Munich is about to host World Rugby’s Challenger Sequence this weekend, the gatekeeper competitors to the HSBC SVNS circuit. The highest four-placed males’s Sevens groups in Munich will safe their spots within the promotion and relegation play-off competitors on the SVNS Grand Ultimate in Madrid.
Whereas the town is finest recognized for its exploits in soccer and athletics, rugby union has established greater than a foothold within the sprawling south German municipality.
In reality, elite Sevens visited the town as just lately as 2017, when the Octoberfest 7s noticed the shortened code’s finest sides compete on the world-famous Olympiastadion, with Australia Sevens successful the trophy.
FC Bayern Munich is in fact the town’s most well-known sporting export. The membership has dominated German soccer for many years. Established in 1900, Bayern Munich has gained quite a few nationwide titles and worldwide trophies.
But most are unaware that Bayern Munich as soon as had its personal thriving rugby group. Furthermore, many soccer golf equipment in imperial Germany performed rugby soccer previous to and after the flip of the twentieth century alongside the spherical ball sport.
Certainly the DFB (the German FA which was based in 1900) was initially an affiliation for each soccer and rugby, and the rugby division was to turn into the primary subdivision of FC Bayern.
In line with FC Bayern Munich’s web site, in 1922 a gaggle of rugby followers within the metropolis sought to ascertain the game regionally. Regardless of challenges, Bayern promoted rugby below division head Emil Friz. Coaching started and after almost a yr the group was able to face overseas opponents. The game step by step gained traction in Germany, largely due to Bayern’s efforts.
Different Munich golf equipment like FC Wacker, DSV and the gymnastics affiliation all adopted Bayern’s lead and shaped rugby groups.
In 1927 they united because the “Native Group of Munich Rugby Golf equipment.” Bayern’s rugby matches have been held at Dante-Stadion – the place the Challenger Sequence shall be held this weekend.
Success prolonged past Munich because the group grew to become Bavarian rugby champions in 1927 and 1928. Their biggest triumph got here once they defeated the German champions, Heidelberg Rowing Membership, 3-0 in a pleasant match. Bayern additionally secured victories overseas in opposition to groups in Vienna and Zurich.
Sadly, political occasions led to the disbanding of different rugby groups by 1933 and Bayern’s personal rugby membership ceased operations in 1936 as a consequence of a scarcity of younger gamers.
Rugby union would lie dormant for the heart of fifty years till the institution of Munich’s most important up to date rugby membership – Munich RFC – in 1977.
The membership’s inaugural sport on 10 June 1978 was the primary correct rugby match within the metropolis for the reason that sport was successfully disbanded some 45 years beforehand.
When US troopers in Augsburg shaped a group in 1974 it might be the primary post-war rugby membership in Bavaria. MRFC was based by (principally Welsh) British expatriates; the primary civilian membership within the state having reasonably romantically been shaped in a pub within the Isarvorstadt.
The membership’s first sport was in opposition to the Dangerous Tölz US Military. A yr later, MRFC performed its first German opponent, RC Rottweil, on 30 June 1979. In 1985 – a second non-military group was established in Bavaria – the rugby division of TuS Fürstenfeldbruck.
MRFC was formally registered in 1982 and have become included in 1983. With out a common residence floor in Munich, the membership performed matches in Fürstenfeldbruck. Bavaria lacked a league or rugby federation, so MRFC joined the Regionalliga in Baden-Württemberg in 1984.
In 1990 coach Rory Donoghue joined and led the group to a South German Championship win the next yr. The facet lastly received a house floor in Munich and was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga South in 1992. Though relegated after one season, the membership gained promotion once more in 1995 and have become a founding member of the Bavarian Rugby Federation in 1996.
In 1998, MRFC earned promotion to the Rugby-Bundesliga however was denied a licence and stayed within the second division. Then in 2000 they reached the highest tier of German rugby once more, however a league restructuring meant relegation again to the 2nd Bundesliga. The membership gained the 2nd Bundesliga championship in 2002, incomes promotion but once more – solely to be relegated of their first season again.
Since then, MRFC has performed within the 2nd Bundesliga South/East as a mid-table facet, with native rival StuSta München becoming a member of in 2004. The membership had a robust 2012-13 season, advancing to the DRV-Pokal semi-finals. In 2015-16, MRFC gained each the 2nd Bundesliga South and the Bavarian Regionalliga however misplaced the play-off ultimate to Luxembourg Rugby Membership.
In 2017, MRFC moved to a brand new coaching pitch in Großhadern and celebrated its fortieth anniversary. Since 2002, the membership has additionally had a ladies’s group, with Yvonne Schwarzkopf as its first German worldwide.
After all, rugby is a comparatively small if wholesome a part of the Bavarian metropolis’s wealthy sporting historical past.
Town is famend for internet hosting the 1972 Summer time Olympics. This occasion – remembered for each its athletic achievements and the tragic terrorist assault – left a long-lasting mark on the town. The video games launched world-class sports activities services – together with the Olympic Stadium – which has since turn into an iconic landmark within the metropolis.
Munich can also be recognized for its contributions to winter sports activities. Town’s proximity to the Bavarian Alps makes it a hub for snowboarding and snowboarding. The close by city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the Winter Olympics in 1936 and stays fashionable with winter sports activities fans.
Basketball has a presence in Munich via FC Bayern Munich Basketball, a division of the bigger soccer membership. The group has loved success within the Basketball Bundesliga and competes in European competitions.
Ice hockey is one other fashionable sport in Munich. EHC Purple Bull München, the town’s skilled ice hockey group, competes within the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). The group has gained a number of DEL championships and enjoys sturdy native assist.
Munich’s sporting services are state-of-the-art. The Olympiapark, constructed for the 1972 Olympics, continues to host numerous sporting occasions and live shows. Town has beforehand welcomed quite a few World Cup matches, European Championship video games and main athletics tournaments.
Now it’s time for elite males’s rugby to grace the town as soon as once more.
“We’ve got seen a extremely spectacular degree of rugby sevens within the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Challenger 2024 and as we attain the enterprise finish of the competitors there may be extra at stake than ever earlier than with the potential for 4 males’s and 4 ladies’s groups to achieve the top HSBC SVNS in 2025 through the brand new promotion – relegation play off occasion on the Grand Ultimate in Madrid on 31 Might – 2 June,” mentioned World Rugby Chief Competitions and Efficiency Officer Nigel Cass.
“With the Olympic Video games on the horizon, 2024 is a large yr for rugby sevens, and given the launch of the brand new HSBC SVNS and the elevated variety of tournaments and competitiveness within the Sevens Challenger, there has by no means been a extra thrilling time for the worldwide progress of the sport. I want the perfect of luck to all of the competing groups in Munich and Krakow in what guarantees to be an exhilarating pair of occasions.”
