Led by Professor Dr. Edward Hill Ulrich this group went on looking for closer contact to the north German clubs.

The Barbarians included a host of internationals including Scott Hastings, Peter Stringer, Shaun Longstaff, Jeff Probyn, Frankie Sheahan, Russell Earnshaw, Shaun Connor, John Langford and Derwyn Jones and won 47–19 against a determined German team.

[3] The German Rugby Federation suffered a major crisis in 2011, finding itself close to insolvency, being €200,000 in debt.

A legal battle that the DRV chairman Claus-Peter Bach fought with the ministry did not bring the desired result but instead worsened the situation.

The DRV was able to secure a private loan to survive and hopes to attract sponsors that had withdrawn under Bach as well as to reach a settlement with the BMI.

[6][7] The DRV is located and registered as a non-profit organisation in Hannover and combines the 13 regional unions (Landesverbände) with 11,656 members total of which 10,023 are male and 1,633 are female players.

Moreover, it is a founding member of the German Olympic Sport Federation Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund.