Coach Neill hopes for change in fortunes

The Malta Rugby Football Union (MRFU) are stepping up prep-arations ahead of the impending FIRA/AER qualifiers against Croatia, at home on April 30, and away to Sweden, on May 7.

Back-to-back defeats to Lithuania (9-6) and Latvia (33-26) have piled the pressure on Damien Neill and his men to win their next two matches or else risk losing their status in Division 2A.

“We are only four weeks away from two important matches,” Neill told the media during the unveiling of the national team’s new jersey in Ta’ Xbiex yesterday.

“So far, things have not gone well for us with two successive defeats.

“So, the onus now is on us to make amends in our next matches. The task is far from simple as we are facing the two strongest teams in the group but I’m backing my players to bounce back from those two upsets.

“Our target is to finish third in the group to avoid the risk of getting involved in a play-off against the runners-up in Division 2B. That extra match would also add more financial strain on the MRFU.”

The Malta coach was pleased to note that for the upcoming matches he is expecting to have a stronger squad to the one that played in the opening two qualifiers.

“Last year, we had a very difficult time to name our formations as we had several members in our back row injured,” he said.

“But this time it looks like we will be able to field a better team and that’s a huge bonus when facing strong contenders like Croatia and Sweden.”

Neill, the MRFU Director of Rugby, said that for the upcoming qualifiers he will again bank on a strong representation from the domestic league.

“The level of Maltese rugby players has improved steadily over the years and that is mirrored in the increasing number of locally-based players in the team,” he said.

“We have also revived the Malta ‘A’ team concept which sees players from the national league, yet to make the grade for the senior squad, training together with the sole aim of sharpening their skills to make the national team pool in future.

“Malta ‘A’ players will also have the chance to play against foreign opposition. This week I will be travelling to Treviso to arrange a some warm-ups against an Italian selection, probably in September.”

Neill also said that the MRFU is persisting in its development work at grassroot level and so far they have managed to attract some 200 children for the School of Rugby sessions, held on Sundays at the Marsa Sports Ground.

Yesterday, the MRFU unveiled a new set of kits for the national teams that include the two Sevens teams, men and women, who will be playing in the European Champ-ionships, in Latvia, in July.

“The old kit stood unchanged for almost 10 years but remained very popular, both here and abroad,” MRFU president Martin Galea said.

“But, now we felt it was time to revamp the national team colours.

“There were no big changes as we only applied some slight alterations. However, we are very pleased with the final product and we now expect the rugby fans to purchase the new shirts which will be on sale for the match against Croatia.”