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The Belgium national rugby union team (French: Équipe de Belgique de rugby à XV) (Dutch: Belgisch nationaal rugbyteam) represents Belgium in men's international rugby union competitions, nicknamed Diables Noirs / Zwarte Duivels (Black Devils). They are yet to participate in a Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the Rugby Europe International Championships, which they have been playing in since 2023. Rugby union in Belgium is administered by the Belgian Rugby Federation.
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Nickname | Diables Noirs / Zwarte Duivels (Black Devils) | ||
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Union | Belgian Rugby Union | ||
Head coach | Laurent Dossat | ||
Captain | Jens Torfs | ||
Most caps | Alan Williams (68) | ||
Top scorer | Alan Williams (736) | ||
Top try scorer | Julien Berger (15) | ||
Home stadium | Various | ||
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World Rugby ranking | |||
Current | 26 (as of 5 February 2024) | ||
Highest | 21 (2012, 2013) | ||
Lowest | 55 (2004) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 13 March 1932) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 8 December 2012) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (Bucharest, Romania; 19 April 1996) | |||
Website | www.rugby.be |
History
editThe Belgium rugby team played their first match on 13 March 1932 against the Netherlands. They contested annual games against the Netherlands for half a decade starting in 1932. They drew the 1932 game, but lost subsequent matches during the 1930s. They also played Italy and Germany in 1937, losing both games.
During the 1950s, Belgium continued playing the Netherlands, as well as teams like Spain. They managed to obtain a draw in the 1960s against Portugal. In the 1970s they won the majority of their games, as well as playing a broader range of European nations. This trend continued throughout the 1980s. Belgium had a six-game winning streak in the late 1980s. They began playing more games against their regular European opponents as they entered the 1990s. A Belgium side played the Argentina national rugby union team prior to the 2007 Rugby World Cup. A Belgium XV played the Barbarians on 24 May 2008.
Belgium has been steadily improving, ranked number 55th in 2004, the 'Black Devils' improved a whole lot on the following years, obtaining good results against other European Nations, gaining entry to the IRB Ranking's Top 30 in 2010. Since their induction to the first 30 rugby nations in the international ranking, they have managed to maintain their place.
Belgium had a very successful campaign during the 2010-2012 European Nations Cup, with a 10 match winning streak from March 2011 to December 2012. Following their promotion in 2023, Belgium is competing in the top division of the Rugby Europe International Championships. In the 2024 season of the Rugby Europe International Championships Belgium earned a historic win over Portugal following their impressive Rugby World Cup campaign.
Jacques Rogge, the former International Olympic Committee president, was a member of the Belgium national team.
Rugby World Cup qualification
editCurrent squad
editBelgium's 35-man squad for their South American tour matches against Chile, Paraguay and Brazil.
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Record
editRank | Change[i] | Team | Points |
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1 | South Africa | 93.37 | |
2 | Ireland | 92.12 | |
3 | New Zealand | 88.45 | |
4 | France | 86.96 | |
5 | England | 85.40 | |
6 | 1 | Scotland | 82.82 |
7 | 1 | Argentina | 81.57 |
8 | 1 | Australia | 80.70 |
9 | 1 | Italy | 79.98 |
10 | Fiji | 77.92 | |
11 | Wales | 76.04 | |
12 | Georgia | 74.10 | |
13 | Samoa | 73.54 | |
14 | Japan | 72.12 | |
15 | Portugal | 70.61 | |
16 | Tonga | 68.29 | |
17 | Uruguay | 67.39 | |
18 | Spain | 66.29 | |
19 | United States | 66.25 | |
20 | Romania | 62.62 | |
21 | 1 | Chile | 61.39 |
22 | 1 | Canada | 61.15 |
23 | Hong Kong | 60.40 | |
24 | Russia | 58.06 | |
25 | Namibia | 57.87 | |
26 | Switzerland | 57.44 | |
27 | Netherlands | 57.29 | |
28 | Zimbabwe | 56.03 | |
29 | Brazil | 55.83 | |
30 | Belgium | 55.11 |
- ^ Change from the previous week
Belgium's historical rankings | |
See or edit source data. |
Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Belgium national XV at test level up until 28 July 2024.
Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armenia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
Barbarians | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
Brazil | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
Canada | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0% |
Chile | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Croatia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50% |
Czech Republic | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57.14% |
Czechoslovakia | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16.67% |
Denmark | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 60% |
Fiji | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
Georgia | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
Germany | 13 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 46.15% |
Hong Kong | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
Italy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
Latvia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50% |
Lithuania | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Luxembourg | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Malta | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Moldova | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 71.43% |
Monaco | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Morocco | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25% |
Netherlands | 48 | 23 | 21 | 4 | 47.92% |
Paraguay | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Poland | 15 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 40% |
Portugal | 17 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 23.53% |
Romania | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0.0% |
Russia | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14.29% |
Samoa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
Serbia and Montenegro | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.5% |
Slovenia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.67% |
Spain | 17 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 11.76% |
Sweden | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.67% |
Switzerland | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 55.56% |
Tunisia | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20% |
Ukraine | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 50% |
United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Uruguay | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
West Germany | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 66.67% |
Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
Total | 249 | 103 | 134 | 12 | 41.37% |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
External links
edit- http://www.rugbyevents.be
- Belgian Rugby Federation
- Belgium XV Official Games
- Belgium Archived 5 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine on rugbydata.com