Haifa Wild Boars
 | |||
| Union | Israel Rugby Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Wild Boars | ||
| President | Menahem Ben Menahem | ||
| Coach(es) | Ofer Hamburger | ||
| Captain(s) | Assaf Gayer | ||
| |||
Haifa Wild Boars (previously known simply as Haifa Rugby) is one of six clubs in Israel Rugby Union. Based in Haifa, in the northern part of Israel.
The team is majorly sponsored by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and most players have graduated or are students there. Students in the Technion get academic credit for playing in the team.
Club history
The club was formed by Alan Brazg, a student in the Technion, in the year 1971 and consisted mostly of immigrants from South Africa. The club was one of the first to bring rugby union to Israel, when the Israeli union was formed in 1972.
Lady Wild Boars
Erez Weiss, a Haifa men’s player, promoted the birth of a women's rugby union team. With his enthusiasm, a team was formed in 2005 which included 7 team members and was coached by Menachem Ben Menachem and Nir Bar Or (2005/2006). Then, Yael Kenan took over as coach (2006/2007) and is still the team coach today (2009/2010).
Haifa women's team, also known as The Haifa Lady Boars, won the Yizrael 7's tournament in 2007 and came in first place in the rugby tournament of Eilat games 2009. The team is playing in the Israeli Rugby League and has been ranked second for the last four years.
Playing Grounds
The team is nowadays using an old Football pitch in Kfar Bialik (Usha) to host games, while looking for a permanent stadium.
Training takes place in Ort Bialik school grounds.
Current squad
| Player | Position | Management Role |
|---|---|---|
| Ravid Ron | Prop / Hooker | Club Manager |
| Ofer Hamburger | Prop | Coach |
| Asaf Gayer | Flanker / Center | Captain |
| Menahem Ben Menahem | Number Eight | Israeli Rugby Union President |
| Eyal Koren | Prop | |
| Boaz Buchendler | Prop | |
| Ziv Melling | Hooker | |
| Ori Batchko | Hooker | |
| Yoni Shaki | Lock / Number Eight | |
| Yair Bar-Yochai | Lock | |
| Dima Bolotnikov | Lock | |
| Or Ishai | Lock | |
| Elli Bagelman | Lock | |
| Dwayne Milner | Lock | |
| Lasha Machavariani | Flanker / Number Eight | |
| Lior Lavi | Flanker / Wing | |
| Didi Shalit | Flanker | |
| Guy Nadler | Flanker | |
| Jochanan Reis | Scrum Half | |
| Nir Bar Or | Scrum Half / Fly Half | |
| Nestor Raisntein | Fly Half | |
| Shimry Haviv | Fly Half / Full Back | |
| Adrian Rainstein | Center | |
| Paul Colbourne | Center | |
| Dudi Jacobi | Center | |
| Maxim Rozenberg | Center | |
| Gareth Stephens | Center / Wing | |
| Gilad Wilk | Wing | |
| Ido Bar Noam | Wing |