Senior International Matches (Men)

Sun 12th October 2025   - KO  15:00 - RC Octopus, Uden , Netherlands
Official: Hans Verveer (Netherlands)

Netherlands

12

FT

56

Half Time
6 - 22

Ukraine

Tries

Arie-Tjerk Razoux Schultz (72)
Damon Koolstra (14)

Davyd Zazimko (11,21,77)
Ostap Kozak (29)
Liubomyr Beznoschuk (68)
Oleksandr Skorbach (79)
Owen Hromow (53)
Zayn Sluvinksky (61)
Jonah Ngaronoa (6)

Goals

Damon Koolstra (2/2)

Oleksandr Skorbach (2/3)
Jett Cleary (5/6)

Match Preview: Netherlands and Ukraine name squads for men's international in Uden

Netherlands and Ukraine meet in a men’s senior international at RC Ocopus, Uden on Sunday 12 October (kick off 3pm, local time). The match will serve as a warm up for both as they prepare for the European Championships.

The Oranje kick off their Euro B campaign with an away trip to Malta next weekend, Ukraine heading to Italy for Euro C fixtures against the Azzurri and then Greece in the midweek following.

Netherlands will be looking to return to winning ways after being shut out 30-0 against Ireland last weekend in Sassenheim. Head coach Dave Hunter has rung the changes with Joshua Pengel, Lars Mudde, Mauricio Gomez-Pazos, Mike Prins, Rick Baats, Ruben Stuifzand, Shadan Lavia, Stan Boersma and Thomas Frencken all moving out of the 19-player squad, and Damon Koolstra, Dimitri Haringa, Francis Appleton, Hamish Wragg, Joran Schoenmaker, Kevin Ebbing, Kwinton Roeleveld and Lachlan van der Vliet coming into contention.

“We’ve definitely learned a lot from the loss against Ireland,” he said. “The boys have regrouped and trained well. We’re looking for a much improved performance. Ukraine will be a stern test, they’ve certainly got everything to play for, and we’ll need to at our best to compete.”

Last time out, Ukraine were beaten by France in the semi-finals of the 2026 IRL Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers (Europe) tournament and then went down to Serbia in the third-place play-off.

Their squad has a youthful air to it with youngsters David Zazimko and Valerie Popeliuk who impressed in last year’s European U19s Championship set to feature alongside Yuri and Owen Hromow who both play U21’s grade in Australia. New Zealand Warriors’ Jett Cleary will also potentially make his debut.

Ukraine head coach, Dan Beardshaw, noted: “We’ve had a focused preparation and the energy in the squad is fantastic. Our players understand what this game means — not just for the team, but for Ukrainian Rugby League as a whole. The Netherlands are a disciplined side with plenty of experience, but we’re determined to play our style, stay composed, and give everything for the jersey.”

Netherlands Squad
Francis Appleton (Amsterdam Cobras), Hidde van den Berg (Amsterdam Cobras), Kees Kuijpers, Mavi Gevers, Hamish Wragg (Brabant Bears), Tom van Bokhoven (Cromer Kingfishers), Kwinton Roeleveld, Maas van der Reek (Den Haag Knights), Arie-Tjerk Razoux Schultz (Harderwijk Dolphins), Lachlan van der Vliet (Mareeba Gladiators), Joran Schoenmaker (Palau Broncos), Tom Turnock (Rotterdam Pitbulls), Damon Koolstra (West Tigers Mackay), Kevin Ebbing, Dimitri Haringa, Paul Kuijpers, Sam Klumpert, Sylvan Vonken (Zwolle Wolves)

Ukraine Squad
Rhys Sciglitano (Blacktown Workers), Owen Hromow (Canberra Raiders), Daniel Janissen (Cardiff Cobras), Yuri Hromow (Cronulla Sharks), Jonah Ngaronoa (Glebe Dirty Reds), Liubomyr Beznoshchuk, Vitalii Boichuk (Ivano-Frankivsk Stanyslaviv), Oleksandr Fomiuk, Volodymyr Karpenko, Oleksandr Skorbach, Davyd Zazimko (Kharkiv Legion XIII), Orest Adamyk, Ostap Hryshchenko, Ostap Kozak, Valerii Popeliuk (Lviv Tigers), Jett Cleary (New Zealand Warriors), Dmytro Pokotylo (Rivne Giants), Zayn Sluvinsky (South Eastern Seagulls), Oleksandr Syvokoz (unattached).

10 October 2025
1 Lachlan Van Der Vliet
Full Back
Yuri Hromow 1
2 Hamish Wragg
Right Wing
Davyd Zazimko 2
3 Hidde Van Der Berg
Right Centre
Ostap Kozak 3
4 Joran Schoenmaker
Left Centre
Liubomyr Beznoschuk 4
5 Arie-Tjerk Razoux Schultz
Left Wing
Orest Adamyk 5
6 Kees Kuijpers
Stand Off
Oleksandr Skorbach 6
7 Damon Koolstra
Scrum Half
Jett Cleary 7
8 Kevin Ebing
Prop
Volodymyr Karpenko 8
9 Maas Van Der Reek
Hooker
Owen Hromow 9
10 Kwinten Roeleveld
Prop
Ostap Hryshchenko 10
11 Mavi Gevers
Second Row
Jonah Ngaronoa 11
12 Paul Kuijpers
Second Row
Zayn Sluvinksky 12
13 Tom Van Bokhoven
Loose Forward
Rhys Sciglitano 13
14 Max Van Der Stroom
Int 1
Daniel Janissen 14
15 Francis Appleton
Int 2
Vitalii Boichuk 15
16 Tom Turnock
Int 3
Valerii Popeliuk 16
17 Sam Kulmpert
Int 4
Oleksandr Syvokoz 17
18 Sylvan Vonken
Reserve 1
Oleksandr Fomiuk 18
Match Report: Ukraine are victorious in Uden as they overcome Netherlands 12-56

A hat-trick of tries from winger Davyd Zazimko and an impressive debut from scrum half Jett Cleary, who kicked six goals, proved to be the perfect warm up for Ukraine ahead of the European Championships, as they beat Netherlands 56-12 at RC Octopus, Uden in overcast conditions.

Ukraine head coach, Dan Beardshaw, commented: “That was a very good victory for us, and I’m extremely proud of the boys. Our young players really stepped up and played some outstanding rugby league.

“Credit to The Netherlands — they were well drilled and caused us problems throughout the game — but I thought the effort, skill, and attitude from some of our men were very impressive. I was particularly impressed with our domestic players, Volodymyr Karpenko in the front row and Liubomyr Beznoshchuk, who both made a solid impact on the game.

“We’ll sit down and have a look at the video between now and the Italy game next week to see what we will need to work on, but we have a tough day of travel ahead of us, so recovery will be top of our list.”

Netherlands, who are preparing for their matches in Euro B, started strongly but couldn’t breach the visitor’s line and fell behind when a Cleary kick was hacked on by Orest Adamyk and pounced upon by Jonah Ngaronoa.

Zazimko claimed his first try, but the hosts hit back when Damon Koolstra scored to the right of the posts, converting his own effort. Back-to-back penalties gave Ukraine field position and Zazimko pounced again, Cleary adding the conversion from the touchline.

Zayn Sluvinsky was denied a try for a double movement but Ukraine were in again shortly afterwards when Ostap Kozak powered through on the left to make it 22-6 at the break. Netherlands winger Hamish Wragg put his foot in touch as he found space which would have narrowed the gap early in the second half, and Ukraine responded by Ngaronoa claiming his second try.

Cleary put Owen Hromow in shortly afterwards, and Sluvinsky added a try just after the hour mark. Beznoshchuk gained his reward diving over in the right corner, Oleksandr Skorbach converting.

Netherlands’ efforts were rewarded after a sustained period of pressure when Arie-Tjerk Razoux Schultz shrugged off defenders to find his way to the line, but Zazimko added his third try, veteran Skorbach goaling and ending the scoring with a try of his own.  

“I’m really proud of our players but unfortunately we were second best,” said Netherlands head coach, Dave Hunter. “Ukraine thoroughly deserved their win and brought some quality players to the occasion. We should have been better defensively and need to improve our one-on-one tackling, and I’m confident our game with Malta next weekend will be a much better performance.”

12 October 2025