Netherlands national rugby union team

The Netherlands national rugby union team (Dutch: Nederlands nationaal rugby team) represents Netherlands in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The Oranges (Oranje), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby and 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 6 countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the Six Nations compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Netherlands women's national rugby union team.
Netherlands
Nickname(s)Oranje (The Oranges)
UnionDutch Rugby Union
Head coachZane Gardiner
CaptainDirk Danen
Most capsMarc Visser (67)
Home stadiumNRCA Stadium
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current24 (as of 19 July 2021)
Highest23 (2018)
Lowest48 (2008)
First international
 Netherlands 0–6 Belgium 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1 July 1930)
Biggest win
 Netherlands 62–0 Denmark 
(Hilversum, Netherlands; 6 October 1973)
Biggest defeat
 England 110–0 Netherlands 
(Huddersfield, England 14 November 1998)
Websitewww.rugby.nl

History
Main article: Rugby union in the Netherlands

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 Italy.

Record
Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 as of 6 December 2021[1]
RankChange*TeamPoints
1  South Africa090.61
2  New Zealand088.75
3  England087.83
4  Ireland086.53
5  France085.53
6  Australia083.92
7  Scotland083.05
8  Wales081.56
9  Argentina080.58
10  Japan078.26
11  Fiji076.62
12  Georgia073.72
13  Samoa073.59
14  Italy070.51
15  Romania067.91
16  Tonga067.72
17  United States066.54
18  Uruguay066.40
19  Portugal065.84
20  Spain065.42
21  Canada061.80
23  Hong Kong061.23
23  Chile059.88
24  Namibia059.72
25  Russia058.60
25  Netherlands057.60
27  Belgium054.86
28  Poland053.81
29  Brazil054.76
30  Germany053.15
* Change from the previous week

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Netherlands national XV at test level up until 24 June 2021.

Opponents Matches Won Draw Lost Points For Points Against Pts Difference Win%
 Andorra3300140116+24100%
 Belgium4419421444520–7643.2%
 Bulgaria11004510+35100%
 Croatia22004719+28100%
 Czech Republic530213691+4560%
 Czechoslovakia72058899–1128.5%
 Denmark1090131157+25490%
 East Germany21012035–1550%
 Georgia410364164–10025%
 Germany14608175220–4542.8%
 Hong Kong21102510+1550%
 England10010110–1100%
 Israel1100560+56100%
 Italy400427178–1510%
 Japan40041513+20%
 Latvia330013423+11100%
 Lithuania32019034+5675%
 Malta1100279+18100%
 Morocco730488111–2342.86%
 Moldova31027785–833.3%
 Poland207211280317–3736.4%
 Portugal12138141229–8829.1%
 Romania801749299–2506.25%
 Russia400439208–1690%
 Serbia and Montenegro64029340+5366.6%
 Spain140113107394–2873.5%
 South Korea210145108–6350%
 Sweden191801444186+25894.74%
  Switzerland22004722+25100%
 Tunisia54018653+3380%
 Ukraine41037188–1725%
 Uganda1100420+42100%
 West Germany289118279481–20233.9%
Total2461071312637324329–59743.49%

Current squad

On the 24th of June 2021, the following 25 players were called up for the 2021 Rugby Europe Championship matches against Georgia, Portugal and Spain[2]

Head Coach: Zane Gardiner

  • Caps Updated: 24 June 2021

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Mark Darlington Hooker Maidenhead RFC
Ross Bennie Coulson Hooker RC DIOK Leiden
Lars Linnenbank Hooker Rugby Club the Dukes
Jake Stamenkovic Prop RC DIOK Leiden
Hugo Langelaan Prop RC Eemland
Andrew Darlington Prop RC 't Gooi
Robin Moenen Prop RC DIOK Leiden
Jim Boelrijk Lock RC 't Gooi
Rikkert Verhofstad Lock RFC Haarlem
Mark Wokke Lock Castricumse RC
Koen Bloemen Lock Bourg-en-Bresse
Dirk Danen Flanker RC Hilversum
Wolf van Dijk Flanker RC DIOK Leiden
Blake Nightingale Flanker RC the Bassets Sassenheim
Tom Altink Number 8 RC DIOK Leiden
Kevin Krieger Number 8 Haagsche RC
Amir Rademaker Scrum-half Haagsche RC
Benjamin Garcia Scrum-half RC DIOK Leiden
Tony Hoogenboom Scrum-half Castricumse RC
Hugo Scholler Scrum-half Haagsche RC
Jasey van Kampen Fly-half Haagsche RC
Mees van Oord Fly-half RC DIOK Leiden
Illie Greeve Centre RC DIOK Leiden
David Weersma Centre Aparejadores
Storm Carroll Centre RC the Bassets Sassenheim
Jordy Hop Wing RC Eemland
Siem Noorman Wing Haagsche RC
Daan van de Avoird Wing RC DIOK Leiden
Josh Gascoigne Fullback RC Hilversum

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Netherlands national team:[3]

Name Nationality Role
Joanne Bast NEDManager
Zane Gardiner NZLHead coach
Allard Jonkers NEDAssistant coach
Scott Smith SCOAssistant coach
Emmanuel Peyrezabes FRAStrength and Conditioning coach
Dr. Frank van Hellemondt NEDTeam doctor
Antoine van den Berg NEDPhysiotherapist
Sebastiaan van Osch NEDPhysiotherapist
Adam Doherty IREMental coach
Antoine van den Berg NEDCovid manager

See also

References
  1. "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  2. Netherlands`s squad for the 2021 Rugby Europe Championship
  3. "Netherlands National Rugby Union Team Coaching Staff" (PDF). www.rugbyeurope.eu. Rugby Europe.
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