Tough test awaits Malta today

The rugby national team will resume their commitments in the AER/FIRA Nations Cup Division 2B with a tough match against group leaders Holland in Amsterdam this afternoon.

Damien Neill's men are currently third in the group with 12 points from six matches. They are trailing the dominant Dutch by six points in the standings and are also four adrift of second-placed Croatia.

Malta have little pressure on their shoulders as they are already assured of their place in this division for another season, so the main objective today should be a creditable showing and, perhaps, a shock win that would improve the country's IRB ranking.

The Maltese are currently 54th in the world while the Dutch are 33rd.

In the first-round fixture, played at the Hibs Stadium last year, the hosts had held their own in the opening part of the match, taking a 9-8 lead at the break. However, the superior Dutch fitness emerged after the interval and eased home to a comfortable 27-9 win.

Neill fine-tuned his build-up for today's match with a training camp in the UK. He summoned 33 players from which he has now selected the final 23 who started the prolonged trip to Holland on Thursday.

After today's match, Malta will wrap up their commitments in Group 2B when hosting bottom-placed Latvia today week at the Hibs Stadium.

Playing today: Netherlands vs Malta; Latvia vs Sweden.

Standings: Netherlands (6-0-0) 18; Croatia (5-0-1) 16; Malta (3-0-3) 12; Sweden (1-0-5) 8; Latvia (0-0-6) 6.