsseldorf, RC Mainz, Veltener RC and USV Potsdam Rugby were relegated from the competition. New in the league were RU Hohen Neuendorf and SG Siemensstadt/Grizzlies.

The first stage of the competition, the Vorrunde, nominally saw four six-team groupes in which each team played the other five just once, however the western group played with only four temas and the northern group with only five. This stage finished in late September after which the second stage started, the Qualifikationsphase, in which the top teams each from the southern and the western group play each other in one group while the top teams from the north and east play each other in another. The fourth placed team from each division would play the fifth placed in the opposite group to determine the last two places in the second round. The five teams not qualified for the Qualifikationsphase entered the DRV-Pokal, the German rugby union cup, together with the top eight teams of the 2. Bundesliga. The 2. Bundesliga teams not qualified for the DRV-Pokal in turn played for the Liga Pokal.

In the second stage the teams within a group would play each other in a home-and-away format, with the teams that already played each other in the first stage carrying over those results. Of the sixteen clubs the best six in each group now qualified for the knock-out stage. The knock-out stage was played in a single-game format with the higher seeded team enjoying home advantage and the winner advancing to the next round.

Bundesliga tables & results

First stage

In the first stage twenty-one clubs played in four groups. Within each group each team played the other just once. The best three teams advanced directly to the second stage while the teams placed fourth and fifth had to play a qualifying decider.

North

The division table:^[2][3]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	DSV 78 Hannover	4	4	0	0	193	35	158	4	20
2	SC Germania List	4	2	0	2	165	79	86	5	13
3	FC St. Pauli Rugby	4	2	0	2	75	137	–62	1	9
4	Hamburger RC	4	1	0	3	57	136	–79	1	5
5	TSV Victoria Linden	4	1	0	3	54	157	–103	0	4

• Relegated: tbd
• Promoted: tbd

East

The division table:^[2][4]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	RK 03 Berlin	5	5	0	0	286	32	254	4	24
2	Berliner Rugby Club	5	4	0	1	164	29	135	5	21
3	SG Siemensstadt/Grizzlies	5	3	0	2	118	123	–5	2	10
4	RU Hohen Neuendorf	5	2	0	3	87	146	–59	2	10
5	Berliner SV 92 Rugby	5	1	0	4	43	256	–213	0	4
6	RC Leipzig	5	0	0	5	57	169	–112	1	1

• Relegated: tbd
• Promoted: tbd

West

The division table:^[2][5]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	RK Heusenstamm	3	3	0	0	159	20	139	3	15
2	SC 1880 Frankfurt	3	2	0	1	101	64	37	2	10
3	ASV Köln Rugby	3	1	0	2	28	98	–71	0	4
4	RC Aachen	3	0	0	3	25	131	–106	0	0

• Relegated: tbd
• Promoted: tbd

South

The division table:^[2][6]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	Heidelberger RK	5	5	0	0	346	8	338	5	25
2	TV Pforzheim	5	4	0	1	291	90	201	4	18
3	RG Heidelberg	5	3	0	2	97	166	–69	2	14
4	SC Neuenheim	5	2	0	3	122	127	–5	2	10
5	TSV Handschuhsheim	5	1	0	4	57	198	–141	1	5
6	Heidelberger TV	5	0	0	5	28	352	–324	0	–4

• Relegated: tbd
• Promoted: tbd
• SG Siemensstadt/Grizzlies and Heidelberger TV deducted four points, TV Pforzheim deducted two points for lack of mandatory youth program.^[7]

Qualifying matches

Three qualifying matches were held to determined the last three clubs to enter the second stage. Nominally the fourth placed club in the southern division played the fifth placed team in the western division and the fourth placed western club the fifth placed southern team. However, as the western division had only four clubs the fourth placed team in the south received a bye and direct entry into the championship round. The same system applied to the northern and eastern division where the league strength required both games to take place. The winners of the three games advanced to the second stage while the losers had to enter the DRV-Pokal.

North-East

South-West

Second stage

In the second stage sixteen clubs played in two groups of eight clubs each. Within each group each team played the others home and away except for the match-ups that already had been played in the first round. The results of those were carried over. The best six teams in each group qualified for the play-offs and were seeded according to the final standings. The second round concluded on 18 April 2015 and was followed by the play-offs.

North-East

The division table:^[8][9]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	DSV 78 Hannover	12	12	0	0	703	94	609	12	60
2	RK 03 Berlin	12	9	0	3	437	193	244	7	43
3	SC Germania List	12	7	0	5	346	281	65	11	39
4	Berliner Rugby Club	12	6	0	6	260	280	-20	8	32
5	Hamburger RC	12	5	0	7	200	371	-171	2	22
6	FC St. Pauli Rugby	12	3	0	9	179	418	-239	1	13
7	RU Hohen Neuendorf	12	0	0	12	76	564	-488	1	1

• SG Siemensstadt/Grizzlies failed to field in two consecutive games and was removed from the competition in April 2015.^[10]

South-West

The division table:^[11][9]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	Heidelberger RK	14	14	0	0	1,038	93	945	14	70
2	TV Pforzheim	14	12	0	2	800	203	597	13	59
3	SC Neuenheim	14	9	0	5	374	284	90	5	41
4	RG Heidelberg	14	8	0	6	343	397	-54	6	38
5	TSV Handschuhsheim	14	5	0	9	203	445	-242	5	25
6	RK Heusenstamm	14	4	0	10	322	454	-132	8	24
7	SC 1880 Frankfurt	14	4	0	10	193	634	-441	4	20
8	ASV Köln Rugby	14	0	0	14	95	858	-763	0	0

• TV Pforzheim deducted two points.

Play-off stage

In the play-offs the twelve qualified teams played four rounds. The best two clubs in each division receive a bye for the first round and enter in the quarter finals stage. The first round was played on 25 April. The quarter finals will be held on 2 May. The semi finals will be held on 9 May and the final on 16 May:^[12]

First Round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Hanover, 2 May

Heidelberg, 25 April

DSV 78 Hannover

SC Neuenheim

83

9 May

SC Neuenheim

Hamburger RC

3

Pforzheim, 2 May

Berlin, 25 April

TV Pforzheim

Berliner Rugby Club

0

Heidelberg, 16 May

RK Heusenstamm

RK Heusenstamm

49

Heidelberg, 2 May

Hanover, 25 April

Heidelberger RK

SC Germania List

20

9 May

TSV Handschuhsheim

TSV Handschuhsheim

24

Berlin, 2 May

Heidelberg, 25 April

RK 03 Berlin

RG Heidelberg

78

RG Heidelberg

FC St. Pauli Rugby

0

DRV-Pokal tables & results

The five worst clubs in the first stage of the Bundesliga entered the DRV-Pokal for 2014–15, together with the eight best clubs from the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga. The DRV-Pokal ranks as a second tier to the German championship but also functioned as a qualifying competition for the 2015–16 Rugby-Bundesliga. The modus for the DRV-Pokal was the same as for the German championship, with a second stage with two divisions of, nominally, eight teams, followed by the play-offs made up of the best twelve teams, with the top two in each division receiving a bye for the first round.

Group stage

North-East

The division table:^[13]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	RC Leipzig‡	12	10	1	1	524	146	378	11	53
2	DSV 78 Hannover II	12	9	0	3	424	140	284	7	43
3	TSV Victoria Linden‡	12	8	1	3	332	189	143	8	42
4	Berliner SV 92 Rugby‡	12	5	0	7	189	434	-245	3	23
5	Veltener RC	12	4	0	8	201	342	–141	5	21
6	Bremen 1860	12	4	0	8	245	285	–40	4	20
7	Berliner Rugby Club II	12	1	0	11	91	470	–379	1	3

• Berliner Rugby Club II two points deducted.

South-West

The division table:^[14]

	Club	Played	W	D	L	PF	PA	Diff	BP	Points
1	Heidelberger TV‡	10	9	0	1	388	105	283	8	40
2	RC Rottweil	10	8	0	2	260	79	181	6	38
3	RC Luxembourg	10	5	0	5	178	228	-50	3	23
4	RC Aachen‡	10	3	1	6	208	215	-7	5	19
5	StuSta München	10	3	1	6	203	254	-51	2	16
6	TGS Hausen	10	1	0	9	93	449	-356	1	1

• ^‡ Denotes 2014–15 Bundesliga club.
• Heidelberger TV and TGS Hausen deducted four points.

Play-off stage

The 2014–15 final will be played on 23 May 2014 in Heidelberg. The play-offs for the DRV-Pokal started on 25 April 2015:^[15]

First Round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Leipzig, 2 May

Luxembourg, 25 April

RC Leipzig

RC Luxembourg

50

RC Luxembourg

Veltener RC

0

Rottweil, 2 May

Berlin, 25 April

RC Rottweil

Berliner SV 92 Rugby

40

Berliner SV 92 Rugby

TGS Hausen

15

Hanover, 2 May

Aachen, 25 April

DSV 78 Hannover II

RC Aachen

38

RC Aachen

Bremen 1860

10

Heidelberg, 2 May

Hanover, 25 April

Heidelberger TV

TSV Victoria Linden

10

StuSta München

StuSta München

17

• Veltener RC did not field against RC Luxembourg, game awarded to Luxembourg.

References

External links

• rugbyweb.de - Rugby-Bundesliga table & results (German)
• Totalrugby.de - Bundesliga table & results (German)
• Rugby-Bundesliga at scoresway.com

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