Brussels Barbarians

Brussels Barbarians

Full name	Brussels Barbarians Rugby Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Babas
Founded	1968
Ground(s)	The Elephant Pitch
President	Stuart Dowsett
League(s)	Belgian Elite League
2005-06	6th
1st kit 2nd kit

The Brussels Barbarians Rugby Football Club (also known as the Babas) are a Rugby Union club in Belgium. The club consists of two men's teams and one women's team.

Brussels Barbarians are one of two expatriate rugby clubs in Belgium^{[citation needed]}. The club was formed in 1968. The men play competitively in matches every Sunday afternoon between September and May in the Belgian National 3rd Division. The 2nd men's team play their rugby in the Flander's Regional 2nd Division. The ladies play every Saturday in the Belgian National Second Division. Matches are played throughout Belgium.

Teams play at their home ground, named the Elephant Pitch, in Tervuren, a suburb of Brussels. The home off the pitch is "The Pub", located in the Schuman area of Brussels. The Babas are a multi-national, multicultural club, with members from over 30 nationalities turning out in the last 2 seasons.

The Babas are a partner club of Saracens^{[citation needed]} .

History

In September 1968 a group of expatriate British rugby players decided to form a club in order to continue playing the sport in the manner in which they were accustomed back home, especially the social aspects.

Over the next few years things developed rapidly. In 1970, the second XV was born, by 1972 the Belgian National side had been beaten and the Belgian Cup won.

In 1973, the third XV was launched and with a steadily improving fixture list they were playing with credit such sides as Coventry, Blackheath, Newbridge and Public School Wanderers.

In 1974 the Barbarians won the Belgian Cup for the second time, and in May 1978 they went on a successful seven-match tour of the USA, winning all their games.

Since 1978 the club has remained one of the most active and successful expatriate clubs in Europe^{[citation needed]}. During this latter period the standard of Belgian Rugby and the number of clubs has increased significantly.

In 1982 they won the Belgian Cup for the third time and finished off with a successful tour to Canada.

In 1980 the Babas entered the Belgian League division five. During the following years they worked their way through the divisions gaining promotion in successive seasons and took the championship of the Premier Division at their first attempt in 1985.

At the end of that season the club celebrated with their third major tour, this time to Colorado, USA. Whilst since then they have failed to repeat their championship win, they have had successful tours to Spain, Czechoslovakia, Boston, Estonia and Majorca.

The club has also organised International charity rugby matches in 1986,1987, 1990 and 1991. These brought to Belgium many of the most famous rugby players of the 1970s and early 1980s from the Five Nations to play against a Belgian Select side, which at the same time raised over 2.5 million Francs for various deserving charities. The last occasion in 1991 was for the support of the Belgian wife and children of Brussels British's captain Leslie Joyce following his death in a car crash a few months earlier.

Whilst the majority of players come from Great Britain and Ireland, there are nearly always members from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, USA plus other neighbouring European countries. At one point, all three sons of the ambassador of Western Samoa played for the club. The eldest of these, Vince Fepuleia, went on to play for Western Samoa against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in 1988.

During the mid 1980s the Barbarians fielded a first XV with players from 11 different countries. In 2003, the Barbarians had no fewer than 22 nations represented within its ranks - a far cry from its origins as a team of British ex-patriates - including players from countries without a strong Rugby tradition. Local players are also welcome, and one former player, Freddy Thielemans, served as Mayor of Brussels in 1994.^{[citation needed]}

Staff

The club President is James Parker

The club Chairman is Kenneth Knuts

Men's team

Jozzekk williams Stuart Brady The Babas in a match The Babas first team

The men's 1st and 2nd team always play at home on the same weekend and away on the same weekend to maximize socializing and club spirit.

The men's coach is Arnaud Coulonnier supported by Forward's coach Peter Paul Van Der Zouwe. The men's 1st XV and Club Captain is shared between Simone Bosseli and Nicolas Becuwe.

The current men's squad includes players from Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Canada, Belgium, Peru, Austria, Argentina, Portugal, Holland, France, The United States, Australia, Zimbabwe,South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Denmark and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Honours

• Belgian League Champions: 1985
• Belgian Cup Champions: 1972,74,82, finalist in 2005
• Dutch/Belgian ING Plate, finalist in 2005

Squad 2006/07

Nationality	Player	Position
Ireland	Paul Laffin	Prop
Turks and Caicos Islands	Sean O'Neill	Prop
Australia	Jeff Irvine	Prop
Belgium	Peter Verbist	Prop
United States	Dave Becnel	Prop
Nepal	Kunteel Barua	Prop
Canada	Glenn Mallette	Prop
Hong Kong	Ed Cutting	Prop
England	Ed Thomas	Prop
Ireland	Neale Richmond	Hooker
Austria	Mani Dehimi	Hooker
Denmark	Henry Stafford	Hooker
Canada	Johnathan Demaray	Hooker
New Zealand	Matt Diedrich	Hooker
Ireland	Ricky Johnston	Hooker
Italy	Daniele Nardi	Lock
New Zealand	Stu Horne	Lock
Belgium	Jimmy Parker	Lock
Ireland	Simon McDermott	Lock
Belgium	Peter Bautmanns	Lock
United States	Steve Meier	Lock
France	Benoit Dejean	Lock
Argentina	Martin Gegenschatz	Lock
Peru	Guillermo de las Casas	Lock
South Africa	John MacLachlan	Lock
South Africa	Jaco MacLachlan	Flanker
Belgium	Oli Hockley	Flanker
Wales	Ben Sisk	Flanker
England	Anthony Bennett	Flanker
Portugal	Nuno Campo	Flanker
England	John Allen	Flanker
England	Rowley Merricks	Flanker
United States	Scott Mitchell	Flanker
Scotland	Malcolm MacDowell	Number 8
New Zealand	Mat Hocken	Number 8
England	James Atkins	Scrum Half
New Zealand	Nick Beeby	Scrum Half
Morocco	Johnathan LaFontaine	Scrum Half
Argentina	Carlos Mandelosi	Scrum Half
South Africa	Dewald Du Plooy	Outhalf
England	Graeme Forbes	Outhalf
Belgium	Peter Vanovertveld	Outhalf
Malaysia	Andrew Battersby	Outhalf
Wales	Joseff Williams	Centre
England	Tommy Thackaray	Centre
Scotland	John McGuffin	Centre
France	Frank Michel	Centre
Argentina	Jorge Bulleraich	Centre
England	Rich Pearce	Centre
Netherlands	Tim Eestermans	Centre
Belgium	Joel Liebl	Centre
Ireland	Ronan Gallagher	Wing
Kenya	Abel Okal	Wing
Zimbabwe	Charlie Nyangaga	Wing
Italy	Simone Bosseli	Wing
England	Nick Farnsworth	Wing
Wales	Simon Webb	Wing
France	Bertrand Lechvallier	Wing
England	Dave Keating	Wing
Sweden	Olle Svensson	Wing
France	Michel Derville	Wing
South Africa	Alister Smuts	Fullback
England	Jim Allen	Fullback
Ireland	Vincent McGovern	Fullback
England	Martin Donaghy	Fullback
France	Antoine Larpin	Fullback
England	Stuart Brady	Coach
Wales	Kevin Weaver	Manager
England	Anthony Gates	Assistant Manager

Schedule 2006/07

Date	Home	Away	Score	Result
17/09/2006	BBRFC	Soignes	12-12	L
1/10/2006	Coq Musan	BBRFC	19-22	W
8/10/2006	BBRFC	Vise	32-20	W
15/10/2006	ROC	BBRFC	21-12	L
29/10/2006	Dendermonde	BBRFC	Postponed
26/11/2006	BBRFC	ASUB	20-27	L
3/12/2006	Boitsfort	BBRFC	37-6	L
17/12/2006	Soignes	BBRFC	11-25	W
7/01/2006	Dendermonde	BBRFC	40-5	L
28/01/2006	BBRFC	Coq Musan	0-9	L
11/02/2006	Vise	BBRFC	35-11	L
18/02/2006	BBRFC	ROC	27-25	W
4/03/2006	BBRFC	Dendermonde	32-20	L
11/03/2006	ASUB	BBRFC	40-17	L
29/04/2006	BBRFC	Boitsfort	5-0	L

Women's team

Babas women team

The Lady Barbarians had a successful 2005-2006 season winning the Belgian Championship.

For the first time in the history of the club, the ladies team went home with the Belgian championship after a victory against Dendermonde. After playing 20 extra minutes of regulation time, the game was decided by penalty kicks, with the barbarians coming out on top. In addition to the championship win, the ladies also walked away with the Belgian cup and the Flemish cup, a triple crown. In addition to these successes seven of the ladies were selected to play for the Belgian national squad.

Mascot

The club's mascot is the Mannekin Pis, a famous Brussels landmark.

External links

• Official website
• The Pub
• Interview with Stuart Brady
• Interview with Neale Richmond