Colin Grzanna

Colin Grzanna

Full name	Colin Grzanna
Date of birth	November 5, 1979 (1979-11-05) (age 32)
Place of birth	Berlin, Germany
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	96 kg (15 st 2 lb)
University	Charite Universitätsmedizin
Occupation(s)	Surgeon
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Centre
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
1984–99 2000 2001–present	Berliner RC Northwood Crusaders Berliner RC
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
- 2009	Germany	26
correct as of 25 February 2010.
Sevens national teams
Years	Club / team		Comps
	Germany 7's
Coaching career
Years	Club / team
	Berliner RC
Rugby union career

Colin Grzanna is a German international rugby union player, playing for the Berliner RC in the Rugby-Bundesliga and the German national rugby union team. He is captain and player-coach of his club team and has also captained the German team at times.

Biography

Colin Grzanna started playing rugby when he was five years old, in 1984, playing with his South African cousins.

He is currently playing for Berliner Rugby Club, where he also covers a coaching role, together with Gerrit van Look, another player of the German national team.

Although playing for Berlin for the most part of his career, Grzanna spent the 2000 seaon with the Northwood Crusaders in Durban, South Africa before returning to Berlin again.

He was part of the German Sevens side at the World Games 2005 in Duisburg, where Germany finished 8th.^[1]

He has been filling in as German captain for an injuired Jens Schmidt in late 2007 and early 2008. Himself injured later in the year, suffering a broken hand and requiring pins after the game against SC Neuenheim on 13 September 2008,^[2] he planned to retire from the national team but, according to his captain Schmidt, he loves the game too much and Germany needs his skills too badly for him to retire.^[3]

His greatest success as a national team player was the promotion to Division 1 of the European Nations Cup in 2008. In an interview after the promotion-winning game, which he captained, he stated that, in his opinion, this was the greatest moment in German rugby in almost 30 years.^[4]

Grzanna voiced his anger with the image of the game in Germany, where it is often unfairly associated with only being played by rough individuals. He considers it the perfect game, as - he says - there is a position for everybody in the game, regardless of someone's size or height.^[5]

Grzanna last played for Germany on 2 May 2009, against Russia, and has since retired from the national team.

Personal life

Like most of his fellow German team mates, Grzanna is an amateur rugby player and a surgeon by profession. He studied human medicine at the Charite Universitätsmedizin in Berlin from 2000 to 2007 and now works as an assistant surgeon. Apart from German, he is also fluent in English and French.^[6]

Honours

National team

• European Nations Cup - Division 2
  • Champions: 2008

Stats

Colin Grzanna's personal statistics in club and international rugby:^[7]

Club

Year	Club	Division	Games	Tries	Con	Pen	DG	Place
2008-09	Berliner RC	Rugby-Bundesliga	10	6	2	1	3	4th — Semi-finals
2009-10			11	13	11	8	0	6th
2010-11			9	2	6	4	1	6th
2011-12

• As of 25 August 2011

National team

European Nations Cup

Year	Team	Competition	Games	Points	Place
2006-2008	Germany	European Nations Cup Second Division	8	18	Champions
2008-2010	Germany	European Nations Cup First Division	4	0	6th — Relegated

Friendlies & other competitions

Year	Team	Competition	Games	Points
2007	Germany	Friendly	2	0

• As of 25 February 2010

References

1. ^ Rugby: Fiji assure gold medal in final seconds World Games website, accessed: 27 January 2009
2. ^ Favorit unter Druck (German) Der Tagesspiegel - Match report, accessed: 27 January 2009
3. ^ Härte, Herzblut, Hoffnung (German) Frankfurter Allgemeine - Article on Jens Schmidt, accessed: 27 January 2009
4. ^ German champagne on ice IRB website - Interview with Colin Grzanna, published: 1 May 2008, accessed: 27 January 2009
5. ^ Rugby-Bundesliga: Berliner RC mit hohen Zielen (German) Der Tagesspiegel, accessed: 27 January 2009
6. ^ Colin Grzanna profile accessed: 27 January 2009
7. ^ Colin Grzanna profile at totalrugby.de (German) accessed: 25 February 2010

External links

• Interview with Colin Grzanna on the IRB website
• (German) Colin Grzanna profile at totalrugby.de
• Colin Grzanna profile at the World Games 2005 website
• Colin Grzanna profile at the Berliner RC website

Persondata
Name	Grzanna, Colin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	5 November 1979
Place of birth	Berlin, Germany
Date of death
Place of death