Malta national rugby union team

Malta
Nickname(s)	L-imtaten (The Rams)
Emblem	The Ram
Union	Malta Rugby Football Union
Head coach	Keith Hopkins
Captain	Dominic Busuttil
	First colours
	First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	44 (as of 20 March 2023)
Highest	38 (7 April 2022)
Lowest	45 (2023)
First international
	Moldova 58–8 Malta ; (18 November 2000)
Biggest win
	Andorra 3–89 Malta ; (24 March 2018)
Biggest defeat
	Lithuania 81–10 Malta ; (19 May 2018)
World Cup
Appearances	0

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 Rugby Europe Conference, after topping the Conference 1 South for the past two seasons—2017 and 2018—yet failing to win the play-off to rise to the higher level. The national side is ranked 46th in the world (as of 13 November 2022).

History

Malta's national team played their first match on 18 November 2000, against

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 39th 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.

Record

World Cup

World Cup record								World Cup Qualification record
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not Invited							Not Invited
1991	did not enter							did not enter
1995	did not enter							did not enter
1999	did not enter							did not enter
2003	did not qualify							5	0	0	5	27	177
2007								10	5	0	5	139	200
2011								4	2	0	2	66	70
2015								4	1	0	3	73	104
2019								5	3	1	1	161	97
2023								Automatically eliminated
Total	0/9	0	0	0	0	0	0	28	11	1	16	466	648

European Competitions

Season	Division	G	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−	Pts	Pos
2001-02	European Nations Cup Third Division Pool 3	3	2	1	0	45	24	+21	8	1st
2002-03	European Nations Cup Third Division Pool B	4	4	0	0	101	54	+47	12	1st
2003-04	European Nations Cup Third Division Pool A	4	3	0	1	73	75	-2	10	2nd
2006-08	European Nations Cup Second Division 2B	8	2	0	6	125	210	-85	12	4th
2008-10	European Nations Cup Second Division 2B	8	4	0	4	132	156	-24	16	3rd
2010-12	European Nations Cup Second Division 2A	8	4	0	4	146	135	+11	20	3rd
2012-14	European Nations Cup Second Division 2A	8	4	0	4	162	179	-17	18	3rd
2014-16	European Nations Cup Second Division 2A	8	3	0	5	153	181	-28	16	4th
2016-17	Rugby Europe Conference 1 South	4	3	1	0	147	49	+98	17	1st
2017-18	Rugby Europe Conference 1 South	4	4	0	0	221	48	+173	20	1st
2018-19	Rugby Europe Conference 1 South	4	3	1	0	117	49	+68	16	1st
2019-20	Rugby Europe Conference 1 South	2	1	0	1	58	32	+26	6	2nd
2021-22	Rugby Europe Conference 1 South	4	3	0	1	69	40	+29	14	2nd

Overall

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Malta national XV at test level up until 4 November 2023:

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	% Won
Andorra	4	3	1	0	75%
Austria	1	1	0	0	100%
Belgium	2	0	2	0	0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	3	0	0	100%
Bulgaria	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Croatia	15	5	8	2	33.33%
Cyprus	6	5	1	0	83.33%
Czech Republic	3	0	3	0	0%
Denmark	2	1	1	0	50%
Germany	1	0	1	0	0%
Hungary	1	1	0	0	100%
Israel	7	6	1	0	85.71%
Latvia	7	5	2	0	71.43%
Lithuania	7	4	3	0	57.14%
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	0%
Poland	3	0	3	0	0%
Serbia and Montenegro	3	2	1	0	66.67%
Slovenia	4	3	1	0	75%
Sweden	4	3	1	0	75%
Switzerland	5	2	3	0	40%
Total	89	47	39	3	52.81%

Recent Matches

Matches

30 October 2021
14:00

UTC+02)

Slovenia	10–24	Malta
	Report

Oval Ljubljana, Ljubljana
Attendance: 0
Referee: Norbert Matrai (Hungary)

13 November 2021
13:00

Tony Bezzina stadium, Paola
Attendance: 0
Referee: Pedro Mendes-Silva (Portugal

)

Current squad

The following players were included in the squad for the 2021–22 Rugby Europe Conference South 1 match against Israel on 13 November 2021.^[1]

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

Player	Position	Club/province
Rhodri Apsee	Prop	Bridgend Ravens
Patrick Martin	Hooker	Stompers RFC
Dragan Cerketa	Prop	Stompers RFC
Martin Barbara	Lock	Falcons RFC
Liam Scicluna	Lock	Falcons RFC
Cameron Sultana	Lock	Penarth RFC
Benjamin Borg	Flanker	Falcons RFC
Daniel Apsee	Flanker	Cowbridge RFC
Mark Davey	Number 8	Tonbridge Juddian RFC
Thomas Holloway	Scrum-half	Chester RUFC
Robert Holloway	Fly-half	Sedgley Park RUFC
Brendan Dalton	Wing	Falcons RFC
Dominic Busuttil (c)	Centre
Christopher Dudman	Centre	Rochford Hundred
Jeremy Debattista	Wing	Stompers RFC
Richard Gum	Fullback	Stompers RFC
Matthew Spiteri	Hooker	Stompers RFC
Thomas Davey	Number 8
Jethro Zammit Randich	Fullback	Kavallieri RFC
Jon Jerome Micallef	Lock	Stompers RFC
Matthew Camilleri	Centre	Stompers RFC
Luke Matthew	Fullback
Philippe Ioffe	Wing	UM Wolves RFC
Terence Galdes	Prop	Kavallieri RFC

Coaches

Name	Years	Tests	Won	Lost	Drew
Keith Hopkins	2023–present	1	1	0	0
Damian Neill	2005–2023	5	3	1	1
Len Ethel	2000–2001	3	0	3	0
Nigal Ben Bennett	2001–2002	4	2	2	0
Graham Richards	2002–2004	9	7	2	1

References

^ "Malta vs Israel Match Sheet" (PDF). Rugby Europe. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.

https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/conference-1-south/slovenia-v-malta/ https://www.rugbyeurope.eu/competitions/conference-1-south/croatia-v-malta/

External links

[1] "Malta vs Israel Match Sheet" (PDF). Rugby Europe. 14 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.

[1]