Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
The Rugby Europe International Championships is the European Championship for tier 2 and tier 3 rugby union nations.
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 Lithuania national rugby union team represents Lithuania in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The Knights (Vytis), is considered one of the relatively 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 and play in black with a pattern involving the colours red, yellow and green.
The Switzerland national rugby union team represents Switzerland in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The White Flowers (Edelweiss), 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 and often play in all red while their alternative kit is all white.
The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition contested between six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home Nations, with four teams: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Germany women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Germany, representing them at rugby union. They made their first Rugby World Cup appearance at the 1998 tournament in the Netherlands, and made their last appearance at the 2002 Rugby World Cup in Spain. They regularly compete in the Rugby Europe Women's Championship.
The Japan women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Japan, representing them at rugby union. The side first played in 1991.
The Portugal national women's rugby union team are a national sporting side of Portugal, representing them at rugby union. They played their first test in 1995 against Germany.
The Turkey national rugby union team is a relatively recent creation, being started at the end of 2009. Turkey is currently a third-tier side. The team first played in 2012 against Slovakia and won 31–5 in Bratislava. On tour, they also defeated Estonia 49–5 in Tallinn. Turkey has yet to play in the qualifying stages for the Rugby World Cup finals.
The Turkey women's national rugby sevens team represents Turkey at rugby sevens – however it has yet to play any recognised international matches. Rugby union in Turkey is administered by the Turkish Rugby Federation. At present, the Federation is not a member of World Rugby and so, currently, any internationals it may play are unlikely to be widely recognised. Şahin Kömürcü is the president of the Turkish Rugby Federation.
This page covers the major events of 2017 in rugby union.
Megan Gaffney is a former Scottish rugby union player. She is from Edinburgh and has competed internationally for Scotland since 2011. She has twice been selected for the Great Britain 7s training squad for the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. She retired from international rugby at the end of 2022.
The 2021–22 Rugby Europe Women's Trophy was the 21st edition of Rugby Europe's second division competition for women's national rugby union teams. It will be contested in two pools. Pool A plays a single round-robin while Pool B will only play matches they can play. Sweden won the Trophy championship after beating Switzerland 48–0 in the final round.
Lee Ka-shun is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
The 2023 Rugby Europe Women's Championship was the 26th edition of Rugby Europe's first division competition for women's national rugby union teams. It was celebrated in February 2023, and the winner will qualify to the first edition of WXV.
The 2024 Rugby Europe Women's Championship was the 27th edition of Rugby Europe's first division competition for women's national rugby union teams. It kicked off on 3 February and concluded on 12 April 2024. The winner earned a place in the 2024 WXV. This season was the first year that the competition will feature four teams.
Sweden 34-0 Netherlands 
United States 111-0 Sweden 
England 
1
New Zealand 
1
Canada 
France 
Australia 
Scotland 
Wales 
Italy 
Ireland 
Japan 
South Africa 
Spain 
Fiji 
Hong Kong 
Samoa 
Kazakhstan 
