The Netherlands national rugby union team ( nl, Nederlands nationaal rugby team) represents

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in men's international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations. The tournament is split into 5 levels, each with 5 or 6 teams. Its highest level is now called the Rugby Europe Championship an ...

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 The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb ...

History

The Netherlands played their first ever game in 1930, against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

on 1 July. The Netherlands played Belgium and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

as well as

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. 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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. The 1970s saw fixtures played against many teams, notably

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Record

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

Current squad

On 22 January 2022, the following 49 players were called up for the

2022 Rugby Europe Championship The 2022 Rugby Europe Championship will be the 6th Rugby Europe Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of Georgia, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia and Spain, and the 52nd edition of the competi ...

. Head Coach:

Dick Muir Dick John Muir (born 20 March 1965) is a South African former rugby union player, and now the interim head coach of Netherlands national rugby union team. Muir played for Natal for most of his career before moving to Western Province helpi ...

(as of 2 June 2022) * Caps Updated: 23 January 2021 ** * *: 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

On 10 February Spike Salman of

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name ...

was called up to the squad.

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Netherlands national team:

Past Coaches

''Since 1997''

References

External links

Dutch Rugby Union
- Official Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Dutch Rugby Union Netherlands national rugby union team Rugby union in the Netherlands Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union) European national rugby union teams National sports teams of the Netherlands