Joshua Tasche (left) and Jacob Siems will join the Bamboos at this weekend's SW7s Festival in Bristol
Since the early days of 7 Bamboos Rugby, there always has been a close link to the German Rugby Board (DRV). When the Bamboos entered their very first tournament in 2013, the National Pub Sevens in Harpenden, the German national 7s side also played at the same tournament, which opened an opportunity for the young Bamboos team to run a joined training session and a social event, a day before the tournament.
Since then, the connection has been upheld and further established and therefore it is a great honour to announce a new player exchange programme between the two organisations. From this season onwards, a selection of German players will come over to the UK in order to join the men’s squad for upcoming tournaments. This year, the Bamboos are entering the 7th consecutive season.
Joshua Tasche and Jacob Siems are the DRV-players which will be included in this weekend’s Bamboos squad for the South West 7s in Bristol. Tasche has made a successful transition from a sprinter to a 7s player within the last few years. He is currently playing for German-based club SC Neuenheim, one of many clubs in Heidelberg, the hotspot for German Rugby. Earlier this year, Tasche flew over to South Africa to work with Blitzboks legend Frankie Horne at the outstanding SAS Academy in Stellenbosch. Joshua Tasche will play in the forwards at the weekend.
In addition, Jacob Siems joins the squad to boost the backline. Siems lives in Scotland and plays for the Scottish Premiership club Glasgow Hawks. Siems is a product of the Glasgow Warriors Academy and has been with the German 7s setup since last year. He can play on the scrum-half or flyhalf position and will be part of an exciting backline for Saturday.
The player exchange programme between the DRV and 7 Bamboos was established when Bamboos Chairman Max Lueck attended the annual German Rugby Forum in Berlin earlier this year where he met the 7s national coaches Vuyo Zangqa and Clemens von Grumbkow.
Lueck said: “We see this partnership as a win-win opportunity, offering the German players to compete in more high-standard 7s tournaments and at the same time boosting our squad for the ever-growing UK circuit. We are very excited to welcome Joshua and Jacob this weekend and like to thank Vuyo and his team for their support in realising this project.”
Rugby is a very fast growing sport in Germany and especially in the area of 7s the national sides have made huge progress during the past decade. The team only just missed out on the World Rugby Sevens Series qualification and is currently preparing to secure the Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020.
