The 2015–16 Rugby-Bundesliga is the 45th edition of this competition and the 96th edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, sixteen teams play in two regional divisions, followed by play-offs consisting of the top two teams in each division. The regular season started on 29 August 2015 and finished on 24 April 2016, followed by the semi-finals and the championship final, the latter held on 7 May 2016, with the DRV-Pokal and the promotion-relegation play-off continuing until June 2016. The season was interrupted by a winter break from early November to early March.

The defending champions were Heidelberger RK who defeated TV Pforzheim 53–27 in the 2015 final to take out its twelfth championship and sixth in a row. The club thereby also equaled a championship record, becoming the second club after TSV Victoria Linden to win six consecutive titles.Heidelberger RK holt sich den sechsten Meistertitel in Folge totalrugby.de, published: 16 May 2015, accessed: 13 September 2015 The 2016 championship was won by TV Pforzheim, defeating Heidelberger RK 41–36 in the final. For Pforzheim it was the first national rugby union championship, an achievement seen as a surprise given the dominance of Heidelberg, having defeated Pforzheim in three previous finals.

The modus and size of the league had been altered from the 2014–15 season, with the number of clubs reduced from, nominally, 24 to 16.

Overview

The Rugby-Bundesliga, which had been playing with 21 clubs in 2014–15, three less than the nominal strength of 24, was reduced to 16 clubs for 2015–16. The previous season, the league played a first round of four regional groups, followed by a second round with two regional groups of eight, and play-offs consisting of twelve teams, Instead, the 2015–16 season saw a reduction to just two regional groups of eight teams each.Rugby-Bundesliga startet am Wochenende in ihre 45. Saison - Spielmodus erneut reformiert totalrugby.de, published: 27 August 2015, accessed: 12 September 2015Reformierte Rugby-Bundesliga: Die Jagd ums Ei wird neu eröffnet Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, published: 28 August 2015, accessed: 14 September 2015

In the 2015–16 Bundesliga each team plays the other seven in their division twice, home and away, during the regular season. No games will be played between clubs from opposite divisions during this phase. The regular season will be followed by play-offs in which the winner of the south-west division plays the runners-up of the north-east and the winner of the north-east the runners-up of the south-west division. The two semi-final winners then contest the German championship final, scheduled for 21 May 2016.

The remaining twelve teams enter the DRV-Pokal, whereby the clubs placed third and fourth receive a bye for the first round. The last placed team in each division will be automatically relegated to the 2. Rugby-Bundesliga. The second-last team in each division has to play the 2. Bundesliga semi-final losers for a place in the 2016–17 Rugby-Bundesliga.

Compare to the 2014–15 season no team was promoted to the Bundesliga but five teams relegated from the league, TSV Victoria Linden, SG Siemensstadt/Grizzlies, Berliner SV 92 Rugby, RC Aachen and Heidelberger TV.Archiv 2014-15 rugbyweb.de, accessed: 13 September 2015

Bundesliga tables

North-East The final division table :1. Bundesliga Nord/Ost www.rugbyweb.de, accessed: 13 September 2015Bundesliga 2015–16 scoresway.com, accessed: 13 September 2015Bundesliga 2015–16 totalrugby.de, accessed: 13 September 2015 ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints 1 RK 03 Berlin 14 14 0 0 575 116 459 1369 2 SC Germania List 14 10 1 3 568 206 362 1254 3 DSV 78 Hannover 14 9 2 3 449 190 259 949 4 Berliner Rugby Club 14 7 2 5 340 286 54 638 5 FC St. Pauli Rugby 14 6 0 8 255 438 -183 529 6 RC Leipzig 14 4 0 10 215 437 -222 421 7 Hamburger RC 14 2 1 11 168 320 -152 311 8 RU Hohen Neuendorf (R) 14 1 0 13 145 722 -577 15 Hamburger RC deducted two points for breach of licensing regulations.BL-Lizenzen: Drittel der Bundesligisten startet mit Punktabzügen oder unter Vorbehalt in die Saison totalrugby.de, accessed: 13 September 2015

Club DSV RKB GER BRC HRC STP RUH RCL DSV Hannover — 13–29 3–22 8–8 38–10 53–6 46–12 39–5 RK 03 Berlin 30–10 — 45–19 46–5 29–12 53–0 71–8 57–3 Germania List 25–25 21–24 — 59–0 45–17 33–0 113–3 45–3 Berliner RC 21–31 0–28 30–29 — 44–14 48–12 55–0 32–5 Hamburger RC 3–23 3–19 10–18 6–6 — 12–29 30–10 13–10 FC St. Pauli 0–57 10–44 7–56 29–5 17–11 — 31–12 54–5 RU Hohen Neuendorf 0–71 6–69 17–38 14–58 17–16 17–40 — 29–31 RC Leipzig 19–33 6–31 22–45 5–28 15–11 33–20 53–0 —

South-West The final division table:1. Bundesliga Süd/West www.rugbyweb.de, accessed: 13 September 2015 ClubPlayedWDLPFPADiffBPPoints 1 Heidelberger RK 14 14 0 0 1001 135 866 1470 2 TV Pforzheim (C) 14 12 0 2 629 256 373 1157 3 RG Heidelberg 14 8 1 5 423 365 58 741 4 SC Neuenheim 14 7 1 6 340 405 -65 636 5 TSV Handschuhsheim 14 6 0 8 364 481 -117 933 6 SC 1880 Frankfurt 14 5 2 7 238 396 -158 327 7 RK Heusenstamm 14 2 0 11 149 467 -318 412 8 ASV Köln Rugby (R) 14 0 0 14 150 789 -639 33 TV Pforzheim deducted two points for breach of licensing regulations.

Club HRK TVP SCN RGH TSV RKH SCF ASV Heidelberger RK — 31–15 71–0 78–19 61–17 43–5 57–5 95–15 TV Pforzheim 17–41 — 35–9 64–26 83–24 27–26 50–8 90–12 SC Neuenheim 7–125 10–28 — 11–21 23–17 21–8 32–8 64–10 RG Heidelberg 18–44 24–38 23–20 — 30–12 9–6 10–10 74–7 TSV Handschuhsheim 14–71 15–63 26–29 42–40 — 33–6 29–10 59–3 RK Heusenstamm 0–96 3–52 10–47 11–25 5–44 — 12–16 24–17 SC 1880 Frankfurt 0–73 8–42 16–16 17–35 38–3 35–9 — 48–8 ASV Köln Rugby 3–115 19–25 7–51 5–69 15–29 5–24 20–22 —

Key Table: Championship play-offs Relegation play-offs Relegated Results: Home win Draw Away win

Play-off stage Championship The top two teams in each division qualified for the play-offs with the semi-finals held on 30 April and the final on 7 May 2016:

DRV-Pokal The remaining twelve Bundesliga clubs not qualified for the championship play-off entered the DRV-Pokal, the premier rugby union cup competition in Germany. The teams placed third and fourth received a bye for the first round:

The first round will see the teams placed fifth to eighth drawn against each other:

For the quarter-finals teams were not seeded, with the clubs placed third and fourth entering the competition. The quarter finals are scheduled for 4 and 5 June, the semi-finals for 11 and 12 June and the final for 25 or 26 June:

Promotion round The winners and runners-up of the four 2. Bundesliga divisions entered the promotion play-off to determine the two teams promoted directly and the two entering the play-off with Bundesliga seventh placed clubs. The promotion play-off will be conducted in two regional groups with the northern and eastern division clubs in one and the southern and western division ones in the other: North-East

South-West

Promotion-Relegation round The runners-up of the two regional promotion play-off were scheduled to compete with the seventh-placed Bundesliga teams for two more spots in the Bundesliga:

Because the game between RFC München and RC Luxembourg had to be rescheduled because of an international played by the Luxembourg national team the final decider between München and Heusenstamm was delayed. Rescheduled a number of times it was eventually cancelled by München, Heusenstamm thereby retaining their Bundesliga place.München RFC-Absage nach Termin-Chaos: RK Heusenstamm hält kampflos die Klasse (in German) totalrugby.de, published: 14 June 2016, accessed: 15 June 2016

References

External links rugbyweb.de - Rugby-Bundesliga table & results Totalrugby.de - Bundesliga table & results Rugby-Bundesliga at scoresway.com