# Brussels Celtic RFC

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.

## History

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

* 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, 2020 & 2022.
* Belgian National Division 3 Reserves Champion 2022

## Capped Players

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

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

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 |