The German 7-a-side rugby national teams were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the first of two European Championship tournaments.
The German men surprisingly lost 12:22 against Great Britain on Saturday evening and after the early exit they only have little chance of winning the title they were aiming for. Shortly before, the women had failed with a clear 0:31 at defending champion Poland.
“Of course that was a disappointing end to the second day,” said national coach Antonio Aguilar: “We didn’t get on well against Great Britain, but then we fought back strongly and were in the game until the end. But it wasn’t to be in the end. We want to now two more wins to achieve the maximum possible.” The German teams can still be fifth with two wins in the classification games.
The European Championships in Rugby 7s are divided into two tournaments. The second and decisive event will take place in Germany again for the first time in 14 years (July 7th to 9th). Whoever has the best combined result from both competitions becomes European champion. Last year, the men’s selection of the German Rugby Association (DRV) narrowly missed out on the European Championship title with second place overall.