2011–12 Rugby-Bundesliga

The 2011–12 Rugby-Bundesliga was the 41st edition of this competition and the 92nd edition of the German rugby union championship. In the Rugby-Bundesliga, the first division, ten teams played a home-and-away season with semi-finals and a final between the top four teams at the end. The season started on 27 August 2010 and finished with the championship final on 5 May 2012, interrupted by a winter break from mid-December to late February.[1] The league's top try scorer was Caine Elisara for the second year running while Luke James Muggeridge took out the honours of best points scorer for the first time. Both are from New Zealand and played for Heidelberger RK.

2011–12 Rugby-Bundesliga
Countries	Germany  Luxembourg
Champions	Heidelberger RK (8th title)
Promoted	12 clubs
Relegated	none, expansion of league
Top point scorer	Luke James Muggeridge (234)
Top try scorer	Caine Elisara (31)

The league was won by Heidelberger RK who defeated TV Pforzheim 20-16 to earn its third consecutive title. TV Pforzheim played in its first-ever German championship final, having defeated SC 1880 Frankfurt 46–25 in the semi-finals. Frankfurt had played in the previous five finals and won the championship in 2008 and 2009. The second semi-final was played between HRK and SC Neuenheim with the former winning 71–21.[1]

In the second tier, the 2nd Rugby-Bundesliga, FC St. Pauli Rugby and the reserve team of SC 1880 Frankfurt took out the division titles, with SC 1880 Frankfurt II taking out the overall title with a 32–22 finals victory.[2][3]

Both divisions of the 2nd Bundesliga played with only nine instead of ten clubs. The South/West division lost RG Heidelberg II just before the start of the season when the club decided to withdraw its reserve team to the third division[4] while the reserve team of Berliner Rugby Club was withdrawn during the season.[5] RU Hohen Neuendorf was expulsed from the league during the season for falling to field in two games without adequate excuse. TSV Handschuhsheim II was punished the same way for the same reason after the season had ended, with both of the teams being relegated.[6][7]

In mid-July 2012 the Deutsche Rugby Tag, the annual general meeting of the DRV decided to approve a league reform proposed by German international Manuel Wilhelm. The new system will see the number of clubs in the Bundesliga increased from ten to 24 in 2012–13, the league divided into four regional divisions of six clubs each and the finals series expanded from four to eight teams. One of the main aims of the reform was to reduce the number of kilometres traveled by individual teams and therefore reduce the travel expenses. Additionally, the 2nd Bundesliga will also expanded to 24 teams.[8][9][10]