The Maltese rugby national team resume their commitments in the FIRA-AER Division 2A when they play guests to Israel, in Netanya, this afternoon.

Malta have so far experienced mixed fortunes in the group.

They opened the campaign on November 1 with a 31-26 victory over Croatia but then were on the wrong end of a 27-13 scoreline against group leaders Czech Republic a few days later.

The match in Israel is the opening leg of a delicate double header for the national team as they play hosts to Switzerland at the Hibs Stadium today week.

Currently one place off bottom, Malta look to complete their first-round commitments in a stronger position in the standings.

Damien Neill, the Malta coach, continued to work closely with his players in the last few months to try and push the team to higher levels of performance.

Last month, Malta travelled to Gibraltar for an international friendly and Neill’s men cruised to a comfortable 33-8 win.

During the match at the Victoria Stadium, Neill gave debut to Thomas Neal and the England-based player did well to put his name among the try scorers.

Neal left a good impression on the national coach who included him as one of two new faces in his squad.

The other uncapped player in the 23-man list is Matthew Spiteri, who is on the books of local club Stompers.

Israel are struggling in the group after conceding back-to-back defeats to Switzerland (29-18) and Croatia (31-20).

But Neill is refusing to take his opponents lightly today.

“Israel will be tough opponents, irrespective of what the standings show,” he told Times of Malta.

“They were promoted after racking an impressive run of 26 matches without defeat and that speaks volumes of their quality.

“Israel are a big physical side and they possess some great ball carriers such as Michael Eli and Ronen Tollman. So, we shall have to be very cautious on how we approach this match.”

The squad
D. Apsee, R. Apsee, D. Busuttil, M. Camilleri, C. Cassar, D. Cerketa, H. Collis, M. Cordle, J. Cutajar, M. Davey, D. Deguara, D. Edmunds, D. Holliday, T. Holloway, J. Kirk, K. Mason, J. Morris, T. Neal, J. O’Brien, T. Quarendon, M. Spiteri, V. Stivala. L. Watts.

Playing today
Israel vs Malta - 14.00
Switzerland vs Croatia - 15.00

Current standings
Czech Republic (3-0-0) 14; Croatia (1-0-2) 8; Switzerland (1-0-1) 5; Malta (1-0-1) 4; Israel (0-0-2) 0.