Netherlands national rugby union team

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Netherlands

Union

Nederlandse Rugby Bond

Coach

Iain Krysztofiak

Captain

Jerker Grader





Team colours

First international

Netherlands 0 - 6 Belgium
(July 1, 1930)

Largest win

Netherlands 62 - 0 Denmark
(October 6, 1973)

Worst defeat

England 110 - 0 Netherlands
(November 14, 1998)

The Netherlands national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Netherlands, representing them at rugby union. The side first played in 1930.

[edit] History

The Netherlands played their first game in 1930, losing six points to nil against Belgium on July 1. Throughout the rest of the decade the Netherlands played Belgium and Germany as well as Romania on a few occasions towards the latter end of the decade. The team had mixed results, finding only a small amount of wins and draws during the decade.

The Netherlands obtained similar results during the 1940s, still regularly playing Belgium and Germany. Few games were played during the 1950s, though towards the end of the decade, the Netherlands fell to some heavy losses to both East and West Germany. The 1960s saw the side play West Germany regularly, although West Germany usually got the better of the Netherlands, the side managed to a one point victory over West Germany in 1963. The side played a more diverse range of sides towards the end of the 1960s, including matches against Poland, Sweden, Spain and Czechoslovakia.

The 1970s was a fairly good time for the Netherlands, as the majority of their matches were usually closer than previously and the side started to win more games. In addition, the team had a lot more fixtures than previously, and even played some of the better sides, such as Italy.

By the 1980s, the Netherlands were again playing a lot more matches than previous decades, such as the 1960s, with fixtures more than doubling. From 1984 through to 1987, the team went undefeated, the longest string ever for the side.

Since the introduction of the Rugby World Cup in 1987, the Netherlands has yet to qualify for any of the tournments.