Country Netherlands National team Netherlands Registered players 15000 | Governing body Dutch Rugby Union First played 1879 Clubs 79 | |
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Rugby union in the Netherlands is a minor but growing sport.. The sport is goverened by the Dutch Rugby Union, which organizes the Netherlands national rugby union team.
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Governing body
The Dutch Rugby Federation was founded on September 7, 1920 but ceased to exist in 1923 due to a lack of clubs. They reorganized on October 1, 1932, as Dutch Rugby Union (Dutch: "Nederlandse Rugby Bond"), only six months after the Netherlands national rugby union team played their first match against Belgium. The union is affiliated to the IRB in 1988 and has 15,000 registered players (in 2017).
History
The first rugby club was HFC, established on September 15, 1879 by the 14-year-old Pim Mulier, who first encountered the sport in 1870. However HFC switched to association football in 1883. The Delftsche Studenten Rugby - Club (DSR-C) was the first official rugby club on September 24, 1918.
Dutch rugby started setting down roots in the pre-World War II period. The subsequent German occupation and World War II disrupted its growth, and it took years for the Dutch game to return to its pre-war state. Then in the post-war years, the massive growth and stifling influence of Dutch association football on other sports also hindered further development.
The first Dutch international was in 1932, against Belgium.
Nonetheless, the Netherlands' proximity to the European rugby heartland of the British Isles and France, has ensured a fairly healthy stream of touring sides from these areas. Given the low profile of the game in the Netherlands, Dutch rugby still manages to support over a hundred clubs, and has 7-8,000 players, which is a larger number than some Rugby World Cup entrants.
Womens rugby in the Netherlands started at Rugbyclub Wageningen in 1975. At their first 5-year anniversary the Wageningen rugby men organised a rugby match for the girl friends against the girl friends of the befriended Eindhoven Students rugby team The Elephants. The Wageningen women won this game with 4-0 and the seed for Dutch women rugby was planted. It took until 1981 when the first official women rugby competition round was played.
In the 1978-79 season, the Dutch leagues were affected by a severe winter, which prevented teams playing on grass rugby pitches. The season managed to finish on time, mainly because the matches were transferred onto beaches to avoid snow and ice.
Dutch rugby received a boost in 1996, when they beat a full strength team from Moseley RFC.