| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| League Result: | Champions |
| League Try Scorer: | Güngör (6) |
| League Points Scorer: | Franke (96) |
| Highest Attendance: | 8,213 |
Germany at the 2006–2008 European Nations Cup was the first time since 1981 that the German national rugby union team reached highest level of FIRA rugby, the European Nations Cup, by winning its group, the Division 2A in 2006–2008.[1]
Germany played eight competition games and three friendlies in its campaign. It won six of its eight competitive games, including all four home games, and all three friendlies. It played Switzerland twice, to contest the newly created Alpencup, which remained with Germany on both occasions.[2]
With over 8,000 spectators, Germany's home game against the Netherlands in Hanover, at the Rudolf-Kalweit-Stadion, achieved the best crowd figures for a rugby match in Germany since the pre-Second World War days.[3]
Germany went into its campaign unbeaten at home, having last lost on 12 November 2000, to Ukraine. It maintained this record, which was only broken early in its next campaign, on 8 November 2008, when it lost to a Welsh XV.[4]
The division Germany was playing in, Division 2A, consisted of five teams, of which Ukraine had been relegated to from the First Division in the previous edition of the European Nations Cup.
The winner, Germany, earned promotion to the First Division, while the last placed team, the Netherlands, were relegated to Division 2B.
At the beginning of Germany's ENC campaign, it was coached by a duo, made up of Rudolf Finsterer and Mark Kuhlmann, under the supervision of Peter Ianusevici, Germany's Director of Rugby.
In early 2008, the two were joined by Frenchman Bruno Stolorz.[5] Stolorz was seconded to the German team by the Fédération française de rugby to improve Germany's performance in the sport and is also a coach with French club team RC Orléans, where he fulfills the position of a Conseiller sportif auprès.[6] [7]
A number of German players made their final appearances for their country during the 2006-08 campaign, among them were regulars like Steffen Thier, Sascha Fischer and Klaus Mainzer.
The former were replaced by a number of debutants, among them the Zimbabwean Edmoore Takaendesa and the Australian Steve Williams.
| Place | Nation | Games | Points | Table points | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| played | won | drawn | lost | for | against | difference | ||||
| 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 191 | 124 | +67 | 20 | ||
| 2 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 214 | 147 | +67 | 20 | ||
| 3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 163 | 157 | +6 | 18 | ||
| 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 117 | 128 | -11 | 14 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 97 | 226 | -129 | 8 |
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The following players were part of the German team during its 2006-08 campaign:[9]
| Player | Position | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scrum-half | RG Heidelberg | ||
| Raphael Pyrasch | Scrum-half | DSV 78 Hannover | |
| Franck Moutsinga | Scrum-half | Berliner RC | |
| Christopher Parnham | Scrum-half | Clifton RFC | |
| Kieron Davies | Fly-half | ||
| Thorsten Wiedemann | Fly-half | TSV Handschuhsheim | |
| Lars Eckert | Fly-half | SC Neuenheim | |
| Friedrich Michau | Fly-half | FC St Pauli | |
| Benjamin Simm | Centre | DSV 78 Hannover | |
| Clemens von Grumbkow | Centre | ||
| Christopher Weselek | Centre | RG Heidelberg | |
| Colin Grzanna | Centre | Berliner RC | |
| Marten Strauch | Centre | SC Neuenheim | |
| Sebastien Chaule | Wing | TSV Handschuhsheim | |
| Markus Walger | Wing | RK Heusenstamm | |
| Matthieu Franke | Fullback |  RC Orléans | |
| Edmoore Takaendesa | Fullback | RG Heidelberg | |
| Dennis Walger | Fullback | RK Heusenstamm |
The following players have been selected for Germany from 2006 to 2008 in the country's European Nation Cup Second Division campaign and in friendlies:
| Player | Caps [10] | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swi 2 | Mol | Bel | W XV | Ukr | Ned | Swi | Bel | Mol | Ukr | Ned | |||
| Benjamin Krause | 26 [11] | x | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Tim Coly | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Alexander Widiker | 27[12] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Manuel Wilhelm | 20 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Jens Schmidt | 33 [13] | x | 5 (c) | 5 (c) | 7 (c) | 8 (c) | 7 (c) | 5 (c) | 4 | 18 | 5 | ||
| Tim Kasten | 17 [14] | x | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Gerrit van Look | 15 [15] | x | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | ||
| Bodo Sieber | 15 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 8 | ||||||
| Mustafa Güngör | 20 [16] | x | 9 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||
| Lars Eckert | 17 | x | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| Matthieu Franke | 9 [17] | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 11 | |||
| Colin Grzanna | 22 | x | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 (c) | 12 (c) | 12 (c) | 12 (c) | |
| Kieron Davies | 23 | 21 | 21 | 13 | 13 | ||||||||
| Christopher Weselek | 25 | x | 14 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 22 | 14 | |
| Edmoore Takaendesa | 2 | 15 | 15 | ||||||||||
| Steve Williams | 3 | 2 | 16 | 16 | |||||||||
| Benjamin Danso | 10 | x | 18 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 17 | |
| Alexander Pipa | 7 | 8 | 18 | ||||||||||
| Rolf Wacha | 2 [18] | 6 | 19 | ||||||||||
| Sebastien Chaule | 14 [19] | x | 11 | 11 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | ||||
| Markus Walger | 16 | x | 11 | 11 | 11 | 21 | 21 | ||||||
| Marten Strauch | 5 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 13 | 22 | 22 | 22 | |||||
| Clemens von Grumbkow | 18 | 13 | 12 | (1) | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11 | ||||
| Kehoma Brenner | 4 [20] | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | ||||||
| Steffen Thier | x | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | ||||||||
| Christian Baracat | 3 | 17 | 3 | 16 | 16 | ||||||||
| Timur Tekkal | x | 7 | 8 | 19 | 19 | ||||||||
| Franck Moutsinga | 10 [21] | x | 20 | 20 | 9 | 21 | 21 | 9 | 20 | 20 | |||
| Pierre Faber | 18 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| Sascha Fischer | 27 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Klaus Mainzer | x | 16 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 1 | ||||||
| Krystian Trochowski | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||
| Christian Hug | x | 4 | 19 | 18 | |||||||||
| Alexander Hug | 1 | 19 | |||||||||||
| Raphael Pyrasch | 1 | 20 | |||||||||||
| Thorsten Wiedemann | 1 | 21 | |||||||||||
| Dennis Walger | 1 | 22 | |||||||||||
| Benjamin Simm | 7 | 22 | 13 | 14 | 14 | ||||||||
| Marcus Trick | 19 | x | 17 | 17 | |||||||||
| Sebastian Werle | 19 | 20 | 18 | ||||||||||
| Friedrich Michau | 22 | 22 | |||||||||||
| Michael Kerr | 18 | ||||||||||||
| Christopher Parnham | 20 | ||||||||||||
| Christian Doering | x | 22 | |||||||||||
| Hendrik van Look | x | ||||||||||||
| Michael Döries | x | ||||||||||||
| Alexander Luft | x | ||||||||||||
| Rene Engelhardt | x | ||||||||||||
| Tries | Name | Pld |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Mustafa Güngör | 8 |
| 3 | Colin Grzanna | 8 |
| 2 | Matthieu Franke | 8 |
| 1 | Timur Tekkal | 3 |
| Marten Strauch | 4 | |
| Steffen Thier | 4 | |
| Sebastien Chaule | 5 | |
| Tim Kasten | 6 |
| Points | Name | Pld |
|---|---|---|
| 96 | Matthieu Franke | 8 |
| 33 | Mustafa Güngör | 8 |
| 18 | Colin Grzanna | 8 |
| 9 | Kieron Davies | 4 |
| 5 | Timur Tekkal | 3 |
| Marten Strauch | 4 | |
| Steffen Thier | 4 | |
| Sebastien Chaule | 5 | |
| Tim Kasten | 6 | |
| Lars Eckert | 8 |