The 3. Liga Süd-West ( en, 3rd League South/West) is the third-highest level of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

league system, organised by 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 the German national team and the three league divisions: the Rugby-Bundesliga, the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and ...

. It is set below the

2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third ti ...

, the second tier of rugby in Southern Germany, and above the

Rugby-Regionalliga The Rugby Regionalliga is the third-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. It is set below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and is organised in eight regional divisions. Since 2010, the ''Regiona ...

, the fourth tier. The league covers the federal states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. However, clubs from the

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

are also entitled to play in this league in the future.Süddeutsche Landesverbände bilden 3. Liga Süd/West
''

Rugby-Journal The German Rugby Federation (german: Deutscher Rugby-Verband or ''DRV'') is the governing body for rugby union in Germany. It organizes the German national team and the three league divisions: the Rugby-Bundesliga, the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga and t ...

'', published: 27 June 2010, accessed: 22 December 2010

History

The league was formed after the 2009-10 season, with the purpose of creating a more competitive level of play for the rugby clubs in Southern Germany above the Regionalligas. The suggestion, made by the Rhineland-Palatinate rugby federation in May 2010, was to form a new league, the ''Oberliga-Süd-West''.Rugby-Verband Rheinland-Pfalz schlägt neue Liga vor
''

'', published: 6 May 2010, accessed: 22 December 2010 On 26 June 2010, the formation of this new league was decided upon in a meeting of the five Southern German rugby federations, and the new league was named ''3. Liga Süd/West''. Previously, clubs that were relegated from the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West dropped straight into one of the five Regionalligas below the league, which, because of the regionalisation of these leagues, were considerably less competitive. Championship-winning clubs in the Regionalliga were often too strong for this level but too weak for the level above. In order to bridge the gap between the second and third tier and increase the standard of play at this level, the new league was formed. Northern Germany, below the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga North/East, formed no such league and the three Regionalligas there remain as the third tier of play. The new league was formed from nine clubs. One was the

RC Mainz The RC Mainz is a German rugby union club from Mainz, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. History Rugby in Mainz dates back to 1997, when a rugby department was formed in the ''1. FC Vorwärts Orient Mainz''. Two years later, in 1999, t ...

, which was relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga at the end of the 2009-10 season, while, of the other eight, one came from the Regionalliga Bavaria, two from Hesse, one from Rhineland-Palatinate, one from Baden-Württemberg and three from North Rhine-Westphalia. The two top teams in the league will be promoted to the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga South/West at the end of the 2010-11 season. For the 2011-12 season, the league was scheduled to be expanded to at least twelve teams in two regional divisions, but started play with eleven clubs instead. After the first round, the reserve team of

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. ...

joined the competition, thereby equaling both divisions in the number of clubs to six. In 2012-13 the league once more started out with eleven teams but two of those were removed from competition after missing fixtures, Grashof RC Essen and SC Neuenheim II.3. Liga: SCN II und Essen fliegen raus
totlarugby.de, published: 18 April 2013, accessed: 26 May 2013 The 2013–14 season was played with ten teams in two divisions of five but RG Heidelberg II was expelled from the competition after failing to field in two season games. The 2014–15 season was played in a single division league of ten teams.

Honours

The league honours:

The league champions and runners-up

* Promoted teams in bold.

Divisional champions

From 2011 to 2014 the league was played in two regional divisions which were won by the following teams:

References

External links

Official website

German Rugby Union

Rugbyweb.de - Result archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga South West, 3rd Rugby union leagues in Germany 2010 establishments in Germany Sports leagues established in 2010