Malta eye double over Sweden

The rugby national team will go all out to complete a double over a revitalised Sweden side this afternoon (kick-off: 3 p.m.) that would all but secure Malta's place in the FIRA/AER Nations Cup Division 2B for the next two seasons.

Malta come into the match on the back of a 34-14 defeat to Croatia that left the team third in the standings with nine points from five matches, two ahead of the Swedes, who lost to the Netherlands 19-16 in Amsterdam last weekend.

Despite the upset in Split, national coach Damien Neill had words of praise for his new-look squad that featured no fewer than 10 players who ply their trade in the MRFU league, including Ian Borda, the Kavallieri prop who will match the all-time appearance record of Steve Kempster of 32 caps today.

"I'm very honoured to be so close to equal this record," Borda told The Times.

"I always dreamed of representing my country on the international scene and it fills me with great pride to have been part of the national team for so long.

"We have a tough match coming up as Sweden have come a long way since we defeated them 9-6 last year. We have to give our 100 per cent to beat them again but I'm confident that we can reach our objective."

Before the trip to Croatia, Neill was hampered by the absence of several first-teamers.

However, this week the national coach got a double boost after it was revealed that Oliver Sacco, Malta's all-time leading try scorer, had recovered from shoulder trouble while Paul Marzella travelled from Australia to join the squad.

Domenic Busuttil will be the team's captain in the absence of injured skipper Guy Kennedy.

Borda believes that, despite the absence of some regulars, there is still enough experience in the team to cope with the pressures of today's match.

"International matches are always difficult for a team like Malta," Borda, who made his debut in the national team's first ever international in Moldova in 2000, said.

"Given the limited resources we have the team has done pretty well at this level. The domestic league has also made giant strides forward and today local players have improved significantly.

"This can be mirrored in the number of home-based players selected in the national squad.

"At home, the national team has always done its utmost also thanks to the backing of the home crowd. Sweden have shown great improvement lately but we are ready for it and hopefully we will give our fans another day to remember."

Malta squad: I. Borda, H. Collins, P. Bradley, T. Watts, J. Cutajar, M. Bonavia, J. Howland, M. Whitney, J. Bartolo, R. Spiteri, L. Culnane, D. Busuttil, M. Attard, V. Stivala, J. O'Brien, T. Pace Moore, N. Gatt, C. Cassar, M. Azzopardi, M. Mirabelli, J. Finlason, O. Sacco, P. Marzella.

Playing today: Netherlands vs Latvia; Malta vs Sweden.

Standings: Croatia (5-0-1) 16; Netherlands (5-0-0) 15; Malta (2-0-3) 9; Sweden (1-0-4) 7; Latvia (0-0-5) 5.