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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
Current28 (as of 16 November 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[1] 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 18 November 2024[2]
Rank Change[i] Team Points
1 Steady  South Africa 092.78
2 Increase1  Ireland 090.78
3 Decrease1  New Zealand 090.09
4 Steady  France 088.08
5 Steady  Argentina 085.40
6 Steady  Scotland 082.70
7 Steady  England 082.31
8 Steady  Australia 082.17
9 Steady  Fiji 080.07
10 Steady  Italy 078.92
11 Steady  Wales 074.01
12 Steady  Georgia 073.85
13 Increase1  Japan 072.95
14 Decrease1  Samoa 072.68
15 Increase1  United States 068.90
16 Decrease1  Portugal 068.82
17 Steady  Spain 067.10
18 Increase1  Uruguay 065.94
19 Decrease1  Tonga 065.46
20 Steady  Romania 064.13
21 Steady  Chile 061.72
22 Steady  Hong Kong 059.49
23 Steady  Canada 059.18
24 Increase3  Netherlands 058.56
25 Decrease1  Russia 058.06
26 Decrease1  Namibia 057.87
27 Increase2  Zimbabwe 057.16
28 Decrease2  Brazil 056.53
29 Decrease1  Belgium 056.51
30 Steady   Switzerland 056.04
  1. ^ Change from the previous week
Belgium's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[2]
Graph updated to 11 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. ^ (French: Équipe de Belgique de rugby à XV) (Dutch: Belgisch nationaal rugbyteam)
  2. ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
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