Netherlands national rugby league team

Netherlands

Team information
Governing body	Netherlandse Rugby League Bond
Region	Europe
Head coach	Kane Krlic
IRL ranking	14th
Team results
First international
Scotland A 22–18 Netherlands  (Sassenheim, Netherlands; 2003)
Biggest win
Germany 18–56 Netherlands  (Gnarrenburg, Germany; 2019)
Biggest defeat
Netherlands 16–70 Germany  (Delft, Netherlands; 2014)
World Cup
Appearances	0

The Netherlands national rugby league team is the national rugby league team of The Netherlands. It was formed in January 2003. The national team played its first international match in 2003 against Scotland A, where they lost 22–18.

History[]

Rugby league foundation year was in 2003 where it has regularly being played since 2003 under the NNRLB and has seen small domestic growth along the way. The first rugby league club match was played between Te Werve Bustards (Den Haag) and touring Essex Eels. After rugby league ceased in 2008 a new board the Nederlandse Rugby League Bond (NRLB) was entrusted to administer and grow the game in the Netherlands in 2009.

The Dutch participated in 1989 Student Rugby League World Cup in England, against Australia, England, France, New Zealand, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The first rugby league match in Netherlands was a preparation match for the tournament against the French Army side at the Royal Military Academy in Breda. While in the late 1980s they faced Toulouse to earn a 20 all draw. Having played their first international against Scotland A in Sassenheim only narrowly losing 18 to 22, introducing the Rotterdam Cup in 2004 with a 24–14 loss to Scotland Students and debut 24 to 14 win against Serbia.

2005 saw the Netherlands build on the previous season with the national team playing four internationals. The Netherlands were defeated by Georgia 34 – 14 in April. They then went on to win their other three internationals against Serbia, Scotland and Germany

Serbia made the task of getting past the first round of European qualifiers all the more harder. The Netherlands suffered heavy defeats to Russia 40 – 14 and Georgia 57 – 16. As a consolation the Netherlands managed to defeat the other European newcomers Serbia 38 – 26. Netherlands finished 3rd in the Pool and failed to qualify for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. The Netherlands capped off 2006 with a win against the Czech Republic 34 – 28.

Rotterdam hosted the Nederlandse International Rugby League Nines Festival for visiting European teams between 2004 and 2007.

At present the NRLB are a nonprofit sports association for rugby league with their main goal to get the game exposure and attract more people to the sport. The NRLB have a short summer season (4 rounds + Finals) with the Netherlands 3V Sports Grand Prix 9's competition for clubs Capelle Spartans, Delft Rugby League, Nootdorp Musketiers and Te Werve Bustards, while they host teams for 13-aside matches including the annual clash with Oxford University Old Boys (in the Kermis Challenge) and varying teams from the UK. Netherlands as national and developmental squads have participated in away tours in tournaments such as the Heidelberg 9's in Germany and UK based events.

In recent seasons the Dutch have also participated in a Cross Border Challenge with select German clubs, National Selection matches (Select GPN vs Residents) and promotional games (combined squad vs Capelle Spartans). At youth level this year, the Dutch staged a BARLA U17 tour against a Netherlands Tasman U17 select in July at Nootdorp and Delft.

Like most developing rugby league nations there are restrictions that the Dutch board face within early stages of development like funding, sponsorship, support and promotion.

The Dutch ten-year plan is to have a fully self-supportive domestic competition running for at least 6 months of the year and to have multiple self-standing Rugby League clubs all over the country. The national squad back on the international stage competing with the best. The Nederlandse Rugby League Bond gained Observer membership status from the Rugby League European Federation in February 2012.

In May 2013, Netherlands made 28th on the RLIF World Rankings after their match against Germany in a losing effort.

Matches[]

IRL World Rankings v t
Official Men's Rankings as of December 2021
Rank	Change*	Team	Pts%
1		New Zealand	100.00%
2	1	England	79%
3	1	Tonga	69%
4	2	Australia	60%
5	1	Papua New Guinea	34%
6	1	Fiji	30%
7	1	France	21%
8	1	Samoa	19%
9	6	Serbia	18%
10	1	Greece	15%
11	2	Scotland	13%
12		Ireland	12%
13	3	Lebanon	10%
14	11	Netherlands	10%
15	1	Malta	9.00%
16	3	Italy	8.00%
17	5	Czech Republic	8.00%
18	2	Jamaica	7.00%
19	5	Turkey	7.00%
20	3	Norway	6.04%
21	2	Poland	6.03%
22	1	Cook Islands	6.02%
23	9	Wales	6.00%
24	6	United States	5.00%
25	14	Ukraine	4.29%
26		Philippines	4%
27	1	Nigeria	3.81%
28	2	Spain	3.61%
29	2	Germany	3.52%
30	9	Hungary	2.86%
31	2	Ghana	2.85%
32	2	Sweden	2.80%
33	1	Morocco	2.70%
34	4	Cameroon	1.79%
35	2	Russia	1.72%
36	9	Canada	1.66%
37	8	Solomon Islands	1.61%
38	2	South Africa	1.31%
39	7	Bulgaria	1.21%
40	5	Vanuatu	1.06%
41	1	Belgium	1.04
42	1	Brazil	1.03%
43	11	Chile	1.02%
44		Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.00%
45	5	Colombia	0.50%
46	3	Denmark	0.10%
47	2	Latvia	0.05%
*Change from November 2019

The Netherlands have played their first match in 2003 against Scotland A, losing 22 to 18. They then competed in the 2004 Rotterdam Cup, losing both their matches.

The Netherlands failed to progress past the preliminary stages of qualifying for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, after being defeated by Georgia and Russia in 2006. They did however manage a victory against Serbia.

Following these matches, the national team went on hiatus following a dispute between the Netherlands Federation and the RLEF. In 2009, a new board " Nederlandse Rugby League Bond (NRLB) " was appointed to run the Dutch game and re-establish relations with the RLEF. The Netherlands were re-admitted to the RLEF in 2010, and resumed international competition in 2013 with a friendly match against Germany. [1]

Jerseys[]

Primary

Primary 2004–2009

Primary 2009–present

Alternative

Alternative 2004–2009

Alternative 2009–present

Coaching Roster[]

Current Staff[]

Coaches Name	Role	Date Appointed	P	W	L	D	Win%
Kane Krlic	Head Coach	March 2015	13	9	4	0	69.23
Jason Bruygoms	Assistant Coach	June 2017
Adam Bakker	Assistant Coach	June 2021
Guus Kootstra	Physio	June 2017
Stephanie van Diepen	Physio	June 2017
Matthew Rigby	Team Manager	August 2019

Former Staff[]

Coaches Name	Role	Date Appointed	Date Departed	P	W	L	D	Win%
Joe Collins	Assistant Coach	June 2016	August 2017	2	0	2	0	0.00
Matthew Rigby	Assistant Coach	June 2016	August 2019	7	5	2	0	71.43
Timo Meinders	Team Manager	May 2017	August 2018

Results[]

Date	Competition	Opponent	H/A	Venue	Score	Referee	Tries	Conversions
19 July 2003	International Friendly	Scotland A	H	Sassenheim, Netherlands	18-22
23 April 2004	International Friendly	Serbia	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	24-14
7 May 2004	International Friendly	Scotland	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	14-24
29 April 2005	European Championship	Georgia	H	Hook of Holland, Netherlands	14-34
18 June 2005	European Championship	Serbia	A	Čair Stadium	10-24		De Jager (2), Barret, Foxton	de Jager (5/6)
29 June 2005	International Friendly	Scotland	H	Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands	17-10
28 April 2006	2008 RLWC Qualifier	Russia	H	Hook of Holland, Netherlands	14-40		Howitt (2), de Jager	de Jager (1/3)
26 May 2006	2008 RLWC Qualifier	Georgia	A	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium	57-16		Taylor (2)	de Jager (4/4)
17 June 2006	2008 RLWC Qualifier	Serbia	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	38-26		Stanford-Smyth (2), Den Engelsman (2), Grimbergen, Nierinckx, Taylor	de Jager (5/7)
5 August 2006	International Friendly	Czech Republic	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	34-28
4 May 2013	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Germany	A	Heidelberg, Germany	28-22		Verdonk (2), Dommerhuijsen, van Bochove	van Bochove (3/4)
26 June 2013	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Belgium	H	Delft, Netherlands	6-22		Kraal	Idzerda (1/1)
3 May 2014	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Germany	H	Delft, Netherlands	16-70		van Bochove, van Rossum, Tonnaer	Bremen (2/3)
28 June 2014	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Belgium	H	Brussels, Belgium	32-16		Roos, Holden (2)	Bremen (2/3)
2 May 2015	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Belgium	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	12-60		van Rossum, Vrasdonk	Bremen (2/2)
20 June 2015	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Germany	A	Karlsruhe, Germany	46-12		Ddumba (2)	Bremen (2/2)
13 August 2016	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Germany	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	6-8	Misa Vakadranu	de Werk	Storm (1/1)
3 September 2016	Western Euro Tri-Nations	Belgium	A	Brussels, Belgium	34-12	Unknown	de Boer, Habeke	Scholte (2/2)
26 August 2017	Griffin Cup	Germany	A	Osnabrück, Germany	18-30	Joel Holmes	de Ruiter (2), Landus (2), Razoux Schultz	Bremen (5/5)
9 September 2017	International Friendly	Sweden	H	NRCA Stadium	28-24	Max Doughton
1 September 2018	Griffin Cup	Germany	H	Rotterdam, Netherlands	38-22	Joe Jhugroo
22 September 2018	International Friendly	Sweden	A	Gothenburg, Sweden	4-24	Guido Bonatti		Gout (4/6)
14 September 2019	Griffin Cup	Germany	A	Gnarrenburg, Germany	18-56	Liam Doughton	van der Bruggen (3), Schoenmaker (2), Schram (2), Botterblom, Stuifzand, Razoux-Schultz	Gout (8/10)
26 September 2020	Griffin Cup	Germany	H	Zwolle, Netherlands	20-18	Jaroslaw Bzoch
02 October 2021	Griffin Cup	Germany	A	Düsseldorf, Germany	16-48	Moray Gilland
14 October 2021	Euro D - Semi Final	Turkey	A	Bodrum, Turkey	40-18	Eamonn Whelan	Shoenmake (2), Ngirubiu, Farrell (2), Renac	Idzera (8/8)
17 October 2021	Euro D - Final	Czech Republic	N	Bodrum, Turkey	36-10	Eamonn Whelan	Schoenmaker (3), Lavia, Razoux Schultz, De Ruiter	Idzera (6/9)

See also[]

• Netherlands Rugby League Bond
• Rugby league in the Netherlands
• Dutch Rugby League Competition

References[]

External links[]

• Nederlandse Rugby League Bond (NRLB)
• Rugby League European Federation (RLEF)
• Holland footy-Year in review
• Nederland vs Czech