Josh van der Flier

Joshua Dirk van der Flier (born 25 April 1993) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team.

Club career Van der Flier 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 Italian side Zebre Parma. It was announced in April 2015 that he had been awarded a senior contract with Leinster.

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 in 2011 and Rob Kearney in 2012. In June 2022, he was named Leinster 2021–22 Men's Player of the Year.

In June 2025, he scored a try in the 2024–25 United Rugby Championship final during a 32–7 victory against the Bulls.

International career Ireland Van der Flier received his first call up to the senior Ireland squad by coach Joe Schmidt for the 2016 Six Nations, and he made his debut for Ireland on 27 February 2016 against England in the Six Nations at Twickenham.

Van der Flier won the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland men's player of the year award for the 2021-22 campaign. He was named as the Ireland men's XVs Players' Player of the Year at the 2022 Rugby Players Ireland awards. He was named as the 2022 World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year.

He was selected to be part of Ireland's World Cup squad ahead of the 2023 World Cup in France.

In December 2024, he won Player of the Series for the 2024 Autumn Nations Series beating out Cheslin Kolbe, Wallace Sititi and Thomas Ramos.

British & Irish Lions On 8 May 2025, Van der Flier was named in the official British & Irish Lions squad for the 2025 tour to Australia.

Personal life Van der Flier was born and raised in Wicklow, Ireland, where he began to play rugby.

He is of Dutch descent on his father's side, his grandparents having moved to Ireland from the Netherlands in the 1950s to open a radiator factory. He is commonly referred to among Leinster Rugby circles as 'The Dutch Disciple'.

He has a Master's in Business Administration from Dublin Business School, completed in 2020.

He married Sophie De Patoul in August 2022.

Van der Flier is a practising Christian, and wears the cross drawn on his wrist tape during games.

Career statistics List of international tries Number Position Points Tries Result Opposition Venue Date 1 Flanker 5 1 Won Ajinomoto Stadium 24 June 2017 2 Flanker 5 1 Won Aviva Stadium 8 February 2020 3 Flanker 5 1 Won Aviva Stadium 3 July 2021 4–5 Flanker 10 2 Won Aviva Stadium 21 November 2021 6 Flanker 5 1 Lost Stade de France 12 February 2022 7 Flanker 5 1 Won Aviva Stadium 19 March 2022 8 Flanker 5 1 Won Wellington Regional Stadium 16 July 2022 9 Flanker 5 1 Won Aviva Stadium 5 November 2022 10 Flanker 5 1 Won Millennium Stadium 4 February 2023

Honours Leinster 1× Heineken Cup: 2018 5× Pro14 or URC: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2025

Ireland 3× Six Nations Championship: 2018, 2023, 2024 2× Grand Slam: 2018, 2023 5× Triple Crown: 2018, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026

Individual 1× European Professional Club Rugby Player of the Year: 2022 1× World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year: 2022