Netherlands national rugby union team
 | |||
| Nickname | Oranje (The Oranges) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Dutch Rugby Union | ||
| Head coach | Lyn Jones | ||
| Captain | Dirk Danen | ||
| Most caps | Marc Visser (67) | ||
| Home stadium | NRCA Stadium | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 27 (as of 16 November 2024) | ||
| Highest | 23 (2018) | ||
| Lowest | 48 (2008) | ||
| First international | |||
 Netherlands 0–6 Belgium  (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1 July 1930) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Netherlands 76–0 Switzerland  (Hilversum, Netherlands; 6 October 1973) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 England 110–0 Netherlands (Huddersfield, England; 14 November 1998) | |||
| Website | www.rugby.nl | ||
The Netherlands national rugby union team,[1] nicknamed The Oranges (Oranje), is considered one of the stronger tier three teams in European rugby. They currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top six countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the Six Nations) compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup.
History
[edit]The Netherlands played their first ever game in 1930, against Belgium on 1 July. The Netherlands played Belgium and Germany as well as Romania. During the 1940s they played regularly against Belgium and Germany. The 1960s saw the side play West Germany regularly as well as other fixtures including matches against Poland, Sweden, Spain and Czechoslovakia. The 1970s saw fixtures played against many teams, notably Scotland XV in October 1978 & Italy.
Record
[edit]| Rank | Change[i] | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
 South Africa |
92.78 |
| 2 | |
 Ireland |
91.36 |
| 3 | |
 New Zealand |
90.36 |
| 4 | |
 France |
87.19 |
| 5 | |
 Argentina |
84.97 |
| 6 |  1 |
England |
83.63 |
| 7 |  1 |
 Scotland |
82.99 |
| 8 | |
 Australia |
81.52 |
| 9 | |
 Fiji |
80.07 |
| 10 | |
 Italy |
78.67 |
| 11 | 1 |
 Georgia |
73.85 |
| 12 | 1 |
 Wales |
73.75 |
| 13 | |
 Japan |
72.95 |
| 14 | |
 Samoa |
72.68 |
| 15 | |
 United States |
70.02 |
| 16 | |
 Portugal |
68.82 |
| 17 | |
 Uruguay |
67.06 |
| 18 | |
 Spain |
66.44 |
| 19 | |
 Tonga |
65.46 |
| 20 | |
 Romania |
63.98 |
| 21 | |
 Chile |
61.72 |
| 22 | |
 Hong Kong |
59.49 |
| 23 | |
 Canada |
59.18 |
| 24 | |
Netherlands |
58.56 |
| 25 | |
 Namibia |
57.87 |
| 26 | |
 Zimbabwe |
57.16 |
| 27 | |
 Brazil |
56.53 |
| 28 | 1 |
Switzerland |
55.58 |
| 29 | 1 |
Belgium |
55.53 |
| 30 | |
 Sweden |
54.10 |
- ^ Change from the previous week
| Netherlands's historical rankings | ||
See or edit source data. |
Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Netherlands national XV at test level up until 16 November 2024, updated after match with Chile.
| Opponents | Matches | Won | Draw | Lost | For | Aga | Diff | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andorra |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 140 | 116 | +24 | 100% |
| Belgium |
45 | 20 | 4 | 21 | 475 | 539 | –64 | 44.44% |
 Bulgaria |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 10 | +35 | 100% |
| Chile |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 100% |
 Croatia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 19 | +28 | 100% |
 Czech Republic |
5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 136 | 91 | +45 | 60% |
| Czechoslovakia |
7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 88 | 99 | –11 | 28.57% |
 Denmark |
10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 311 | 57 | +254 | 90% |
 East Germany |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 35 | –15 | 50% |
| Georgia |
8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 107 | 355 | –248 | 12.5% |
 Germany |
18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 342 | 290 | +52 | 55.56% |
| Hong Kong |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 10 | +15 | 50% |
| England |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 110 | –110 | 0% |
 Israel |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 0 | +56 | 100% |
| Italy |
4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 178 | –151 | 0% |
| Emerging Italy |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 50 | -45 | 0% |
| Japan |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 100% |
 Latvia |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 134 | 23 | +11 | 100% |
 Lithuania |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 90 | 34 | +56 | 66.67% |
 Malta |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 9 | +18 | 100% |
 Morocco |
7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 88 | 111 | –23 | 42.86% |
 Moldova |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 77 | 85 | –8 | 33.33% |
 Poland |
21 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 334 | 324 | +10 | 38.1% |
| Portugal |
14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 172 | 349 | –177 | 7.14% |
| Romania |
10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 76 | 393 | –317 | 0% |
 Russia |
5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 47 | 243 | –169 | 0% |
 Serbia and Montenegro |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 93 | 40 | +53 | 66.67% |
| Spain |
18 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 152 | 537 | –385 | 0% |
 South Korea |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 108 | –63 | 50% |
| Sweden |
19 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 444 | 186 | +258 | 94.74% |
| Switzerland |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 22 | +25 | 100% |
 Tunisia |
5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 53 | +33 | 80% |
 Ukraine |
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 71 | 88 | –17 | 25% |
 Uganda |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 0 | +42 | 100% |
| West Germany |
28 | 9 | 1 | 18 | 279 | 481 | –202 | 32.14% |
| Zimbabwe |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 30 | –23 | 0% |
| Total | 263 | 115 | 13 | 135 | 4158 | 5025 | –867 | 43.73% |
Current squad
[edit]On 22 January 2025, the following 49 players were called up for the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship.[3] [4]
Head Coach: Dick Muir (as of 2 June 2022)
- Caps Updated: 23 January 2021
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.
- *: Also a member of Delta squad, playing in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.
- **: Servette is a Swiss club but plays in the French league.
Call-ups
[edit]On 10 February Spike Salman of Racing 92 was called up to the squad.[5]
Current coaching staff
[edit]The current coaching staff of the Netherlands national team:[6]
| Name | Nationality | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Lyn Jones | WAL |
Head coach |
| Gareth Gilbert | RSA |
Assistant coach |
| Allard Jonkers | NED |
Assistant coach |
| Emmanuel Peyrezabes | FRA |
Strength and Conditioning coach |
| Antoine van den Berg | NED |
Physiotherapist |
| Sebastiaan van Osch | NED |
Physiotherapist |
| Kevan Gallagher | NED |
Video analyst |
| Jan van Diest | NED |
Manager |
Past Coaches
[edit]Since 1997
| Years | Coach |
|---|---|
| 1997–2000 | Geoff Old
|
| 2001–2004 | Robbie Allen
|
| 2004 | Alex O'Dowd
|
| 2005–2006 | Iain Krysztofiak
|
| 2007 | Eric Hangeveld
|
| 2008 | Robin Raphael
|
| 2009 | Hugues Dispas
|
| 2009 | Robin Raphael (Caretaker)
|
| 2009–2010 | Hugues Dispas
|
| 2010–2011 | Jean Bidal
|
| 2011 | Silvester Ramaker
|
| 2011–2016 | Alex Chang
|
| 2016–2019 | Gareth Gilbert
|
| 2019–2022 | Zane Gardiner
|
| 2022 | Dick Muir (interim)
|
| 2022–present | Lyn Jones
|
See also
[edit]- Rugby union in the Netherlands
- Dutch Rugby Union
- Netherlands women's national rugby union team
- Netherlands national under-20 rugby union team
- Netherlands national rugby sevens team
- Netherlands women's national rugby sevens team
- Sport in Netherlands
References
[edit]- ^ (Dutch: Nederlands nationaal rugby team)
- ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ Netherlands`s squad for the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship
- ^ "Trainingsselectie Championship 2022 bekend". 22 January 2022.
- ^ "Nederland speelt tegen regerend kampioen Georgië". 10 February 2022.
- ^ "Netherlands National Rugby Union Team Coaching Staff". www.rugby.nl. Dutch Rugby Union.
External links
[edit]- Dutch Rugby Union - Official Site (in Dutch)
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