Heidelberger RK

Heidelberger RK - Rugby
Full name Heidelberger Ruderklub 1872 e.V.
Union German Rugby Federation
Founded 9 May 1872
Location Heidelberg, Germany
Ground(s) Sportgelände an der Speyererstraße (Capacity: 1,500)
Chairman Holger Xandry
Coach(es) Kobus Potgieter
League(s) Rugby-Bundesliga
2015–16 Rugby-Bundesliga South/West, 1st
Team kit
Official website
heidelberger-ruderklub.de

The Heidelberger Ruderklub (Heidelberger RK or HRK for short) is a German rowing club and rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga.

The club is one of only two professional rugby clubs in Germany, the other being SC 1880 Frankfurt. The turn to professionalism in a sport otherwise fully amateur in Germany was made possible through the support of Hans-Peter Wild, who owns a soft drink manufacturing business.[1]

History

The club's origins date back to 1872, when, on 9 May, the Deutschen Flaggen-Club Heidelberg was formed, a rowing club.[2] In the early days, several rowing clubs were formed in Heidelberg and disappeared again, but the remaining ones merged in 1875 to form the Heidelberger Ruderclub, under the leadership of the Flaggen-Club.

The game of rugby was introduced in the club in the early 1890s by Edward Hill Ullrich, who was partly of English descend and had a great love of "English" games, translating the rules of rugby into German. It is from this beginnings that the HRK claims to be the oldest rugby club in Germany. This is true in the sense that it is the oldest rugby-playing club in Germany but other clubs have an older rugby department.

The club had a golden era in the late 1920s, when it reached the German championship final three years in a row, winning the title in 1927 and 1928.

After years of stagnation and a lack of home ground, the HRK formed a youth department and moved to the Sportgelände an der Speyererstraße in 1961, which is still its current home. This development soon bore fruit and the club earned three championships in the 1970s, also qualifying for the new Rugby-Bundesliga in 1971. The club continued to be a force in German rugby well into the 80's, earning its last championship in 1986.

After a period of decline, it found itself in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, where it was promoted from back to the first division in 1997. After a short stint in this league, the team had to return to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2000, where it was to remain for the next couple of seasons.

The club dominated the 2nd Bundesliga South/West in 2004-05, winning all 16 regular season games, the largest win being a 146-5 victory over BSC Offenbach. In the final against the North/East champion DSV 78/08 Ricklingen, an 18-6 victory meant promotion back to the Bundesliga.[3]

Since then, the club has existed as a lower table side in the league, sitting just above the relegation zone. In 2008-09, the club's performance has much improved and a second place saw the team return to the German finals for the first time in over 20 years. In the semi-finals, the club beat SC Neuenheim, to reach its first national championship final since 1986, where it narrowly lost 11-8 to SC 1880 Frankfurt. The following season, HRK finished third in the league but reached the final once more, this time defeating SC 1880 39-22 in extra time, to earn its first national championship since 1986. It repeated this achievement in 2010-11 when it defeated Frankfurt once more in a closely fought final, winning 12-9. Having won the men's national cup and sevens championship as well as the national championship and sevens championship with the women's, the HRK took out all five available national titles in 2010-11.[4]

In 2011-12, the club also took part in the North Sea Cup, a European Cup competition made up of two clubs each from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.[5] The club once more finished top of the table in the league in 2011-12, losing only one of its 18 games, reaching the final for a fourth consecutive time, but facing TV Pforzheim there rather than SC 1880 Frankfurt, its opposition in the previous three finals.[6] HRK won the final 20-16 and won its ninth German championship.

In the 2012–13 season the club took part in the European Clubs Championship, a new competition, on the strength of its North Sea Cup runners-up finish in the previous year, facing the Croatian champions RK Nada in the semi-finals, which HRK won 43–0. The club consequently qualified for the final against Lituanian club RC Šiauliai who had knocked out SC 1880 in the semi finals, winning this game and the competition 60–10.[7] The European Clubs Championship is open to the winners of the Baltic and Balkan Cups as well as the winners and runners-up of the North Sea Cup.[8][9]

HRK finished first in their group in the 2012-13 season and qualified for the south/west division of the championship round, where it also came first. The club won its fourth consecutive German championship defeating SC Neuenheim 41-10 in the final. In the North Sea Cup the club reached the final where it defeated Belgian club Boitsfort Rugby Club 34-10 to take out the competition for the first time.[10]

The club remained unbeaten during the 2013–14 regular season, finishing first in the south-west championship round, receiving a bye for the first round of the play-offs and advancing to the finals after victories over RK 03 Berlin and Berliner RC. Heidelberg won its fifth consecutive title when it defeated TV Pforzheim 43–20 in Pforzheim.[11]

In the 2014–15 season the club once again remained unbeaten and finished first in the south-west championship group once more. It defeated TV Pforzheim in the final of the German championship after play-off wins over TSV Handschuhsheim and RG Heidelberg. HRK thereby equaled Victoria Linden's record of six consecutive German championships.[12]

In 2015–16 Heidelberger RK participated in the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition, competing against Grupo Desportivo Direito, Mogliano Rugby, Royal Kituro Rugby Club and Timișoara Saracens for a place in the 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup.[13] After two away wins the club played its first home game against Belgian side Kituro, which it won, thereby also opening its new home ground which has an artificial turf surface.[14] Heidelberg lost its final game of the competition to Timișoara and was eliminated.[15] In the Bundesliga Heidelberg completed the regular season unbeaten and defeated SC Germania List in the play-off semi-finals but suffered a surprise 41–36 defeat to TV Pforzheim in the final.[16]

Reserve and women's team

The club's reserve side has played for many years in the league below, the 2nd Bundesliga South/West, but stepped down to the third level for 2012–13.

The club also has a successful women's team, which plays at the highest level in Germany, the Women's Rugby Bundesliga, but it took the team until 2010 to win a national championship at this level. Since then the clubs women's team has won five consecutive national championships from 2010 to 2014. It has however won the national sevens championship in the past.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Alexander Biskupek Hooker Germany Germany
Jerome Himmer Hooker Germany Germany
Christopher Kleebauer Hooker England England
Alexander Widiker Hooker Germany Germany
Arthur Zeiler Prop Germany Germany
Patrick Schliwa Prop Germany Germany
Luis Vasquez Prop Venezuela Venezuela
Samy Füchsel Prop Germany Germany
Christoph Hermesdorf Prop Germany Germany
Juan Carlos Romanzini Prop Argentina Argentina
Benjamin Danso Lock Germany Germany
Peter Stieger Lock Germany Germany
Julio David Rodriguez Lock Venezuela Venezuela
Christian Alexander Röhrig Lock Germany Germany
Johannes Reinhardt Lock Germany Germany
Kehoma Brenner Back row Germany Germany
Benedikt Rehm Back row Germany Germany
Sidney Brenner Back row Germany Germany
Ansgar Ruhnau Back row Germany Germany
Jarrid Els Back row South Africa South Africa
Jacobus Otto Back row South Africa South Africa
Eugene Beuks Back row South Africa South Africa
Konstantin Bachmann Back row Germany Germany
Sebastian Uhrig Back row Germany Germany
Player Position Union
Sean Armstrong Scrum-half Australia Australia
Pierre Mathurin Scrum-half England England
Raynor Parkinson Fly-half South Africa South Africa
Thorsten Wiedemann Fly-half Germany Germany
Andreas Götz Fly-half Germany Germany
Anjo Buckman Centre Germany Germany
Pieter Johannes Jordaan Centre South Africa South Africa
Mirko Tomić Centre
Raphael Pyrasch Wing Germany Germany
malte Bieringer Wing Germany Germany
Marco Klatt Wing Germany Germany
Christopher Liebig Wing Germany Germany
Christopher Neureuther Wing Germany Germany
Erkut Leventdurmus Wing Germany Germany
Mawuli Amfia Wing Togo Togo
Hendrik van der Merwe Wing South Africa South Africa
Steffen Liebig Fullback Germany Germany

Club honours

Men

Women

Recent seasons

Men: First team

Recent seasons of the club:[17]

Year Division Position
1997-98 Rugby-Bundesliga (I) 8th
1998-99 Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 5th
Bundesliga qualification round 3rd
1999–2000 Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 5th
Bundesliga qualification round 5th Relegated
2000-01 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West (II) 5th
2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West qualification round 1st
2001-02 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 3rd
2002-03 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 2nd
2003-04 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 2nd
2004-05 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 1st Promoted
2005-06 Rugby-Bundesliga (I) 6th
2006-07 Rugby-Bundesliga 7th
2007-08 Rugby-Bundesliga 6th
2008-09 Rugby-Bundesliga 2nd Runners up
2009–10 Rugby-Bundesliga 3rd Champions
2010–11 Rugby-Bundesliga 1st Champions
2011–12 Rugby-Bundesliga 1st Champions
2012–13 Rugby-Bundesliga qualification round – South 1st
Rugby-Bundesliga championship round – South-West 1st Champions
2013–14 Rugby-Bundesliga qualification round – South 1st
Rugby-Bundesliga championship round – South-West 1st Champions
2014–15 Rugby-Bundesliga qualification round – South 1st
Rugby-Bundesliga championship round – South-West 1st Champions
2015–16 Rugby-Bundesliga South-West 1st Runners up

Men: Reserve team

Year Division Position
200607 Rugby-Regionalliga (III) 2nd
200708 Rugby-Regionalliga 1st Promoted
200809 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West (II) 8th
2009–10 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 8th
2010–11 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 5th
2011–12 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West 5th Withdrawn
2012–13 3rd Liga South/West - West (III) 3rd
201314 inactive
201415 3rd Liga South/West 2nd
201516 3rd Liga South/West—South 9th

Women

Year Division Position
2004-05 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 5th
2005-06 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 3rd
2006–07 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 2nd Runners up
2007–08 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 3rd
2008–09 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 2nd Runners up
2009–10 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 1st Champions
2010–11 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 1st Champions
2011–12 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 1st Champions
2012–13 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 1st Champions
2013–14 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 3rd Champions
2014–15 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 1st Champions
2015–16 Women's Rugby Bundesliga 2nd Champions

Rugby internationals

In Germany's 2006–08 European Nations Cup campaign, no player from the club was called up for the national team.

In the 2008–10 campaign, Anjo Buckman, Christopher Liebig, Steffen Liebig, Patrick Schliwa and Tim Kasten were new additions to the club's list of internationals.

In the 2010–12 campaign, Raphael Pyrasch, Pieter Jordaan, Alexander Widiker, Arthur Zeiler, Daniel Armitage, Sean Armstrong and Kehoma Brenner were all new additions to the club's list of German internationals, while Patrick Schliwa, Anjo Buckman, Steffen Liebig and Tim Kasten appeared again.

For the opening match of the 2012–14 edition of the ENC against the Ukraine Sean Armstrong, Anjo Buckman, Pieter Jordaan, Alexander Widiker, Arthur Zeiler, Steffen Liebig, Kehoma Brenner and Rafael Pyrasch where once more selected while Benjamin Danso, Raynor Parkinson and Samy Füchsel were new additions to the club's list of German internationals.[18]

References

  1. Getränke-Hersteller gegen Gold-Händler (German) Offenbach-Post, published: 28 May 2011. accessed: 21 August 2011
  2. Club history (German) accessed: 30 March 2010
  3. 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga 2004-05 rugbyweb.de, accessed: 23 January 2009
  4. [http://www.rugby-verband.de/?data[pageid]=101&data[newsid]=wdutav&data[dmid]=pgd42x&data[subpage]=&data[eventid]= HRK holt 7er-Titel] (German) DRV website, accessed: 21 August 2011
  5. North Sea Cup (German) www.rugbyweb.de, accessed: 21 August 2011
  6. Rugby-Bundesliga 2011-12 (German) rugbyweb.de, accessed: 3 May 2012
  7. ERCC: Heidelberger RK gewinnt Europapokal (German) totalrugby.de, published: 7 October 2012, accessed: 10 October 2012
  8. European Clubs Championship: Heidelberger RK steht nach Sieg in Spilt im Finale (German) totalrugby.de, published: 17 September 2012, accessed: 17 September 2012
  9. European Rugby Clubs Championship: SC Frankfurt 1880 verpasst das Finale (German) totalrugby.de, published: 9 September 2012, accessed: 17 September 2012
  10. Der HRK eroberte den Nordseecup (German) Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, published: 21 May 2013, accessed: 24 May 2013
  11. 94. Deutsche Rugby-Meisterschaft: Heidelberger RK holt sich fünften Titel in Folge (German) totalrugby.de, published: 21 June 2014, accessed: 24 June 2014
  12. Heidelberger RK holt sich den sechsten Meistertitel in Folge (German) totalrugby.ce, published: 16 May 2015, accessed: 17 May 2015
  13. Two places in next season's Challenge Cup up for grabs epcrugby.com, published: 22 October 2015, accessed: 17 November 2015
  14. Heidelberger RK im Europapokal weiter ungeschlagen (German) totalrugby.de, published: 14 December 2015, accessed: 15 December 2015
  15. EPCRQ: Rovigo kegelt HRK aus dem Europapokal (German) totalrugby.de, published: 24 January 2016, accessed: 9 February 2016
  16. "Rugby-Wahnsinn: TV Pforzheim holt sensationell den Meistertitel" [Rugby crazy: TV Pforzheim sensationally wins championship]. pz-news.de (in German). Pforzheimer Zeitung. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  17. RugbyWeb Ergebnisarchiv (German) rugbyweb.de - Results archive, accessed: 24 July 2012
  18. DRV XV: Kader für EM-Auftakt gegen Ukraine fast komplett (German) totalrugby.de, published: 16 October 2012, accessed: 17 October 2012

External links

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