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 Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

, 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—

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and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

—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

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

in Chişinău, which Moldova won 58–8. They played a subsequent match against

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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

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in Marsa. This was followed by a draw 10–10 with

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, defeating Lithuania,

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, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Latvia and

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. 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 Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

world rankings, their highest ever position. They are coached by Welshman Damian Neill, a former Number 8 in the Welsh Premiership with

Aberavon RFC Aberavon RFC ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Aberafan) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, though the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town. The club was founded in 1876 ...

and

Maesteg RFC Maesteg is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translation of Mae ...

Record

World Cup

European Competitions

Overall

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

Recent Matches

Current squad

The following players were included in the squad for the 2021–22 Rugby Europe Conference South 1 match against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

on 13 November 2021.

Coaches

References

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

External links

Malta Rugby Union official websiteMalta
on rugbydata.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malta National Rugby Union Team European national rugby union teams Rugby union in Malta Teams in European Nations Cup (rugby union)

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...