Malta national rugby union team

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Malta
Nickname(s)Il-imtaten (The Rams)
EmblemThe Ram
UnionMalta Rugby Football Union
Head coachDamian Neill
CaptainDominic Busuttil
First colours
World Rugby ranking
Current38 (as of 23 November 2021)
First international
Moldova Moldova 58–8 Malta Malta
(18 November 2000)
Biggest win
Andorra Andorra 3–89 Malta Malta
(24 March 2018)
Biggest defeat
 Lithuania 81–10 Malta 
(19 May 2018)
World Cup
Appearances0

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 39th in the world (as of 12 October 2019).

History[]

Main article: Rugby union in Malta

Malta's national team played their first match on 18 November 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 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
AustraliaNew Zealand 1987 Not Invited Not Invited
United KingdomIrelandFrance 1991 Did not enter Did not enter
South Africa 1995 Did not enter Did not enter
Wales 1999 Did not enter Did not enter
Australia 2003 Did not qualify 5 0 0 5 27 177
France 2007 10 5 0 5 139 200
New Zealand 2011 4 2 0 2 66 70
England 2015 4 1 0 3 73 104
Japan 2019 5 3 1 1 161 97
France 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 2 2 0 0 39 23 +16 8 2nd

Overall[]

Updated on 14 December 2021, after match with  Israel.

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 2 2 0 0 100%
 Croatia 14 5 7 2 35.71%
 Cyprus 3 2 1 0 66.67%
 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 6 6 0 0 100%
 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 3 2 1 0 66.67%
 Sweden 4 3 1 0 75%
  Switzerland 5 2 3 0 40%
Total 84 44 37 3 52.38%

Recent Matches[]

Current squad[]

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

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

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province


Rhodri Apsee Prop Wales Bridgend Ravens
Patrick Martin Hooker Malta Stompers RFC
Dragan Cerketa Prop Malta Stompers RFC
Martin Barbara Lock Malta Falcons RFC
Darren Deguara Lock England Wimborne RFC
Benjamin Borg Flanker Malta Falcons RFC
Daniel Apsee Flanker Wales Cowbridge RFC
Mark Davey Number 8 England Tonbridge Juddian RFC
Thomas Holloway Scrum-half England
Robert Holloway Fly-half England
Brendon Dalton Wing Malta Falcons RFC
Dominic Busuttil (c) Centre
Christopher Dudman Centre England Rochford Hundred
Jeremy Debattista Wing Malta Stompers RFC
Richard Gum Fullback Malta Stompers RFC
Matthew Spiteri ?? Malta Stompers RFC
Thomas Davey ??
Nicholas Maylor ?? Malta Stompers RFC
Jon Jerome Micallef ?? Malta Stompers RFC
Matthew Camilleri ?? Malta Stompers RFC
Luke Matthew ??
Philippe Ioffe ?? Malta UM Wolves RFC
Terence Galdes Prop Malta Kavallieri RFC

Coaches[]

Name Years Tests Won Lost Drew Win percentage
Damian Neill 2016 - present 5 3 1 1 0%
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%


See also[]

References[]

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

External links[]

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