Malta national rugby union team

Malta

Union	Malta Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)	Il-imtaten (The Rams)
Emblem(s)	The Ram
Coach(es)	Damian Neill
Captain(s)	Domenic Busuttil
First international
Moldova 58–8 Malta (2000-11-18)
Largest win
Andorra 15–63 Malta (2016-10-22)
Largest defeat
Moldova 58–8 Malta (2000-11-18)

The Malta national rugby union team are governed by the Malta Rugby Football Union (MRFU). Although Malta has yet to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, the island state has made remarkable progression since its first international in 2000. It is currently competing in the European Division 2A and finished 2nd to promoted Netherlands in the 2013–14 season.

History

Malta's national team played their first match on November 18, 2000, against Moldova in Chişinău, which Moldova won 58–8. They played a subsequent match against Belgium that same year in Marsa, which Belgium won 26–0. Malta played four matches in 2001, and they recorded their first win in the fourth of them, against Monaco in Marsa. This was followed by a draw 10–10 with Norway, defeating Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Latvia and Hungary. They then played Moldova in 2004.

Malta then proceeded to enter the 2007 Rugby World Cup European qualification tournament where they were grouped in Pool D of the second round. After finishing third in their pool with two wins from four pool games, Malta entered a play-off along with Denmark, Andorra and Sweden to enter round three. Malta were successful and entered Pool B of round three.

The team is currently ranked 43rd in the World Rugby world rankings, their highest ever position. They are coached by Welshman Damian Neill, a former Number 8 in the Welsh Premiership with Aberavon RFC and Maesteg RFC.

Current squad

Note: Caps correct 8 November 2014

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province Daniel Holliday Hooker 16 Rhodri Apsee Prop 6 Kyle Mason Prop 26 Clayton Cassar Lock 18 Dragan Cerkata Lock 9 Stompers John Ellul Lock 3 Stompers Christian Schranz Lock 7 Daniel Apsee Flanker 12 Darren Deguara Flanker 13 Joseph Cutajar Number 8 8 Luke Watts Number 8 30 Thomas Holloway Scrum-half 16 James Morris Fly-half 11 Dominic Busutill (c) Centre 40 Toby Quarendon Centre 14 Marvin Cordle Wing 2 James Kirk Wing 10 Vince Stivala Wing 16 James O'Brien Fullback 24 Matthew Camilleri Wing 13 Stompers Coaches Name Years Tests Won Lost Drew Win percentage Len Ethel 2000–2001 3 0 3 0 0% Nigal Ben Bennett 2001–2002 4 2 2 0 50% Graham Richards 2002–2004 9 7 2 1 80% Damain Neil 2004– 43 20 23 0 73% Records of International Matches Malta's test match record against all nations:[1] Against Played Won Lost Drawn % Won  Andorra 2 1 1 0 50  Austria 1 1 0 0 100  Belgium 2 0 2 0 0  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 1 0 0 100  Bulgaria 2 2 0 0 100  Croatia 10 4 6 0 40  Czech Republic 1 0 1 0 0  Denmark 2 1 1 0 50  Germany 1 0 1 0 0  Hungary 1 1 0 0 100  Latvia 7 5 2 0 71  Lithuania 6 4 2 0 67  Luxembourg 1 1 0 0 100  Moldova 2 0 2 0 0  Monaco 2 1 1 0 50  Netherlands 4 0 4 0 0  Norway 1 0 0 1 50  Poland 3 0 3 0 0  Serbia 3 2 1 0 67  Slovenia 1 0 1 0 0  Sweden 4 3 1 0 75   Switzerland 3 2 1 0 67 Total 60 29 30 1 49 See also List of Malta national rugby union team test matches Rugby union in Malta References "Results of all Internationals" (PDF). Malta Rugby. Retrieved 2015-02-04. External links Malta Rugby Union official website Malta on rugbydata.com IRB rankings