TR preview Rugby Bundesliga: Who will make it to the Frankfurt final?
If the favorites prevail, there will be another duel between 1880 and TSV in the final.
Will there be another Bundesliga final between Frankfurt and TSV Handschuhsheim on the 1880 site, or will a team from the north make it into the final for the first time since 2005? We’ll know more on Saturday early evening.
The Bundesliga preview is presented to you by our partner Solidsportyour partner for live streams.
The semifinals
SC Frankfurt 1880 (South 1) – RK 03 Berlin (North 2)
Saturday June 11, 3 p.m
When if it needed an extra motivation for the defending champion. But during the week there were these: As in 2019, the final of the Rugby Bundesliga will take place at the SC Frankfurt 1880 facility. The goal for Byron Schmidt’s team is also clear: win the second title in a row at home in the second final. For Frankfurt, however, it means taking one step at a time.
Because first of all, the RK03 Berlin travels in the semi-finals to the still reigning champion. After a strong first and second round, the Berliners qualified for the semi-finals as second in the North despite a mixed series. 1880 coach Schmidt doesn’t want to know anything about his team being favorites: “It’s a semi-final, it doesn’t matter who is seen as a favorite by whom!”
Frankfurt’s storm power should become the decisive factor
Master coach Schmidt expects an interesting game for which you don’t have to motivate anyone. “We’re playing at home in front of our audience, against a team that we didn’t know before – we’re really looking forward to this semi-final,” Schmidt told TotalRugby.
The guests are meanwhile arriving as “clearly outsiders”, as captain Christopher Sacksofsky explains – initially, according to the former Handschuhsheim player, because Frankfurt is stronger than all of the northern competition and they have also recently had “extreme bad luck with injuries”, which guests certainly do not get into the card games.
Nevertheless, the first-row striker, who will watch from the sidelines to some extent himself, emphasizes: “For us as a team and for the club, after two difficult years, it is an incredible success to be able to play a game like this.” the strength that the people of Frankfurt bring to the pitch” and have adapted as far as possible to the strengths of the 80s.
TotalRuby Forecast: The north-south performance gap in rugby league is well known. Just as Frankfurt 1880 has been the measure of all things in German club rugby for several years. For weakened Berliners, the trip to Frankfurt is still a reward, even if a victory at the champions is currently utopian from the RK point of view. Too strong, too fast and too well attuned – as in 2019, 1880 qualifies for the final at home by beating a team from Berlin. 1880 wins with +38 Points.
Hanover 78 (North 1) – TSV Handschuhsheim (South 2)
Saturday June 11, 3 p.m
Exactly three years ago there was exactly the same pairing at the same place when there was a clear 3:57 victory for the guests from Handschuhsheim in the semifinals. Nobody expects a similar result before this semi-final, even if there are still numerous players left from the classic game on both sides.
After a perfect season in the North, in which they could win every single game, Hannover 78 will now also perform in the semi-finals. Since the semi-finals in 2019, the team has developed particularly defensively, according to the assessment of the Hanoverian coaching team. “We want to make this game as close as possible and get into the final,” said 78 coach Benjamin Krause.
However, Krause also knows about the strength of the lions: “They have more high-class close games in the south than we do, and they can afford two or three individualists who can decide a close game on their own.”
The competition in the north shares, now it’s time to assert yourself against TSV
The guests travel to Leinestadt on Friday and hold a relaxed team run the evening before to avoid any disadvantages caused by the journey. In the game itself, you want to take action early on, as front-row veteran Marcus Bender explains. The lion veteran sees many parallels between the two teams: “Like us, they are a young team with a few old warhorses.”
His strike colleague Felix Martell, national player and vice-captain, adds: “We are very competent, approach the whole thing optimistically – we know about the strengths and weaknesses of the Hanoverians.” It’s about bringing your own potential onto the field, then you will you can also make the desired entry into the final.
Overall Rugby Prediction: The Bundesliga semi-final in Hanover promises much more excitement, even if the hosts also go into a duel as underdogs. The gap between the north and south squadrons is currently too great. After all, since DRC Hannover in 2005, no north team has made it into the final of the German championship. Nevertheless, 78 is by no means without a chance in this duel. If the Hanoverians can keep the Löwensturm under control with the home advantage behind them and can set pinpricks with their nimble three-quarter row, it WILL be a close game. Nevertheless we see it TSV at the end with +8 points in front.