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.

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

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

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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

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  • 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

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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

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

Ladies XV - 2023/2024

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

References

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  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.
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