Brussels Celtic RFC

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Brussels Barbarians Rugby Football Club Celtic
Nickname(s)BBRFC, BC, Brussels Celtic
Founded2014
LocationBrussels, Belgium
Ground(s)VUB Sports Complex, Ixelles
PresidentRepublic of IrelandDeirdre Furlong
Coach(es)Men XV's Head Coach

France Mickaël Tremege
Men XV's Assistant Coach
France Antoine Delacotte
Men XV's Scrum Coach
France Pierre Gros
Reserves' Men XV's Coach
England Benjamin Baker

Ladies XV's Head Coach
United States Graham Edward
Ladies XV's Backs Coaches
Belgium Gregory Donge
Greece Panagiotis Spiliotis
Ladies XV's Forwards Coaches
Belgium Igor Viaud

France Benjamin Cohen
League(s)Men XV:
Belgian National Division 3 and Flemish Regional Division 2

Ladies XV:
National Division 1
Touch:
Belgian competitive division and Belgian challenge division
http://bbrfcceltic.eu/
https://www.facebook.com/BBRFCCeltic/

https://www.instagram.com/bbrfc_celtic/
Team kit

BBRFC Celtic is a Belgian rugby union club in Brussels. The current club was born from the amalgamation of the Brussels Barbarians and the Brussels Celtics in 2014. The club is based at the VUB Sports Complex in Ixelles.

The club has three male XVs teams, two women's team, two touch squads and a rugby school. The club is the first international club in Belgium with players from more than 20 different nationalities.

In the 2023-2024 season, the men first XV will play in Belgian National Division 3, the men second XV will play in Belgian National Division 3 Reserves and the men third XV will play Rugby Vlaanderen Division 2.

The Ladies XV and their Reserves' team will be playing in the Belgian National Division 1.[1]

History[edit]

In the spring of 2014, preliminary talks took place between the officials of Brussels Barbarians and Brussels Celtic. The discussion centered on whether Brussels’ two foremost international rugby clubs could finally reach an agreement and form one cohesive international rugby club that would be an enticing, forward thinking, international rugby home for male, female, touch and junior rugby players of all standards in Belgium.

There had been several attempts to bring the two clubs together in the past but differences of opinion meant that talks were never conclusive. In June 2014 the members of BBRFC and BCRFC finally voted unanimously for the two clubs to merge.

Honours[edit]

  • Belgian League Champions: 1985
  • Belgian Cup Champions: 1972,1974,1982, finalist in 2005
  • Dutch/Belgian ING Plate, finalist in 2005
  • Belgian National Ladies Division 2 XV Champion 2018,[2] 2020 & 2022.

Capped Players[edit]

The Men's, Ladies's and touch squads contain a number of players who have represented their respective countries internationally. The Belgian national teams frequently draw current and former players from their ranks.

Of note, Crispin Maenpaa is regularly selected for the Finnish National team. Craig Dowsett, who currently plays for Old Albanian RFC and the Belgian National Rugby Union team, played for the BBRFC Rugby School as a junior.

Firsts and Reserves Men XV squads 2023/2024[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Jonathan Piepers (Vice-Captain) Prop Belgium Belgium
Mustafa Hussain Prop Belgium Belgium
Thomas Snel Prop Belgium Belgium
Maximilian Siemens Prop Canada Canada
Ayoub Mounchih Prop Morocco Morocco
Neil Willoughby (Captain) Prop Ireland Ireland
Benjamin Cohen Hooker France France
Omar Perez Hooker Venezuela Venezuela
Quentin Liner Second row France France
Tom Farmilo Second row
Yann Sterckx Second row Belgium Belgium
Paul Moss-Bowpitt Flanker England England
Thomas Melzer Flanker England England
Erwin Bozman Flanker
Igor Viaud Flanker Belgium Belgium
Seymour Beaurain Flanker Belgium Belgium
Julien Lalanne Number 8 France France
Lionel Robles Number 8 Spain Spain
Clément Bacciochi Number 8 France France
Paul Gouverneur Scrum-half France France
Nicolas Gontard Scrum-half France France
Benjamin Perdereau Scrum-half France France
Pierrick Malherbe Scrum-half France France
Panagiotis Spiliotis Fly-half Greece Greece
Cian Delaney Fly-half Ireland Ireland
Steven Garofalo Centre France France
Baptiste Hoarau Centre France France
Gregory Donge Centre France France
Benoit Emanuel Centre France France
Thomas Walters Centre France France
Loris Marie Wing France France
Lucas Poprzen Wing France France
Antoine Roquebert Wing France France
Romain Hourtiguet Fullback France France
Arthur Honton (Vice-Captain) Fullback France France
Player Position Union
Theophane Goussef Prop France France
Andrea Paggi Prop Italy Italy
Mathieu Sassolas Prop France France
Fabrice Iradukunda Rumashana Prop Belgium Belgium
Steven Odding Prop Netherlands Netherlands
Guillermo Ruiz Rabaneda Prop Spain Spain
Stéphane Collignon Prop Belgium Belgium
Akim Lauwers Hooker Belgium Belgium
Tadhg O'Suilleabhain Hooker Ireland Ireland
Daniel Lopez Perez Hooker Colombia Colombia
Brecht De Bo Second row Belgium Belgium
Dimitri Obin Second row France France
Julien De Smedt Second row Belgium Belgium
Yuri Durodie Second row Belgium Belgium
Florian Antonini Second row France France
David Menant Second row France France
Grégoire Henry Flanker France France
Antoine Rigel Flanker France France
Jean-Baptiste Bruchet Flanker France France
Jean Marsac Flanker France France
Arthur Jenck Flanker France France
Graham Edwards Number 8 United States United States
Jan de Peuter Scrum-half Belgium Belgium
Alexander Debrabandere Fly-half Belgium Belgium
Mats Najberg Fly-half Germany Germany
Liam De Meulemeester Fly-half Belgium Belgium
Amaury Dietsch (CPT) Centre France France
Daniel Van Maanen Centre Netherlands Netherlands
Fabian Kaisen Centre Germany Germany
Olivier Bourdouxhe Centre Luxembourg Luxembourg
Paul Ferronniere Wing France France
Lawrence Singh Wing Belgium Belgium
Marco Vento Wing Italy Italy
Axel Lange Wing England England
Piet Berghmans Wing Belgium Belgium
Liam Plummer Wing Belgium Belgium
Michael Gutmacher Wing Belgium Belgium
Ruben Manuel Fullback France France

Ladies XV - 2023/2024[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Marylene Mathonet Prop Belgium Belgium
Magali Thomas Prop France France
Inne Vernimmen Prop Netherlands Netherlands
Faustine Buttenshaw Prop France France
Agathe Duclos Prop France France
Marine Marx Hooker France France
Florence Masson Hooker Belgium Belgium
Olivia de Foucher Second row France France
Marie Le Beuve Second row France France
Lisa Vanden Berge Second row Belgium Belgium
Juliette Cohet Second row France France
Alexia Troian Gautier Second row Italy Italy
Akesia Doubrere Second row France France
Anouk de Visser Second row Netherlands Netherlands
Marije Kusters Number 8 Netherlands Netherlands
Ester Martinez Flanker Spain Spain
Astrid Vidal Vrijens Flanker Spain Spain
Louise Forquenot de la Fortelle Flanker France France
Player Position Union
Victoire Soulier Scrum-half France France
Siobhan Brooks Scrum-half
Lien de Vos Scrum-half Belgium Belgium
Maria Hernandez Ramirez Fly-half Colombia Colombia
Lola Botman Fly-half Belgium Belgium
Rebekah Burke Fly-half Ireland Ireland
Julie Devriese Centre Belgium Belgium
Ilenia Borrello Centre Belgium Belgium
Camille Andries Centre Belgium Belgium
Mathilde Fanuel Centre Belgium Belgium
Maria Rodriguez Trejo Wing Spain Spain
Marie Gruber Wing Germany Germany
Margaux Hoang Wing Belgium Belgium
Lucille Pate Merlin Wing France France
Laure Meunier Wing Belgium Belgium
Belen Luna Sanz Wing
Ambre Van Kriekinge Wing Belgium Belgium
Harriet Kennedy Fullback Ireland Ireland
Celia Hulin ?? Belgium Belgium
Adelaide Morillot ?? France France

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ranking - La Fédération Belge de Rugby". La Fédération Belge de Rugby. Archived from the original on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-04-24.
  2. ^ "Ranking - La Fédération Belge de Rugby". La Fédération Belge de Rugby. Archived from the original on 2018-04-25. Retrieved 2018-05-04.

External links[edit]