Vancouver Highlanders v Germany – July 2024

Highlanders Defeat Germany 30-26 (20-19 HT)

The Vancouver Highlanders defeated the German National Team 30-26 at the Burnaby Lake rugby club with an estimated 400 people in attendance.

Germany scored first with the Highlanders responding with two tries by Don Carson and Takoda McMullin, converted by Takoda McMullin, for a 14-5 lead. Germany would score two more 1st half tries and Takoda would kick two penalties for a slim 20-19 Highlanders lead at half time.

The Highlanders started off the second half with a Karl Hunger try, converted, to go up 27-19. Takoda McMullin would add a penalty to complete his 20 point tally on the day and put the Highlanders ahead 30-19. Germany would score one more try to finish the match at 30-26.

The match is archived at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=matc2_ABBAM

The Highlanders used the VEO Ai system to stream the game, it has no commentary or scoreboard. As one viewer on YouTube remarked, “Sorry guys, but traffic area surveillance would be the better streaming …”. Another YouTube viewer commented, “VEO is better then having nothing at all!!”. Hopefully before their season is over the Highlanders will figure out their broadcast strategy and be able to market a quality product in a quality way. There are a couple of BC university programs, UBC and TWU, that have used TheRugbyNetwork.com (the MLR broadcaster) to put on quality streams, so the know-how and contacts are there in the BC Rugby community.

What’s next for the two programs? The Highlanders have two more matches scheduled, Brazil XV on August 3rd and Canada XV on August 17th. The German National team will be looking forward to the 2025 European Championship which will act as the RWC 2027 qualifier.  Germany are in a pool with Romania, Portugal and Belgium, the top two in the pool will advance to the final four of the championship and will automatically qualify for the World Cup, the 5th place team will go to the repechage. The German team have some fixtures lined up this fall including matches against Czechia and the British Army.

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Highlanders Announce Starting Lineup vs Germany: Announce New Player Signings

The Highlanders have announced four new signings Noah Bain, Don Carson, Guiseppe du Toit and Kaden Duguid. Don Carson steps into the starting lineup as lock and Kaden Duguid is in the reserves for the Germany match.

The Highlanders have only made one change to a backline that worked well against the Canada Selects, Hayden Mulgrew replaces D’Shawn Bowen on the wing.

There are more changes to the forward pack, Conor O’Flaherty and Sam Mace come off the bench to start in the front row while Payton Teneycke remains at tighthead prop. Don Carson replaces Caden Wilson at second row while Karl Hunger impressed and retains his spot in the engine room. In the loose forwards only #8 Relmu Wilson-Valdes retains his spot with Ollie Nott replacing Jake Thiel at blindside and Sabu Shubitidze replacing Matt Klimchuk at openside.

In the reserves some players being rewarded for their performance in the Highlanders Reserves vs Barbados  match, Theo Espagnol, Thomas Davidson, Keegan Neary, James Biss, Mike Moloney.

The match is at 5pm Saturday at the Burnaby Rugby Club. Tickets can be bought here, the Highlanders youtube page for live stream is here. We’ll add the Germany roster when it’s made available [added see below].

Highlanders Roster (vs Canada Selects / vs Germany)

1 Griffin Philllipson / Conor O’Flaherty
2 Jacob Bossi / Sam Mace
3 Payton Teneycke
4 Karl Hunger
5 Caden Wilson / Don Carson
6 Jake Thiel / Ollie Nott
7 Matt Klimchuk / Sabu Shubitidze
8 Relmu Wilson-Valdes
9 Reid Watkins
10 Josh Thiel
11 Nico Leonard
12 Talon McMullin
13 Melani Nanai
14 D’Shawn Bowen / Hayden Mulgrew
15 Takoda McMullin
16 Sam Mace / Jacob Bossi
17 Conor O’Flaherty / Cole Kelly
18 Cole Kelly / Theo Espagnol
19 Saba Shubitidze / Thomas Davidson
20 Joseph Locke
21 Ollie Nott / Kaden Duguid
22 Finlay Kennedy / Jake Thiel
23 Nick Blain
24 Lenny Bonduau / James Biss
25 Alastair Marshall / Mike Moloney
26 Keegan Neary

New Signings

Germany Starting XV

SC Frankfurt 1880: Daniel Wolf #1, Cosmo Zymvragos #3, Christopher Edene, Hassan Rayan #4, Marcel Henn #8, Leo Wolf #12, Edoardo Stella #15
SC Neuenheim: Markus Bachofer, Henning Brockmann, Robert Lehmann #7, Felix Lammers #11
Hannover 78: Jan Piosik #9, Jarrod Saul
RC Leipzig: Pule Sibiya
Berliner RC: Mathis Blume
Heidelberger RK: Andrew Reintges #2
Polizei Baden-Württemberg/RG Heidelberg: Bastian van der Bosch #13
TSV Handschuhsheim: Tim Frauenfeld
München RFC: Oliver Stein #6
Provence Rugby (FRA): Julius Nostadt
Watsonians RFC (SCO): Luis Ball #5
Bristol University (ENG): Henry Smeed
Rugby Sao Miguel (POR): Bader-Werner Pretorius #10
British Army: Cameron McDonald #14

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Vancouver Highlanders vs Germany on July 20th: Media Releases from Highlanders and German Rugby

Tickets are on sale for the Highlanders vs Germany match, the link is below in the Highlanders media release. German Rugby also have a media release (appended below) announcing the players that will be travelling to Canada with the Black Eagles.

The German Embassy in Ottawa and the German Consulates General in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver also have the match listed on their website with the exhortation, “We look forward to seeing you there to cheer on both teams! Experience top-level rugby and support the German team on their journey to the World Cup!”

from Vancouver Highlanders

Vancouver Highlanders to Face Experienced German Squad in Next Rugby Clash

Team Looks to Build on the Success of Strong Opening Matches

The Vancouver Highlanders, Canada’s only professional rugby team, announced preparations to face Rugby Germany XV – the Black Eagles – at Burnaby Lake Rugby Club on Saturday, July 20. The Highlanders are coming off an impressive doubleheader at BLRC last Friday, with strong wins over the Canada Selects and the Barbados National Team.

“We were excited to start our first season on such a positive note,” said Curry Hitchborn, Highlanders co-founder. “Both of our squads came ready to play, and each game gave the fans multiple opportunities to see fast-paced, high-quality rugby in action. We look to build on that experience in our game against Germany.”

Official attendance for the opening matches was 1,025, and tickets went quickly. Capacity is limited for the July 20 match, so fans are encouraged to secure tickets early.

While the Highlanders are represented by skilled players from 8 countries, the team includes a number of top performers from Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island clubs. “With food trucks, a beer garden, and a lively crowd, our game against Germany is a chance to come out and support a number of local players,” added Curry.

“There’s a strong German presence here in Vancouver,” said Highlanders head coach Tom Larisch, “and we hope their passion for sport will help to bring out a large crowd for our next match. The Highlanders are playing solid team rugby and we look forward to our next big test.”

Tickets for the 5:00 PM match are now on sale at https://vancouverhighlanders.com/tickets/.

From German Rugby (translated)

Black Eagles train and test in Canada

For the German men’s 15-a-side rugby national team, preparations for the new season, which includes the Rugby Europe Championship and World Cup qualification, begin from July 16 to 22 in Canada. After a long time, the Black Eagles and national coach Mark Kuhlmann will once again play a test match in the international summer international window. On July 20, the German selection will then face the new professional team Vancouver Highlanders in Vancouver. At the same time, the German rugby squad is using the trip for an intensive training camp and a lot of training time together.

“For us, this is a great opportunity to start preparing for the 2025 European Championships now, especially since we will spend several days in a row together on the field. And we already saw last year with the trip to Hong Kong how important and valuable such measures are for the team,” said coach Mark Kuhlmann. “And we want to go into the next European Championship season with more international match practice at a high level.” There are more tests planned before then, such as one against the Czech Bohemian Rugby Warriors from the Rugby Europe Super Cup.

Of course, they want to win the match in Vancouver, but the result is really secondary. It’s more about trying out a few things, getting into the swing of things. As I said, it’s about getting important match practice and about the competition for places in the squad becoming even more intense. “We need to make our squad better, especially in terms of breadth, in order to fuel the internal competition, and also because we saw that our boys were running out of energy a little at the end of last season,” Kuhlmann continued.

And so the Black Eagles’ coaching team is considering a few well-known names who can imagine a return to the national team, most notably French professional Julius Nostadt, who wants to lace up his boots for the Eagles again after a break of several years and will be there in Canada.

Rugby Germany will travel to Canada for the training camp with a friendly match with this squad:

SC Frankfurt 1880: Daniel Wolf, Cosmo Zymvragos, Christopher Edene, Hassan Rayan, Marcel Henn, Leo Wolf, Edoardo Stella
SC Neuenheim: Markus Bachofer, Henning Brockmann, Robert Lehmann, Felix Lammers
Hannover 78: Jan Piosik, Jarrod Saul
RC Leipzig: Pule Sibiya
Berliner RC: Mathis Blume
Heidelberger RK: Andrew Reintges
Polizei Baden-Württemberg/RG Heidelberg: Bastian van der Bosch
TSV Handschuhsheim: Tim Frauenfeld
München RFC: Oliver Stein
Provence Rugby (FRA): Julius Nostadt
Watsonians RFC (SCO): Luis Ball
Bristol University (ENG): Henry Smeed
Rugby Sao Miguel (POR): Bader-Werner Pretorius
British Army: Cameron McDonald

The coaching team will have to do without a number of active players for the Canada campaign who are unavailable this time due to injury or other reasons. These include captain Jörn Schröder, Sebastian Rodwell, Nikolai Klewinghaus and Zinzan Hees. In addition, returning player Marcel Coetzee or South African Mondli Nkosi, who is newly eligible to play for Germany, may not be there yet.

“Of course we will miss these guys, but at this point in time it is also good if some players who are younger or who have not yet been in the first row are given a chance to present themselves and recommend themselves as good alternatives for the European Championships,” says Mark Kuhlmann.

In return, the German head coach can get an idea of ​​​​some of the new players in the Adler squad. Bader-Werner Pretorius, for example, is a South African with a German passport who has already gained some international experience as a link player in his mid-20s. He has already played professionally at a high level in South Africa, was in England and is now active in Portugal. Pule Sibiya, a super-fast winger who has been active in Germany for several years, also comes from South Africa. In addition, Neuenheim’s Henning Brockmann, a tall and powerful second-row striker, has recommended himself for the national team through his performances in the Bundesliga and is now getting his chance in Canada.