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 competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of rugby." USA Rugby is responsible for the promotion and development of the sport in the U.S., and promotion of U.S. international participation.
The Italian Rugby Federation or FIR is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Italy. The FIR has one seat on the 28-member World Rugby Council, the governing body of World Rugby.
The Netherlands national rugby union team represents Netherlands in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The Oranges (Oranje), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby and 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 6 countries in Europe compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup.
The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010.
Women's international rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century, but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture involving women's rugby union took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary: as part of the celebrations, on June 13, 1982, the France national women's team played the Netherlands in Utrecht, Netherlands, with France winning 4–0 in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international rugby union match.
Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's rugby is gaining a higher profile thanks to international tournaments' exposure and financial investment.
The Netherlands women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Netherlands, representing them at rugby union. The side played the women's first international test match against France in 1982.
Rugby union in Belgium is a growing sport. The national governing body for rugby union in Belgium is the Belgian Rugby Federation. The national team plays in the European Nations Cup, and as of October 2014, they were ranked thirtieth in the World Rugby Rankings.
Rugby union in the Netherlands is a popular sport. The sport is governed by the Rugby Nederland, which organizes the Netherlands national rugby union team.
The Dubai Women's Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament held in Dubai, UAE. The tournament includes several competitions including, since 1994, an international women's invitational competition. Though most entrants are ad hoc sides composed of club and international players from a variety of countries, some are official national selections - the results of matches between such sides appear below.
On October 4, 2012, the International Rugby Board, now known as World Rugby, announced the launch of a circuit now known as the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, the women's counterpart to the World Rugby Sevens Series for men. The inaugural 2012–13 season featured four events, with the USA Women's Sevens taking place at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston as the second event in February 2013.
The National Rugby Federation of Ukraine is the governing body for rugby union in Ukraine. It was founded in 1991 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1992. It is based in Kyiv.
The Netherlands women's national rugby sevens team participated in the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup in Hong Kong losing to Spain in the Plate semi-finals, they finished 8th overall. In October 2012, the Netherlands was announced by the International Rugby Board as one of six "core teams" that will compete in all four rounds of the inaugural IRB Women's Sevens World Series in 2012–13. The team finished seventh in the standings. It was later decided that the quarter-finalists at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens would make up the eight core teams for the next series later that year.
Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held over six days in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics was the debut for rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics, though rugby union was last played at the 1924 games.
The World Rugby SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is a series of international rugby sevens tournaments for women's national teams run by World Rugby. The inaugural series was held in 2012–13 as the successor to the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup held the previous season. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2015.
Here are the match results of the 2014 Rugby union season. Qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, meanwhile the Six Nations Championship and The Rugby Championship are set for another season.
The National Rugby Centre Amsterdam, also known as NRCA Stadium, is a rugby stadium in Amsterdam. The complex is situated within the Sportpark de Eendracht in the district of Geuzenveld-Slotermeer. All international matches of the Netherlands national team are played at the NCRA, and the offices of the Netherlands Rugby Board (NRB) are at the complex.
Sylke Haverkorn is a Dutch rugby union coach and former national player.
Jan-Hein Pieterse
Zane Gardiner
