2012–13 Rugby-Bundesliga


The 2012–13 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 42nd edition of this competition and the 93rd edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, twenty-two teams played in, initially, four regional divisions, the first stage of the competition. The season started on 25 August 2012 and finished with the championship final on 15 June 2013, interrupted by a winter break from 25 November to 3 March. The regular season finished on Wednesday 1 May and the play-offs started on the following weekend, 4 May, and the German championship final was held on 15 June 2013.
The defending champions were Heidelberger RK who defeated TV Pforzheim in the 2012 final to take out its eights championship and third in a row. Heidelberger RK took out the national championship once more, remaining unbeaten all season and defeating local rival SC Neuenheim 41–10 in the final.

Overview

The league has been radically modified from the 2011–12 season. In 2011–12 the league operated with ten teams playing in a single division in a home-and-away format with semi-finals and a final at the end. In 2012–13 the league has been expanded, initially to twenty-four teams, which were to play in four regional divisions of six teams each. In those each team would play the others in its division just once. However, two teams resigned from the league before the start of the season, reducing the number of clubs to twenty-two. The Berlin Grizzlies of the eastern division opted to form a team with the reserve side of USV Potsdam Rugby and play in the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga instead. DRC Hannover withdrew from the northern division just before the first game of the season, suffering from a lack of first team players and entered the tier three Rugby-Regionalliga instead for 2012–13.
The first stage of the competition, the Vorrunde, will finish on 3 October 2012 after which the second stage will start, the Qualifikationsphase, in which the top four 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 finals series will be expanded from four to eight teams. The six teams not qualified for the Qualifikationsphase will enter the DRV-Pokal, the German rugby union cup, together with the top eight teams of the 2nd Bundesliga. The 2nd Bundesliga teams not qualified for the DRV-Pokal will play for the Liga Pokal.
In the second stage the teams within a group will 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. All sixteen clubs will qualify for the knock-out stage.
One of the main aims of the reform was to reduce the number of kilometres traveled by individual teams and therefore reduce the travel expenses. Additionally, the 2nd Bundesliga was also expanded to 24 teams.
Because of the enlargement of the league from ten to twenty-two teams no club was relegated after the 2011–12 season but twelve clubs promoted:
Two clubs finished the regular season unbeaten, DSV 78 Hannover and Heidelberger RK. Of the sixteen clubs qualified for the play-offs three decided to cancel their first round match, the three bottom placed clubs in the north east, Berliner SV 92, Victoria Linden and USV Potsdam, with all three games awarded 50-0 to the opposition. The quarter finals saw the south western clubs dominate with all four advancing teams being from that division and all north eastern clubs being knocked out. The semi finals were heavily affected by bad weather, with both games, to be held in Heidelberg, being canceled and rescheduled. The final saw Heidelberger RK defeat SC Neuenheim 41–10 to take out its ninth national championship and fourth consecutive one.

Bundesliga tables & results

First stage

In the first stage twenty-two clubs played in four groups. Within each group each team played the other just once. The best four teams in each group advanced to the second stage.

North

The table and results of the division:
ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints
1DSV 78 Hannover44003198311420
2FC St. Pauli Rugby430114610244315
3SC Germania List420181142–6119
4TSV Victoria Linden410244138–9415
5Hamburger RC400427227–20000

ClubDSVSTPGERVICHRC
DSV 78 Hannover—62–565–0106–0
FC St. Pauli Rugby—43–10
SC Germania List3–86—34–0
TSV Victoria Linden22–33—22–6
Hamburger RC8–6513–34—

East

The table and results of the division:
ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints
1Berliner Rugby Club440031725292420
2RK 03 Berlin430125876182315
3USV Potsdam Rugby420213712116210
4Berliner SV 92 Rugby410376289–21315
5RC Leipzig400416293–27700

ClubBRCRKBUSVBSVRCL
Berliner Rugby Club—61–10138–7
RK 03 Berlin—42–7116–0
USV Potsdam Rugby5–42—58–27
Berliner SV 92 Rugby8–90—34–3
RC Leipzig3–7610–67—

West

The table and results of the division:
ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints
1SC 1880 Frankfurt550026447217525
2RK Heusenstamm540129043247521
3RC Mainz5203127156–29210
4ASV Köln Rugby520272251–17928
5RC Luxembourg510368248–18002
6RC Aachen500529205–17611

ClubSCFRKHASVRCMRCLRCA
SC 1880 Frankfurt—22–2081–062–15
RK Heusenstamm—93–573–662–10
ASV Köln Rugby—38–220–029–5
RC Mainz0–42—77–7
RC Luxembourg5–48—50–0
RC Aachen7–517–13—

The table and results of the division:
ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints
1Heidelberger RK550033841297525
2SC Neuenheim531113010921116
3RG Heidelberg521216615313313
4TV Pforzheim520319513722412
5TSV Handschuhsheim5203104136–3219
6Heidelberger TV500541362–32100

ClubHRKRGHTVPSCNTSVHTV
Heidelberger RK—66–2242–061–7
RG Heidelberg—23–2311–1571–17
TV Pforzheim12–7232–39—28–41
SC Neuenheim—27–1339–3
TSV Handschuhsheim13–24—56–13
Heidelberger TV0–978–99—

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. All teams in this stage qualified for the play-offs and were seeded according to the final standings.

North-East

The table and results of the division:
ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints
1DSV 78 Hannover1414001040899511369
2Berliner Rugby Club1412027711376341159
3RK 03 Berlin14905459317142844
4FC St. Pauli Rugby1480638236121941
5SC Germania List146084494427428
6USV Potsdam Rugby143011243747–504519
7TSV Victoria Linden142012179592–413513
8Berliner SV 92 Rugby142012147985–83808

ClubDSVSTPGERVICBRCRKBUSVBSV
DSV 78 Hannover—62–574–1165–024–1032–14168–0119–5
FC St. Pauli Rugby3–32—43–1042–1010–4715–2025–2470–7
SC Germania List3–8616–32—34–016–5046–31101–383–5
TSV Victoria Linden0–10222–330–13—14–3626–4628–2441–10
Berliner Rugby Club16–3062–052–567–0—61–1094–0138–7
RK 03 Berlin13–3322–1936–1354–511–28—42–746–13
USV Potsdam Rugby6–9920–4920–847–195–4211–24—58–27
Berliner SV 92 Rugby3–1147–3610–9019–145–688–9021–18—

South-West

The table and results of the division:
ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints
1Heidelberger RK14140011001049961365
2SC Neuenheim141013709221488951
3TV Pforzheim1410049442906541147
4RG Heidelberg14815555401154943
5SC 1880 Frankfurt14707408506–98735
6RK Heusenstamm144010361695–334925
7ASV Köln Rugby142012133998–86519
8RC Mainz1400141061101–99522

ClubSCFRKHASVRCMHRKRGHTVPSCN
SC 1880 Frankfurt—22–2081–062–153–5736–3117–3715–59
RK Heusenstamm24–40—93–558–1012–7628–325–1230–81
ASV Köln Rugby0–2717–38—38–228–9512–645–1099–60
RC Mainz6–600–4216–22—6–900–910–14910–69
Heidelberger RK97–074–7129–0161–0—66–2240–2242–0
RG Heidelberg57–1672–2752–1250–05–64—12–6323–23
TV Pforzheim48–2264–7131–093–1512–7232–39—28–41
SC Neuenheim55–779–081–5116–67–3822–516–33—

Denotes results carried over from first stage

In the play-offs the sixteen qualified clubs play a knock-out competition in single game format with the winner moving on to the next round. In the first round of the play-off the north-east division clubs play against the south-west division clubs. The play-offs began on 4 May with the round of sixteen, followed by the quarter finals on 25 May, semi finals on 1 June and the German championship final on 15 June 2013. However, both semi final games, to be held in Heidelberg, had to be postponed because of bad weather, and rescheduled for 12 June.