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Belgium national rugby union team

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This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Belgium women's national rugby union team.

Belgium
Shirt badge/Association crest
NicknameDiables Noirs / Zwarte Duivels (Black Devils)
UnionBelgian Rugby Union
Head coachLaurent Dossat
CaptainJens Torfs
Most capsAlan Williams (68)
Top scorerAlan Williams (736)
Top try scorerJulien Berger (15)
Home stadiumVarious
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current26 (as of 5 February 2024)
Highest21 (2012, 2013)
Lowest55 (2004)
First international
 Netherlands 6–6 Belgium 
(Amsterdam, Netherlands; 13 March 1932)
Biggest win
 United Arab Emirates 3–94 Belgium 
(Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 8 December 2012)
Biggest defeat
 Romania 83–5 Belgium 
(Bucharest, Romania; 19 April 1996)
Websitewww.rugby.be

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.

History

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The 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

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See also: Rugby World Cup qualification
World Cup record World Cup Qualification record
Year Round P W D L F A P W D L F A
AustraliaNew Zealand 1987 Not invited -
United KingdomRepublic of IrelandFrance 1991 did not enter did not enter
South Africa 1995 did not qualify
Wales 1999 did not qualify
Australia 2003 did not qualify
France 2007 did not qualify
New Zealand 2011 did not qualify
England 2015 did not qualify
Japan 2019 did not qualify
France 2023 did not qualify
Australia 2027 TBD
Total -

Current squad

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Belgium's 35-man squad for their 2024 South American tour matches against Chile, Paraguay and Brazil.

  • Head Coach: France Laurent Dossat

Record

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Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 as of 4 November 2024[1]
Rank Change[i] Team Points
1 Steady  Ireland 092.12
2 Steady  South Africa 091.77
3 Steady  New Zealand 089.67
4 Steady  France 086.96
5 Steady  England 084.43
6 Steady  Argentina 084.30
7 Steady  Scotland 083.39
8 Steady  Italy 079.98
9 Increase1  Australia 079.32
10 Decrease1  Fiji 079.07
11 Steady  Wales 076.04
12 Steady  Georgia 074.10
13 Steady  Samoa 072.68
14 Steady  Japan 072.31
15 Steady  Portugal 070.61
16 Steady  Tonga 068.12
17 Steady  Uruguay 067.39
18 Steady  Spain 066.29
19 Steady  United States 065.70
20 Steady  Romania 062.62
21 Steady  Chile 061.60
22 Steady  Canada 060.81
23 Steady  Hong Kong 060.40
24 Steady  Russia 058.06
25 Steady  Namibia 057.87
26 Increase1  Netherlands 057.29
27 Increase3  Belgium 056.51
28 Decrease2   Switzerland 056.04
29 Decrease1  Zimbabwe 056.03
30 Decrease1  Brazil 055.62
  1. ^ Change from the previous week
Belgium's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[1]
Graph updated to 4 November 2024

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Belgium national XV at test level up until 3 November 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 10 6 4 0 60%
 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 250 104 134 12 41.6%
Germany playing Belgium in Qualifiers for the 2007 Rugby World Cup
Poland playing Belgium in Qualifiers for the 2011 Rugby World Cup

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
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