Rugby union in the Netherlands
| Rugby union in the Netherlands | |
|---|---|
| 114px | |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Governing body | Dutch Rugby Union |
| National team | Netherlands |
| First played | 1879 |
| Registered players | 8059 |
| Clubs | 79 |
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National competitions
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Club competitions
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Rugby union in the Netherlands is a minor but growing sport.
Contents
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.[1] The union is affiliated to the IRB in 1988 [2] and has 8,000 registered players (in 2007).[3]
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.[2]
In the 1978-79 season, the Dutch leagues were affected by a severe winter, which prevented teams playing on grass rugby pitches.[4] The season managed to finish on time, mainly because the matches were transferred onto beaches to avoid snow and ice.[4]
Dutch rugby received a boost in 1996, when they beat a full strength team from Moseley RFC.[2]
Notable Dutch players
- Michael van der Loos, a lock from the Hague. Van der Loos played successfully in Wales and France, and was twice asked to consider naturalisation in order to play for one of their national sides.[2]
- Marcel Bierman, a fly half. Tragically, Bierman broke his neck in the 1988 Hong Kong Sevens, and this gave the sport a bad image in Holland at the time.[2][5][6]
- Yves Kummer[2]
- Paul Bloom, winger.[2]
- Frans ten Bos, Dutch born player, capped seventeen times for Scotland, educated in Scotland, and played for London Scottish F.C.
- Visser family
- Tim Visser, player for Dutch club RC Hilversum, Newcastle Falcons and Edinburgh Rugby, and Scotland international.[7][8][9][10]
- Marc Visser, father of Tim, no. 8 and most capped player for the Netherlands.[9][10]
- Sep Visser, younger brother of Tim, RC Hilversum and Edinburgh Rugby, and Dutch international.[11]
- Marcker brothers
- Women
- Kelly van Harskamp - Female rugby sevens player who was the IRB Sevens Women’s Player of the Year in 2010-11 [12]
See also
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- Netherlands national rugby union team
- Netherlands women's national rugby union team
- Netherlands national rugby union team (sevens)
- Netherlands women's national rugby union team (sevens)
- RC 't Gooi
References
- Cotton, Fran (Ed.) (1984) The Book of Rugby Disasters & Bizarre Records. Compiled by Chris Rhys. London. Century Publishing. ISBN 0-7126-0911-3
- McLaren, Bill A Visit to Hong Kong in Starmer-Smith, Nigel & Robertson, Ian (eds) The Whitbread Rugby World '90 (Lennard Books, 1989)
- Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-255-5)
- ↑ (Dutch) utrechtrugby.nl
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1) p67
- ↑ (Dutch) rugby.nl PDF file
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cotton, p21
- ↑ (Dutch) http://www.welzorg.nl/Pages/TER/3/670.html
- ↑ (Dutch) Bierman blijft ook in rolstoel zeer betrokken bij de sport (De Volkskrant) Gepubliceerd op 16 april 1998 00:00, bijgewerkt op 16 januari 2009 11:54
- ↑ http://www.journallive.co.uk/newcastle-sports/north-east-rugby/2008/01/18/dutch-gem-tim-starts-to-shine-61634-20364418/
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/content/articles/2007/09/05/saints_loaned_newcastle_falcons_duo_feature.shtml
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 http://www.newcastle-falcons.co.uk/113_563.php
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://www.edinburghrugby.org/content/view/2411/88/
- ↑ http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/sport/rugby-north-east/2007/08/09/falcons-hope-for-case-of-lucky-sevens-79310-19601556/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
