Rugby-Bundesliga
Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 Rugby-Bundesliga
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|
 |
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| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1971 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country |
 Germany
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| Most recent champion(s) |
TV Pforzheim |
The Rugby-Bundesliga is the highest level of the league system for rugby union in Germany, organised by the German Rugby Federation.
The league is predominantly amateur, with only one club in the league being officially a professional outfit, the Heidelberger RK.
From 2012 to 2015 the Bundesliga was expanded from ten to 24 and the league divided into four regional divisions of six teams each. Below the Bundesliga the 2. Bundesliga was organised in a similar fashion. From 2015 onwards the league returned to sixteen clubs.
The German rugby championship was first played in 1909 and, with the exception of 2002, has always been determined by a final.
The Rugby-Bundesliga was first played in two divisions in the 1971-72 season and soon consisted of six teams in the North and ten teams in the South. However, of the eight southern teams, five were located in Heidelberg and after 1975 all northern teams were from Hanover. The founding members of the league were SV Odin Hannover, SV 1908 Ricklingen, DSV 1878 Hannover, TSV Victoria Linden, SC Siemensstadt and FC St. Pauli Rugby in the north and SC Neuenheim, RG Heidelberg, Heidelberger RK, Heidelberger TV, TSV Handschuhsheim, RC Hürth, Bonner SC, ASV Köln Rugby, SC 1880 Frankfurt and Eintracht Frankfurt Rugby.
The league has changed its format a number of times over the years. In 1997-98, it played as a single-division league with eight teams. From 1998 to 2001, it was divided into two regional divisions again. The top-three teams from each of the two divisions then qualified for the finals round, held in a home-and-away format. The top two teams out of this round then played the German Final in a home-and-away format. The bottom three teams in each division played a spring round together with the top three teams of the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga to determine the clubs who would play in the Bundesliga in the next season.
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