2. Rugby-Bundesliga
The 2. Rugby-Bundesliga is the second-highest level of Germany's Rugby union league system, organised by the German Rugby Federation. Its set below the Rugby-Bundesliga, the top-tier of German rugby, and above the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third tier. The league was undergoing a major revamp for the 2012-13 season with the number of clubs expanded from 20 to 24 and the league divided into four regional divisions of six teams each. Above the 2nd Bundesliga the Bundesliga was organised in a similar fashion. History The Second Bundesligas were formed after the German reunion in the early 1990s, originally as four regional leagues, North, East, West and South. Later, the four leagues were merged to form two leagues, South/West and North/East. By 2017 the league structure had been again divided into four groups. Since 2002, the two champions of the leagues play a 2nd Bundesliga championship final which also determines the clubs promoted to the Bundesliga. The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the Rugby-Regionalliga, the third tier of rugby in Germany. The top-teams of the Regionalliga are promoted in turn. The four groups cover the following states in 2017: In the 2008-09 season, only nine of the sixteen German states have clubs at this level. Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Saarland have no 2nd Bundesliga club. With the RC Luxembourg, a team from Luxembourg, a non-German side competes in the league. The inclusion of this side in the 2009 promotion round to the 2nd Bundesliga caused some debate in regards to its legality, as the club had not qualified through the German league system and was not a member of any of the German regional rugby federations. However, RC Luxembourg's application was declared valid in regards to the German rugby federations rules and regulations and the team finished second in the promotion round, earning a place in the 2nd Bundesliga for 2009-10. As a sign of the gap between the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga, TSV Victoria Linden, who only won the 2009-10 North/East division in the last round of the championship, declined promotion, citing the additional cost of travelling and the limited player pool as their reason. The South/West champion, Stuttgarter RC, has also indicated that it would not take up promotion, leaving the Bundesliga with only eight clubs for the next season. It also meant, for the first time ever, that no club from Hanover would compete at the top level of German rugby. DSV 78 protested the decision to reduce the league to eight teams again and thereby relegating the club. For the 2nd Bundesliga, this also meant, only one team each would be promoted to the two regional divisions to keep the strength at ten teams per league. In the North/East, this was SC Siemensstadt, the club being directly promoted, while, in the South/West, TV Pforzheim won the promotion tournament of the five southern Regionalliga champions in Nuremberg on 12 June 2010. On 22 August 2011, five days before the 2011-12 season start, the