Josh van der Flier

Josh van der Flier (/væn dər ˈflɪər/)[2] (born 25 April 1993) is an Irish rugby union player for Leinster and Ireland. His preferred position is flanker, but he can play other positions if needed. Van der Flier is of Dutch descent through his paternal grandparents, who moved to Ireland in the 1950s to open a radiator factory.[2] He is commonly referred to amongst Leinster Rugby circles as ‘The Dutch Disciple’.[3]

Josh van der Flier
Van der Flier playing for Ireland in 2023
Date of birth (1993-04-25) 25 April 1993
Place of birthWicklow, Ireland
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight103 kg (16.2 st; 227 lb)
SchoolWesley College Dublin
UniversityUniversity College Dublin
SpouseSophie De Patoul
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker / Hooker
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013– UCD ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014– Leinster 125 (125)
Correct as of 27 April 2023
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011 Ireland U18 2
2012–2013 Ireland U20 10 (0)
2016– Ireland 50 (50)
Correct as of 18 March 2023[1]

Club career

He began his professional career with the Leinster academy. During his time at the academy, he played with the Leinster senior team, making his debut in October 2014 against Zebre. It was announced in April 2015 that he had been awarded a senior contract with Leinster.[4][5]

Following the 2022 Champions Cup final Van der Flier became the third Leinster player to win European player of the year, after Sean O’Brien (2011) and Rob Kearney (2012).[6] In June 2022 he was named Leinster's 2021–22 Men's Player of the Year.[7]

International career

Van der Flier received his first call up to the senior Ireland squad by coach Joe Schmidt for the 2016 Six Nations Championship.[8] Van der Flier debuted for Ireland on 27 February against England in the 2016 Six Nations Championship at Twickenham.[9]

He was named as the Ireland men’s XVs Players’ Player of the Year at the 2022 Rugby Players Ireland awards.[10] He also won the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland men’s player of the year award for the 2021-22 campaign.[11]

In November 2022, Van der Flier was named as the World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year.[12]

International tries

As of 5 November 2022[13][14][15]

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  Japan Tokyo, Japan Ajinomoto Stadium 2017 Ireland rugby union tour of Japan 24 June 2017 Win 13 – 35
2  Wales Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium 2020 Six Nations Championship 8 February 2020 Win 24 – 14
3  Japan Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium 2021 July rugby union tests 3 July 2021 Win 39 – 31
4  Argentina Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals 21 November 2021 Win 53 – 7
5
6  France Saint-Denis, France Stade de France 2022 Six Nations Championship 12 February 2022 Loss 30 – 24
7  Scotland Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium 2022 Six Nations Championship 19 March 2022 Win 26 – 5
8  New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Wellington Regional Stadium 2022 Ireland rugby union tour of New Zealand 16 July 2022 Win 22 – 32
9  South Africa Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium 2022 end-of-year rugby union internationals 5 November 2022 Win 19 – 16
10  Wales Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2023 Six Nations 4 February 2023 Win 10 – 34

Honours
Leinster
Ireland
Individual

References
  1. "Josh van der Flier". Irish Rugby. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. Stafford, Mikey. "Video: Ireland new boy Josh van der Flier finally clears up pronunciation of his name". SportsJoe. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  3. ""Criminally underrated" – 5 most underrated players in world rugby right now". The Ruck. 3 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  4. "Latest News - the Official Home of Leinster Rugby".
  5. "All Fixtures & Results".
  6. "Leinster's Josh van der Flier wins European rugby player of the year award". the42. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  7. "2022 BANK OF IRELAND LEINSTER RUGBY AWARDS BALL". Leinster rugby. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  8. "Six Nations 2016: Rory Best named as new Ireland captain". BBC. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  9. "Joe Schmidt hands Ireland debuts to Van Der Flier and McCloskey for England clash". Irish Independent. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  10. "Josh van der Flier named Irish Players' Player of the Year 2022". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  11. "Van der Flier and Jones win Rugby Writers player of the year awards". the42. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  12. "Johnny Sexton and Josh van der Flier nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year". the42. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  13. "Joshua Dirk van der Flier". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  14. "Josh VAN DER FLIER". ITS Rugby. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  15. "Ireland's Josh van der Flier named World Rugby men's player of the year". the42. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
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