The German national rugby sevens team competes in the top-level European sevens competition, the

Sevens Grand Prix Series The Rugby Europe Sevens are a series of rugby sevens tournaments held by Rugby Europe. It was formerly known as the FIRA-AER Sevens until 2013, and the Sevens Grand Prix Series until 2021. Only one annual tournament existed prior to 2011, when ...

. In 2012, Germany finished eleventh out of twelve teams and avoided relegation. The team also unsuccessfully took part in the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

qualifying tournament in Moscow in July 2012. In 2015 Germany qualified to the Final 2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament, where they failed to qualify for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

.Der DRV-Arbeitsplan “Rugby auf dem Weg nach Olympia 2016”
totalrugby.de, author:

Claus-Peter Bach Claus-Peter Bach was the President of the German Rugby Federation from 2005 to 2011. He succeeded Bernd Leifheit at this position.

, published: 19 October 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2010 Germany won the

2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series The 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series was the eighteenth edition of the Sevens Grand Prix Series, continental championship for rugby sevens in Europe. The series took place over two legs, the first at Moscow in Russia and the second at � ...

, an equivalent to European Championships in other team sports.

History

The team has taken part in the

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

tournament in the past, its greatest success being a win in the Bowl final in 1990, beating

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

28–12. In the 1990s, the team, captained by Rainer Kumm, took part in a number of international tournaments including the

Punta del Este Sevens The Uruguay Sevens, branded as Seven Punta, is an annual international rugby sevens tournament. Currently held in the capital Montevideo, it was hosted as the Punta del Este Sevens in the resort city of the same name for three decades from 1989 ...

in 1997, where they lost to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in the plate final and the

Paris Sevens The France Sevens, also called the Paris Sevens, is an annual international rugby sevens tournament that is one of ten competitions on the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. The France Sevens is generally held in May or June on the weekend foll ...

in 1996, 1997 (when they defeated

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in the bowl final) and 1998 (bowl finalists, losing to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the final).

Kumm KUMM (89.7 FM, "U-90") is an American non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve the community of Morris, the county seat of Stevens County, Minnesota. Established in 1970, the station is owned and operated by the University of ...

retired in 2000 to take up coaching and was replaced as captain by

Mark Schulze Mark Schulze was a South African-born German international rugby player who played for both the Germany national rugby union team, which he captained on occasion,100 Jahre Deutsche Rugby-Verband, Claus-Peter Bach, 2000 and Germany Sevens team fr ...

, who led the team to the 2000

Sri Lanka Sevens The Sri Lanka Sevens is an annual international rugby sevens tournament held in Sri Lanka. Sponsored by telecommunications provider Dialog Axiata, Dialog, the event has been part of the Asian Sevens Series since 2015. It was founded in 1999 as the ...

, where they reached the cup semi-final, having won their pool and defeated

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in the quarter-final. In 2000 the

German Rugby Federation The German Rugby Federation (german: Deutscher Rugby-Verband or ''DRV'') is the governing body for rugby union in Germany. It organizes Germany national rugby union team, the German national team and the three league divisions: the Rugby-Bundesli ...

celebrated its centenary. Centenary celebrations included the hosting in 2000 the European leg of qualifying for the

2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the third edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens and was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. New Zealand defeated Australia to win the tournament for the first time. This was the first major rugby event ever held ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, followed by a Centenary banquet in the

Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle (german: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demoli ...

. In the tournament the German team thrashed

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and lost 12–35 to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, who had

Gordon D'Arcy Gordon William D'Arcy (born 10 February 1980, in Ferns, County Wexford) is a retired Irish rugby player who played most of his career at inside centre. He played for Irish provincial side Leinster for his entire professional career and is secon ...

in their line-up. In 2005 Germany hosted the

2005 World Games The 2005 World Games (german: Weltspiele 2005), the seventh World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Duisburg, Germany from 14 July 2005 until 24 July 2005. Three other cities, namely Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Oberhau ...

were Germany participated in the rugby sevens tournament. After losing all three games on the first day of the tournament, Germany went on to the Bowl semifinals were they lost 35–12 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and 31–17 against

in the Seventh Place final. After years of playing in the lower ranks of the Sevens Grand Prix, Germany started a continuous uprise which ultimately led to a second place in the 2018 Sevens Grand Prix behind

and to winning the 2019 Sevens Grand Prix in front of France. Since 2016 they participated four times in the Hong Kong Sevens Qualifier where they reached the finals two times.

Tournament history

World Cup Sevens record

Summer Olympics record

World Rugby Sevens Series

World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series

World Games

Sevens Grand Prix Series

Honours

:* Winners:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

:* Runner-up:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

:* Third-place:

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

:* Fourth-place:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Current squad

Squad at 2020 World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series (men):Kader für Sevens Challenger Series in Südamerika steht”
rugby-verband.de, published: 4 February 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2010 *

Fabian Heimpel Fabian Heimpel (born 21 August 1990)
accessed: 20 March 2010 is a German

(

RG Heidelberg The RG Heidelberg (''german: Rudergesellschaft Heidelberg'', literally "Heidelberg Rowing Club") is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers the sport of rowing. ...

) *Tim Lichtenberg (

) *Bastian Himmer (

) *Carlos Soteras Merz (

) *Tim Biniak (

) *Sebastian Fromm (

) *Manasah Sita (

SC Neuenheim The SC Neuenheim is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Having won nine men's and twelve women's German championships as of 2013, the club is one of the most accomplished in Germany. History Form ...

) *Leon Hees (

RK Heusenstamm The RK Heusenstamm is a German rugby union club from Heusenstamm, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. History The club was formed in 1979, much later than most other current Bundesliga clubs, in Heusenstamm, Hesse. After relegation from t ...

) *Zani Dembele (

Castres Olympique Castres Olympique () is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the top level of the French league system. Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They play at the Sta ...

) *Jacobus Otto (

TSV Handschuhsheim The TSV Handschuhsheim is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like association football, handball and tennis. History The club was formed in 188 ...

) *Anjo Buckman (

) *Phil Szczesny (Hannover 78) *Jarrod Saul (Hannover 78) *Jonathon Dawe (Worthing Raiders RFC)

References

External links

Deutscher Rugby-Verband
– Official Site
German Sevens team at totalrugby.de

Hannover sevens website
{{National rugby union teams (sevens) National rugby sevens teams sevens