Rugby union in Belgium
| Rugby union in Belgium | |
|---|---|
 Belgian rugby goes to the carnival: the Giant Xhovémont in the streets of Outremeuse in Liège, 15 August 2008 | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Governing body | Belgian Rugby Federation |
| National team(s) | Belgium |
| Registered players | 14,266 [1] |
| Clubs | 58 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
Rugby union in Belgium is a growing sport. The national governing body for rugby union in Belgium is the Belgian Rugby Federation. The national team plays in the European Nations Cup, and as of October 2014, they were ranked thirtieth in the World Rugby Rankings.[2]
Governing body
The national governing body for rugby union in Belgium is the Belgian Rugby Federation (FBRB - Fédération Belge de Rugby in French and Belgische Rugby Bond in Dutch) which is headquartered in Brussels. The Belgian Rugby Federation was formed in 1931, and joined the IRFB in 1988.[3]
Rugby union is governed by two regional bodies that answer to FBRB, the national governing body. Most of the clubs in the northern region of Belgium are governed by the Vlaamse Rugby Bond (VRB). The remaining clubs are governed by the Ligue Belge Francophone de Rugby (LBFR).[4]
Rugby union in Belgium is also structured into four districts for competition purposes. These districts are; Brabant, Hainaut, Liège/Namur/Luxembourg, and Flanders.
Within these districts, there are also several leagues and divisions that are structured based on the skill level of the clubs.
History
For a long time, Belgian rugby's most high-profile personality was the former international referee, Teddy Lacroix, who became president of the union.[3]
Rugby union in Belgium has not been popular historically, but due to its recent international successes, it is a quickly growing sport. As of the December 2007, more than half of the nearly seven thousand registered players are pre-teens or teenagers.[5] In addition, there are currently forty-eight domestic clubs that compete against each other on various levels.
Notable players
Notable Belgian rugby players include:
- Jacques Rogge, best known as the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), played on the Belgium national rugby team.
- John Raphael, born and died in Belgium, but moved to England as a child and was educated there. He was capped nine times for England in 1905 and 1906.[6] In 1910 he captained the British Lions in a tour of Argentina, consisting of the South American nation's inaugural Test match.[7]
- James Atkins
- Oli Hockley
- Jimmy Parker
Nationale ploegen
Na het vertrekken van bondscoach Richard McClintock werd Guillaume Ajac aangesteld. Onderstaande tabel wordt verondersteld de Ruime selectie te zijn van de nationale ploeg in het seizoen 2017-2018 voor officiële wedstrijden. De lijst is niet exhaustief.
| Naam speler | ploeg | klassement ploeg |
|---|---|---|
| EERSTE LIJN | ||
| James Pearse | Edimburgh Academics | ENG |
| Jean-Baptiste De Clercq | Oloron | FR FED 1 |
| Thomas Dienst | Ottignies | BEL D1 |
| Lucas Sotteau | aubenas-Vals | FR FED 1 |
| Adelin Mehrez | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Lucas Sotteau | Oloron | FR FED 2 |
| Alexis Cuffolo | Coq Mosan | BEL D2 |
| Max Dubois | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Maxime Jadot | RC Vannes | FR PRO D2 |
| Martin Jessen | USAPerpignan | FR PRO D2 |
| Guillaume Mortier | Provence rugby | FR PRO D2 |
| Sep De Backer | Dendermonde | BEL D1 |
| Julien Massimi | Asub Waterloo | BEL D1 |
| Cian Cauwenberghs | Kituro | BEL D1 |
| TWEEDE LIJN | ||
| Mathieu Verschelden | RC Tricastin | FR FED 1 |
| Tuur Moelants | Asub Waterloo | BEL D1 |
| Julien Penders | The Dukes | Ned D1 |
| Bertrand Billi | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Paul Edouard Van Laer | Nice | FR FED 1 |
| Sydney Mulumba | tournefeuille | FR FED 2 |
| Romain Heyndrickx | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Brieuc Corradi | dijon | FR FED 1 |
| DERDE LIJN | ||
| Gillian Benoy | Dendermonde | BEL D1 |
| Tom herenger | Limoges | FR FED 1 |
| Jean-Maurice Decubber | Angouleme | FR PRO D2 |
| Michael Abrahams | Kituro | BEL D1 |
| Alec Maloir | Narbonne | PRO D2 |
| Paul Edouard Van Laer | Nice | FR FED 1 |
| Bastien Gallaire | Stade Francais | FR TOP 14 |
| Keran Caro | Terhulpen | BEL D1 |
| Esteban Thewissen | Stade Toulousain | FR TOP 14 |
| Baptiste Lescaboura | Kituro | BEL D1 |
| Thomas De Molder | grasse | FR FED 1 |
| Amin Hamzaoui | Narbonne | PRO D2 |
| Tom Coupé | Dendermonde | BEL D1 |
| Thomas Vervoort | La Seyne Sur Mer | FR FED 1 |
| Sven D'hooghe | Montauban | FR PRO D2 |
| Clément Veeckman | Hagetmau | FR FED 2 |
| SCRUM-HALF | ||
| Julien Berger | Provence Rugby | FR PRO D2 |
| Tom Cocqu | Aubenas | FR FED 1 |
| FLY-HALF | ||
| Kevin Williams | Asub Waterloo | BEL D1 |
| Sebastien Guns | Ottignies | BEL D1 |
| Bruno Lancelle | Hyeres | FR FED 2 |
| Vincent Hart | Cambridge RFC | ENG |
| Kevin Dams | Asub Waterloo | BEL D1 |
| CENTER | ||
| Florian Piron | ES Catalane | FR FED 2 |
| Nathan Bontems | beauvais | FR FED 2 |
| Guillaume Brébant | Ottignies | BEL D1 |
| Benjamin Cocu | Otiiginies | BEL D1 |
| Bram Coupé | Terhulpen | BEL D1 |
| Hugo Sensee | Kituro | BEL D1 |
| Jens Torfs | Mont-De-Marsan | FR PRO D2 |
| Guillaume Piron | Colomiers | FR PRO D2 |
| Simon Causse | Villeurbanne | FR FED 1 |
| Florent debatty | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Hendrik Brouwers | Arras | FR FED 2 |
| LAATSTE DRIE | ||
| Charles Reynaert | Valence Romans | FR FED 1 |
| Ervin Muric | Asub Waterloo | BEL D1 |
| Loic Lechien | Bosvoorde | BEL D1 |
| Marc Tchangué | ES Catalane | FR FED 1 |
| Louis Debatty | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Dirk Hagedoorn | Agde | FR FED 1 |
| Tornike Megredlize | Soignies | BEL D1 |
| Thomas Brouillard | Ottignies | BEL D1 |
| Thomas Wallraff | Bordeaux-Bègles | FR PRO D2 |
| Craig Dowsett | Old Albanians RFC | England 3de klasse, +- niveau FR FED 1 |
| Nicolas Meeus | Kituro | BEL D1 |
| Alan Williams | US cognac | FR FED 1 |
Zo goed als alle spelers zijn actief in de Belgische en Franse competitie. Daarom is het belangrijk te begrijpen hoe deze gestructureerd is. Enkel de hoogste 2 klassen in Frankrijk zijn profs.
| België | |
| 1ste nationale (8 ploegen) | |
| 2de nationale (10 ploegen) | |
| 3de nationale (10 ploegen) | |
| VRB 1 | LBFR 1 |
| VRB 2 | LBFR 2 |
| LBFR 3 | |
| Frankrijk | |
| TOP 14 | |
| PRO D2 | |
| FED 1 (4 poules van 10 ploegen) | |
| FED 2 (8 poules van 10 ploegen) | |
| FED 3 (16 poules van 10 ploegen) | amateurreeksen |
National team
The national team, nicknamed the Black Devils (Zwarte Duivels), has been competing in international tests since 1932.
2006-08 European Nations Cup
The national team competed in competition in the Second Division at the 2010-2012 European Nations Cup winning the division and securing promotion to Division 1A for the next season.
| Date | City | Opponent | Results¹ | Attendance | Type of game |
| 12 February 2011 | Brussels |  |
20-5 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 12 March 2011 | Gdynia, Poland |  |
21-28 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 19 March 2011 | Brussels |  |
28-25 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 23 April 2011 | Amsterdam |  |
30-18 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 5 November 2011 | Brussels |  |
55-0 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 25 February 2012 | Brussels | |
58-3 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 10 March 2012 | Chisinau | |
17-16 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 17 March 2012 | Heusenstamm | |
30-29 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
| 7 April 2012 | Brussels | |
20-13 | ??? | European Nations Cup |
¹ Results from Belgian view
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rugby union in Belgium. |
References
- Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-255-5)
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ↑ Official IRB World Rankings Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- 1 2 Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1) p63
- ↑ Official FBRB Structure
- ↑ Official IRB statistics for Belgium Archived 10 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "John Raphael". Scrum.com.
- ↑ "1910 South Africa & Argentina". British and Irish Lions website.