Netherlands women's national rugby union team

For the men's team, see Netherlands national rugby union team. For the women's sevens team, see Netherlands women's national rugby sevens team.

Netherlands

Union	Dutch Rugby Union
Head coach	Gareth Gilbert [1]
Captain	Linde van der Velden
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	15 (as of 26 May 2025)
First international
Netherlands 0–4 France   ( Utrecht, Netherlands; 13 June 1982)
Biggest win
Denmark 3–141 Netherlands   ( Grenade, France; 2 May 2004)
Biggest defeat
England 91–3 Netherlands   ( Belluno, Italy; 19 April 1999)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1991)

Women's
World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 20 rankings as of 1 September 2025 ^[2]

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	097.76
2		Canada	090.13
3		New Zealand	088.74
4		France	085.82
5		Ireland	078.82
6		Scotland	077.39
7		Australia	075.46
8	1	United States	072.90
9	1	Italy	072.37
10	2	South Africa	071.62
11	1	Wales	070.13
12	1	Japan	068.82
13		Spain	063.31
14		Fiji	059.98
15		Samoa	059.72
16		Hong Kong	057.56
17		Netherlands	057.42
18		Russia	055.10
19		Kazakhstan	053.88
20		Kenya	050.68
*Change from the previous week

Netherlands during the 2013 Women's European Qualification Tournament.

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.

History

The Netherlands' women's national rugby union team hosted the first ever women's international women's rugby union match. This match took place in Utrecht on June 13, 1982. France won against the Netherlands with 4–0. ^{[3] [4]}

The Netherlands made their debut at the 1991 World Cup. They finished in 7th place out of 12 teams. They hosted the 1998 World Cup and qualified for the 2002 World Cup, where they finished 13th and 15th.

Women's rugby has increased in popularity in the Netherlands in the past decades. The airing of the 2015 World Cup on national television has further attributed to the increase in popularity.

On 16 March 2024, the Netherlands won the play-off, for the 2024 WXV 3 competition, against Colombia, who finished at the bottom of the inaugural WXV 3 standings in 2023. ^{[5] [6]} By virtue of being the highest nation in World Rugby's Women's Rankings who did not take part in the inaugural edition, the Netherlands were given the opportunity to play for a spot in this year's tournament. ^[5]

Records

Overall

See also: List of Netherlands women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only, updated to 14 May 2024)

Rugby: Netherlands internationals 1982-

Opponent	First game	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Percentage
Belgium	2000	8	8	0	0	100.00%
Brazil	2008	2	1	1	0	66.66%
Canada	1998	1	0	0	1	0.00%
Colombia	2024	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Denmark	2003	2	2	0	0	100.00%
England	1997	4	0	0	4	0.00%
Finland	2012	1	1	0	0	100.00%
France	1982	12	1	0	11	8.33%
Germany	1992	17	16	0	1	94.12%
Great Britain	1987	2	0	0	2	0.00%
Hong Kong	2019	3	1	0	2	33.33%
Ireland	1998	3	0	0	3	0.00%
Italy	1988	8	2	0	6	25.00%
Japan	2002	2	1	0	1	50.00%
Kazakhstan	1999	2	0	0	2	0.00%
New Zealand	1990	1	0	0	1	0.00%
Norway	2004	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Portugal	2024	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Russia	1998	4	3	0	1	75.00%
Samoa	2013	1	0	0	1	0.00%
Scotland	1995	6	1	0	5	16.67%
South Africa	2006	2	0	0	2	0.00%
Spain	1995	6	0	0	6	0.00%
Sweden	1984	19	16	0	3	84.21%
Switzerland	2014	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Soviet Union	1990	2	2	0	0	100.00%
United States	1990	3	0	0	3	0.00%
Wales	2001	5	3	0	2	60.00%
Summary	1982	136	69	0	67	50.74%

Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	PF	PA
1991	Plate semi-finals	N/A	4	2	0	2	34	18
1994	Did not participate
1998	Shield final	13th	5	3	0	2	197	40
2002	15th place playoff	15th	4	1	0	3	33	180
2006	Did not participate
2010	Did Not Qualify
2014
2017
2021
2025
2029	TBD
2033
Total	3/9	13th†	13	6	0	7	264	238
Champion  Runner-up  Third place  Fourth * Tied placing† Best placing Home venue

Players

Recent squad

Netherlands 30-player squad for the 2024 WXV 3 competition in Dubai. ^[7]

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Anniek Nauta	??	(2000-03-10)10 March 2000 (aged 24)
Anouk Veerkamp	Hooker	(2002-01-29)29 January 2002 (aged 22)	7	Hartpury University
Anoushka Beukers	Hooker	(1999-09-15)15 September 1999 (aged 25)	8	Dames Bredase RC
Brechtje Karst	Prop	(2003-03-10)10 March 2003 (aged 21)	5
Elisabeth Boot	Loose forward	(1998-09-16)16 September 1998 (aged 26)	5
Gwen van der Schoot	??			RC Delft
Inger Jongerius	Lock	(1995-12-12)12 December 1995 (aged 28)	12
Isa Prins	Lock	(2003-06-04)4 June 2003 (aged 21)	7
Jara Bunnik	??	(2001-05-02)2 May 2001 (aged 23)	2
Julia Morauw	Prop	(2002-06-22)22 June 2002 (aged 22)	7
Linde van der Velden (c)	Loose forward	(1995-02-20)20 February 1995 (aged 29)	14	Exeter Chiefs
Mariet Luijken	Loose forward	(2003-11-29)29 November 2003 (aged 20)	7
Mhina de Vos	Forward	(1998-04-24)24 April 1998 (aged 26)	8
Morgane ter Cock	??	(2003-07-09)9 July 2003 (aged 21)	1
Nicky Dix	Prop	(2000-03-07)7 March 2000 (aged 24)	14
Noah Demba	??	(1998-10-06)6 October 1998 (aged 25)
Sydney de Weijer	Prop	(2003-06-17)17 June 2003 (aged 21)	7	Amsterdamse Atletiek Club
Emma van Traa	??	(2006-04-02)2 April 2006 (aged 18)	1	The Vets
Esmee Ligtvoet	Scrum-half	(2003-06-23)23 June 2003 (aged 21)	8
Gaya van Nifterik	Wing	(1998-10-16)16 October 1998 (aged 25)	5
Isa Spoler	Centre	(2004-06-27)27 June 2004 (aged 20)	4
Jet Metz	Fly-half	(2003-09-19)19 September 2003 (aged 21)	5
Kika Mulling	Wing	(1999-04-06)6 April 1999 (aged 25)	3
Lieve Stallmann	Fullback	(2000-01-21)21 January 2000 (aged 24)	10
Linneke Gevers	Centre	(1998-03-09)9 March 1998 (aged 26)	2
Lisa Egberts	Scrum-half	(2001-12-03)3 December 2001 (aged 22)	9
Marit Lemmens	Back	(1998-04-20)20 April 1998 (aged 26)	8
Pien Selbeck	Centre	(1984-10-14)14 October 1984 (aged 39)	13
Pleuni Kievit	Fullback	(1997-03-10)10 March 1997 (aged 27)	4
Senne Hoog	Wing	(2005-06-07)7 June 2005 (aged 19)	4

Coaching Staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Gareth Gilbert
Assistant Coach	Sander van der Loos
Manager	Josina Verweij
Physio	Milla Lappalainen
Water Carrier 1	Mathew Cripps
Water Carrier 2, S&C	Dino Bozic

See also

• Rugby union in the Netherlands

References

1. "Gareth Gilbert nieuwe bondscoach van Nederlandse Dames XV" [Gareth Gilbert new national coach of Dutch Women's XV]. Dutch Rugby Union (in Dutch). 2024-12-07. Archived from the original on 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
2. "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
3. "Everything you need to know about WXV 2024 newcomers". www.world.rugby. 2024-09-25. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
4. Birch, John (July 2013). "13th June 1982: The day it all began". www.scrumqueens.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
5. "Netherlands beat Colombia to secure WXV 3 spot". www.world.rugby. 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
6. Birch, John (2024-03-16). "Netherlands qualify for WXV3". ScrumQueens. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
7. Perkins, Bruce (2024-09-23). "All 18 squads for the 2024 WXV". 4 The Love Of Sport. Retrieved 2024-09-28.

External links

• (in Dutch) Nederlandse Rugby Bond - Official Site
• Netherlands Archived 2020-01-15 at the Wayback Machine at RugbyData.com