The Netherlands women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, representing them at

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. The side played the women's first international test match against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1982.

History

The Netherlands' women's national rugby union team hosted the first ever women's international women's rugby union match. This match took place in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

on June 13, 1982.

won against the Netherlands with 4–0. The Netherlands made their debut at the 1991 World Cup. They finished in 7th place out of 12 teams. They hosted the 1998 World Cup and qualified for the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, where they finished 13th and 15th. Women's rugby has increased in popularity in the Netherlands in the past decades. The airing of the 2015 World Cup on national television has further attributed to the increase in popularity. On 16 March 2024, the Netherlands won the play-off, for the 2024 WXV 3 competition, against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, who finished at the bottom of the inaugural WXV 3 standings in 2023. By virtue of being the highest nation in

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

's Women's Rankings who did not take part in the inaugural edition, the Netherlands were given the opportunity to play for a spot in this year's tournament.

Records

Overall

''(Full internationals only, updated to 14 May 2024)''

Rugby World Cup

Players

Recent squad

Netherlands 30-player squad for the 2024 WXV 3 competition in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Coaching Staff

References

External links

Nederlandse Rugby Bond
- Official Site
Netherlands
at RugbyData.com {{Women's national rugby teams European national women's rugby union teams Netherlands national rugby union team