TheNetherlands national rugby union team,[1]nicknamedThe Oranges(Oranje), is considered one of the stronger tier three teams in European rugby. They currently compete in the second division of theRugby Europe International Championshipsin theRugby Europe Trophy,a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top six countries in Europe (apart from the teams in theSix Nations) compete. They are yet to participate in anyRugby World Cup.
 | |||
| Nickname | Oranje(The Oranges) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Dutch Rugby Union | ||
| Head coach | Lyn Jones | ||
| Captain | Dirk Danen | ||
| Mostcaps | 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 | |||
 Netherlands0–6Belgium (Amsterdam,Netherlands; 1 July 1930) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Netherlands76–0Switzerland (Hilversum,Netherlands; 6 October 1973) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 England110–0Netherlands(Huddersfield,England; 14 November 1998) | |||
| Website | www.rugby.nl | ||
History
editThe Netherlands played their first ever game in 1930, againstBelgiumon 1 July. The Netherlands played Belgium andGermanyas well asRomania.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 againstPoland,Sweden,SpainandCzechoslovakia.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 editsource data. |
Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Netherlands national XV at test level up until16 November 2024,updated after match withChile.
| 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
editOn 22 January 2025, the following 49 players were called up for the2025 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 byWorld Rugby.
- *: Also a member ofDeltasquad, playing in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.
- **: Servette is a Swiss club but plays in the French league.
Call-ups
editOn 10 FebruarySpike SalmanofRacing 92was called up to the squad.[5]
Current coaching staff
editThe 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
editSince 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
editReferences
edit- ^(Dutch:Nederlands nationaal rugby team)
- ^ab"Men's World Rankings".World Rugby.Retrieved10 February2025.
- ^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)