The Netherlands national rugby union team, nicknamed The Oranges (Oranje), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby. They 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 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.

Record

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.

Current squad

On 22 January 2022, the following 49 players were called up for the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship. Head Coach: Dick Muir (as of 2 June 2022)

Call-ups

On 10 February Spike Salman of Racing 92 was called up to the squad.

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Netherlands national team:

Past Coaches

Since 1997