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Belgium

Nickname	Diables Noirs / Zwarte Duivels (Black Devils)
Union	Belgian Rugby Union
Head coach	Laurent Dossat
Captain	Jens Torfs
Most caps	Alan Williams (68)
Top scorer	Alan Williams (736)
Top try scorer	Julien Berger (15)
Home stadium	Various
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	28 (as of 16 November 2024)
Highest	21 (2012, 2013)
Lowest	55 (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)
Website	www.rugby.be

The Belgium national rugby union team, nicknamed Diables Noirs / Zwarte Duivels (Black Devils), currently competes in the first division of the Rugby Europe International Championships, which they have been playing in since 2023. They have yet to participate in a Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Belgium is administered by the Belgian Rugby Federation.

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.

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

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not invited								-
1991	did not enter								did not enter
1995	did not qualify
1999	did not qualify
2003	did not qualify
2007	did not qualify
2011	did not qualify
2015	did not qualify
2019	did not qualify
2023	did not qualify
2027	TBD
Total	-

Current squad

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

• Head Coach: Laurent Dossat

Forwards Player Position Club Alexis Cuffolo Hooker Barbezieux Malcolm Huppermans Hooker Coq Mosan Alexandre Raynier Hooker Lombez Samatan Jean-Baptiste de Clercq Prop Albi Remi de Wolf Prop Soignies Maxime Jadot Prop Anglet Samuel Opsomer Prop Soignies Lucas Sotteau Prop Oloron Bruno Vliegen Prop Olympique Marcquois Gillian Benoy Lock Béziers Dries De Keyser Lock Dendermonde Maurice Fromont Lock Vannes Maximilien Hendrickx Lock Niort Nestor Jeandrain Lock Rugby Ottignies Club Jérémie Brasseur Back row Massy Toon Deceuninck Back row Kituro Jean-Maurice Decubber Back row Massy Paul Gérard Back row ASUB Waterloo Arthur Smeets Back row Bassin D’Arcachon Lucas Rassinfosse Back row Bourgoin-Jallieu William Van Bost Back row Béziers

Backs Player Position Club Julien Berger Scrum-half Cognac Curtis Moucheron Scrum-half Soignies Timothe Rifon Scrum-half Rugby Ottignies Club Ryan Godsmark Fly-half La Hulpe Matias Remue Fly-half Toulouse Espoirs Hugo De Francq Centre Soignies Lucas Michiel Centre Dendermonde Viktor Pazgrat Centre Frameries Florian Remue Centre Toulouse Espoirs Jens Torfs Centre Nice Dazzy Cornez Wing Mâcon Gaspard Lalli Wing La Hulpe Thomas Wallraf Wing Bassin D’Arcachon Mattheo van Holsbeke Full-back Soignies

Record

Men's World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 30 as of 9 December 2024

Rank	Change	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.78
2		Ireland	090.78
3		New Zealand	090.36
4		France	088.51
5		Argentina	084.97
6		Scotland	083.34
7		England	082.31
8		Australia	081.52
9		Fiji	080.07
10		Italy	078.64
11		Wales	074.01
12		Georgia	073.85
13		Japan	072.95
14		Samoa	072.68
15		United States	070.02
16		Portugal	068.82
17		Uruguay	067.06
18		Spain	065.98
19		Tonga	065.46
20		Romania	063.01
21		Chile	061.72
22		Hong Kong	059.49
23		Canada	059.18
24		Netherlands	058.56
25		Russia	058.06
26		Namibia	057.87
27		Zimbabwe	057.16
28		Brazil	056.53
29		Belgium	056.51
30		Switzerland	056.04

1. Change from the previous week

Belgium's historical rankings

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. See or edit source data.

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Belgium national XV at test level up until 7 July 2024, updated after match with  Brazil..

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%

See also

• Rugby union in Belgium

References

1. (French: Équipe de Belgique de rugby à XV) (Dutch: Belgisch nationaal rugbyteam)
2. ^ "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 9 December 2024.

External links

• http://www.rugbyevents.be
• Belgian Rugby Federation
• Belgium XV Official Games
• Belgium Archived 5 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine on rugbydata.com

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