Switzerland 29
Malta 3
The Maltese national team suffered a heavy 29-3 defeat to Switzerland in another FIRA-AER Division 2A match, in Fribourg, yesterday.
As the scoreline clearly indicates, this was a commanding performance from the home side who stayed in the hunt for top position in the group.
The Swiss built their success in the first half when they scored three tries without reply for a 15-0 advantage in favour at the break.
Malta broke their duck soon after the restart when they scored from a penalty. But the Swiss regained the initiative and sealed victory with two converted tries.
Switzerland stay second in the standings with 28 points, three behind the Czech Republic who beat Croatia 26-5 in the group’s other match in Havirov, yesterday.
Malta are second-bottom on 11 points but have a good chance to redeem themselves next Saturday when they play Israel at the Hibs stadium.
Next matches: Saturday – Malta vs Israel; Croatia vs Switzerland.
Standings: Czech Republic (6-1-1) 31; Switzerland (6-0-1) 28; Croatia (3-0-4) 17; Malta (2-0-5) 11; Israel (0-1-6) 4.