Netherlands national rugby union team

Netherlands
Shirt badge/Association crest
NicknameOranje (The Oranges)
UnionDutch Rugby Union
Head coachLyn Jones
CaptainKoen Bloemen
Most capsMarc Visser (67)
Home stadiumNRCA Stadium
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current26 (as of 21 July 2025)
Highest23 (2018)
Lowest48 (2008)
First international
  0–6 Belgium 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1 July 1930)
Biggest win
  76–0 Switzerland 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 16 February 2025)
Biggest defeat
 England 110–0  
(Huddersfield, England; 14 November 1998)
Websitewww.rugby.nl

The Netherlands national rugby union team,[1] nicknamed The Oranges (Oranje), currently competes 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

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. However, they never fully recovered from the floating turn incident.

Record

  1. ^ Change from the previous week
Netherlands's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[2]
Graph updated to 4 August 2025

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

On 22 January 2025, the following 49 players were called up for the 2025 Rugby Europe Championship.[3] [4]

Head Coach: South Africa 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.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Ross Bennie-Coulson Hooker (2000-10-18) 18 October 2000 16 Netherlands DIOK *
Mark Darlington Hooker (1985-05-23) 23 May 1985 23 England Maidenhead
Lars Linnenbank Hooker (1997-11-28) 28 November 1997 1 Netherlands Dukes *
Mike Mbaud Hooker (1999-12-14) 14 December 1999 3 England Ealing Trailfinders
David Anderson Prop (1995-08-04) 4 August 1995 1 Netherlands Haagsche
Lodi Buijs Prop (2000-10-19) 19 October 2000 10 Netherlands Haagsche *
Andrew Darlington Prop (1989-01-06) 6 January 1989 26 France Beaune
Kieran Hogg Prop (1999-12-27) 27 December 1999 6 Unattached
Hugo Langelaan Prop (1990-03-27) 27 March 1990 31 Netherlands Eemland *
Robin Moenen Prop (1995-11-28) 28 November 1995 12 Netherlands DIOK *
Mink Scharink Prop (2000-07-12) 12 July 2000 0 England Saracens
Jake Stamenković Prop (1999-10-03) 3 October 1999 4 Netherlands DIOK
Koen Bloemen Lock (1998-05-13) 13 May 1998 7 France Bourg-en-Bresse
Jim Boelrijk Lock (1994-02-06) 6 February 1994 10 Netherlands ‘t Gooi *
Louis Bruinsma Lock (2000-07-15) 15 July 2000 2 France Stade Montois
Dennis van Dijken Lock (1999-08-25) 25 August 1999 1 France Graulhet
Marijn Huis Lock (1999-11-28) 28 November 1999 3 England Durham University
Christopher van Leeuwen Lock (1995-04-26) 26 April 1995 2 France Suresnes
Jade Plane Lock (2001-02-18) 18 February 2001 0 France Oyonnax
Dirk Danen Back row (1989-04-21) 21 April 1989 31 Netherlands Hilversum *
Wolf van Dijk Back row (1999-12-02) 2 December 1999 10 Netherlands DIOK
Guy van den Dries Back row (1993-09-28) 28 September 1993 1 England Belsize Park
Dave Koelman Back row (2001-01-16) 16 January 2001 2 Netherlands Castricum
Kevin Krieger Back row (1998-09-11) 11 September 1998 12 Netherlands Haagsche
Blake Nightingale Back row (1992-05-02) 2 May 1992 10 Netherlands ‘t Gooi *
Christopher Raymond Back row (2000-12-16) 16 December 2000 2 Netherlands Haarlem *
Liam Stone Back row (2000-10-01) 1 October 2000 0 England Coventry
Niels van de Ven Back row (1992-04-20) 20 April 1992 5 Spain Alcobendas
Maxou Zerdoun Back row (2000-10-13) 13 October 2000 1 Netherlands Haagsche *
Mark Coebergh Scrum-half (1998-03-27) 27 March 1998 1 Netherlands ‘t Gooi *
Caleb Korteweg Scrum-half (1997-01-01) 1 January 1997 0 Scotland Stirling County
Hugo Schöller Scrum-half (1999-03-11) 11 March 1999 6 France Coq Léguevinois
Jasey van Kampen Fly-half (1998-07-11) 11 July 1998 6 Netherlands Haagsche
Marc Mistou Fly-half (1998-09-28) 28 September 1998 2 Netherlands ‘t Gooi *
Mees van Oord Fly-half (1999-04-27) 27 April 1999 9 Netherlands DIOK *
Reinhardt Fortuin Fly-half (1996-01-30) 30 January 1996 2 South Africa Cheetahs
Willie du Plessis Fly-half (1990-06-05) 5 June 1990 0 France Stade Montois
Storm Carroll Centre (1984-11-13) 13 November 1984 27 Netherlands Haarlem
Jules Godfroy Centre (1997-01-14) 14 January 1997 0 France Corrèze
Tyren Kroos Centre (2000-02-14) 14 February 2000 0 France Agen
Daily Limmen Centre (2001-06-22) 22 June 2001 4 Netherlands Castricum *
Oliva Sialau Centre (1994-03-01) 1 March 1994 3 Netherlands Dukes *
David Weersma Centre (1996-04-09) 9 April 1996 15 Spain Aparejadores
Daan van der Avoird Wing (2000-11-28) 28 November 2000 4 Netherlands DIOK *
Jort Doornenbal Wing (2000-08-03) 3 August 2000 1 Netherlands Castricum *
Jordy Hop Wing (1994-08-16) 16 August 1994 8 Netherlands Haagsche
Reinier Pieters Wing (1996-11-28) 28 November 1996 3 Switzerland Servette **
Bart Wierenga Wing (1999-08-26) 26 August 1999 4 France Valence Romans
Te Hauora Campbell Fullback (2000-06-29) 29 June 2000 6 Netherlands ‘t Gooi *
Peter Lydon Fullback (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992 0 France Rouen
  • *: 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 was called up to the squad.[5]

Current coaching staff

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

Since 1997

Years Coach
1997–2000 New Zealand Geoff Old
2001–2004 Scotland Robbie Allen
2004 New Zealand Alex O'Dowd
2005–2006 England Iain Krysztofiak
2007 Netherlands Eric Hangeveld
2008 France Robin Raphael
2009 Netherlands Hugues Dispas
2009 France Robin Raphael (Caretaker)
2009–2010 Netherlands Hugues Dispas
2010–2011 France Jean Bidal
2011 Netherlands Silvester Ramaker
2011–2016 Australia Alex Chang
2016–2019 South Africa Gareth Gilbert
2019–2022 New Zealand Zane Gardiner
2022 South Africa Dick Muir (interim)
2022–present Wales Lyn Jones

See also

References

  1. ^ (Dutch: Nederlands nationaal rugby team)
  2. ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". world.rugby. World Rugby. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  3. ^ Netherlands`s squad for the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship
  4. ^ "Trainingsselectie Championship 2022 bekend". 22 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Nederland speelt tegen regerend kampioen Georgië". 10 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Netherlands National Rugby Union Team Coaching Staff". www.rugby.nl. Dutch Rugby Union.