Belgium national rugby union team
The Belgium national rugby union team is administered by the Belgian Rugby Federation. Belgium have been ranked in the top 30 since 2010.[1] Belgium have yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. Belgium participates in the European Nations Cup (the second tier of European International competitions, the Six Nations being the most important one).
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| Nickname(s) | Zwarte Duivels / Diables Noirs (Black Devils) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Belgian Rugby Federation | ||
| Head coach | Frédéric Cocqu | ||
| Captain | Julien Berger | ||
| Most caps | Alan Williams (53) | ||
| Top scorer | Alan Williams (501) | ||
| Top try scorer | Baptiste Lescarboura (11) Julien Berger (11) | ||
| Home stadium | Stade Communal Fallon | ||
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| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 27 (as of 31 January 2020) | ||
| Highest | 22 (2012) | ||
| Lowest | 51 (2004) | ||
| First international | |||
| Belgium 6–6 Netherlands (Belgium; 1 July 1930) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
| Belgium 94-3 UAE (Belgium; 8 December 2012) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Spain 77–0 Belgium (Spain; 8 December 1996) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 0 | ||
| Website | www.rugby.be | ||
History
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.[2]
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. They gained promotion to the ENC 1A for the 2012-14 competition, where they play against sides such as Spain, Portugal, and the latest 2011 Rugby World Cup participants, Romania, Georgia and Russia.
Jacques Rogge, the former International Olympic Committee president, was a member of the Belgium national team.
Rugby World Cup qualification
Current squad
Belgium`s squad for the 2020 Rugby Europe Championship.
Head Coach: 
Caps updated: 13 February 2020
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Note - Players in bold have played more matches than shown above but there is no information of Belgium caps pre-2013.
Record
Overall
Men's World Rugby Rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 30 rankings as of 9 March 2020[3] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
| 1 |  |  | 94.19 |
| 2 | |  | 92.11 |
| 3 | |  | 88.41 |
| 4 | |  | 84.91 |
| 5 | | | 82.73 |
| 6 | | .svg.png){kind=small} | 82.64 |
| 7 | | .svg.png){kind=small} | 81.90 |
| 8 | |  | 80.68 |
| 9 | |  | 79.28 |
| 10 | |  | 78.31 |
| 11 | |  | 76.21 |
| 12 | |  | 72.88 |
| 13 | |  | 71.44 |
| 14 | |  | 71.07 |
| 15 | |  | 70.72 |
| 16 | |  | 68.10 |
| 17 | |  | 67.41 |
| 18 | |  | 67.14 |
| 19 | |  | 65.36 |
| 20 |  |  | 62.13 |
| 21 |  |  | 61.27 |
| 22 | |  | 61.23 |
| 23 | | .svg.png){kind=small} | 61.12 |
| 24 | |  | 61.01 |
| 25 | |  | 60.08 |
| 26 | |  | 58.89 |
| 27 | | .svg.png){kind=small} | 57.19 |
| 28 | |  | 54.11 |
| 29 | |  | 53.83 |
| 30 | |  | 53.13 |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Belgium national XV at test level up until 07th March 2020.
| Opponent | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Barbarians | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 50.0% |
 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57.1% |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16.7% |
 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 60.0% |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 45.0% |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.0% |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 50.0% |
 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 71.4% |
 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.0% |
| 45 | 23 | 18 | 4 | 51.1% |
 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 22.2% |
| 15 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 21.4% |
| 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14.29% |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
%3B_Flag_of_Serbia_and_Montenegro_(2003%E2%80%932006).svg.png){kind=small} | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 87.5% |
 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 66.7% |
| 17 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 12.5% |
 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.7% |
| 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 62.5% |
 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 20.0% |
 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 40.0% |
 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 66.7% |
 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Total | 222 | 94 | 116 | 12 | 42.72% |
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See also
References
- International Rugby Board, World Rankings Analysis, http://www.irb.com/rankings/analysis/index.html Archived 2013-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
- International Rugby Board, World Rankings Analysis, http://www.irb.com/rankings/analysis/index.html Archived 2013-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
- "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
External links
- http://www.rugbyevents.be
- Belgian Rugby Federation
- Belgium XV Official Games
- Belgium on rugbydata.com
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