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Switzerland national rugby union team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Switzerland women's national rugby union team.
Switzerland
Shirt badge/Association crest
NicknameEdelweiss (The White Flowers)
EmblemEdelweiss
UnionFédération Suisse de Rugby
Head coachOlivier Nier
CaptainCyril Lin
Home stadiumTBC
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current27 (as of 5 february 2024)
Highest26 (2023)
Lowest67 (2010)
First international
Switzerland 4-23 Portugal
(Neuchâtel, Switzerland 11 April 1973)
Biggest win
Bulgaria 9–90 Switzerland
(Pernik, Bulgaria 14 October 2000)
Biggest defeat
Morocco 43–0 Switzerland
(Casablanca, Morocco 25 March 1979)
Websitewww.suisserugby.com

The Switzerland national rugby union team[1] represents Switzerland in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed The White Flowers (Edelweiss), is considered one of the stronger tier 3 teams in European rugby.[citation needed] They currently compete in the second division of the Rugby Europe International Championships in the Rugby Europe Trophy, a competition which is just below the Rugby Europe Championship where the top six countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the Six Nations) compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup and often play in all red while their alternative kit is all white.

History

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Switzerland played their first ever international rugby match on April 11, 1973 in Neuchâtel against Portugal, losing 23–4. The following year they lost 10–18 to Belgium, and were then defeated by them 33–3 in 1975. After the second lost to Belgium, Switzerland won their first international rugby match; defeating Serbia-Montenegro 12–3 in Geneva. The only other win for Switzerland during the 1970s was a 7–4 victory over Luxembourg in 1977. In 1979 they were defeated 43–0 by Morocco and 31–0 by Portugal.

They however bounced back in 1980, defeating Luxembourg 10–7 in Berne, though they then lost close matches against Sweden and Belgium, and were again held to nil by Portugal in 1981, but got a victory over Denmark later that year. After losing to Belgium and Sweden in 1982, they then scored 60 unanswered points against Finland. They then lost nine games in a row from 1982 to 1986, then defeating Serbia-Montenegro 5–0 in May 1986.

In 1989, Switzerland attempted to qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup in England, playing in the European tournament – Round 2A. They finished third in the final standings of the round, winning one of their three fixtures. Switzerland also participated in the qualifying tournaments for the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, making it past the preliminary round from the west group, but not advancing past Round 1.

Switzerland finished third (out of six nations) in Pool 1 of Round 1 of the European qualification tournaments for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, winning and drawing one game out of four fixtures. Switzerland had more success in the qualifying tournaments for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, finishing at the top of Pool B in Round 1 and advancing to Round 2, but were unable to advance to Round 3. In attempting to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Switzerland finished fourth in Pool D of Round 2 of the European qualification process.

Switzerland also failed to qualify for the 2011 or 2015 Rugby World Cups.

In 2016 Switzerland reached the second division (Rugby Europe Trophy, formerly Division 1B) of the ENC for the first time since the divisional structure was implemented in 2000, after winning Division 2A over the 2014-16 two-year cycle.

Record

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World Cup

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World Cup record World Cup Qualification record
Year Round P W D L F A P W D L F A
AustraliaNew Zealand 1987 Not Invited Not Invited
United KingdomIrelandFrance 1991 did not qualify 3 1 0 2 49 74
South Africa 1995 5 1 0 4 20 122
Wales 1999 4 1 1 2 40 50
Australia 2003 9 5 0 4 297 171
France 2007 4 1 1 2 77 51
New Zealand 2011 6 2 0 4 79 102
England 2015 4 3 0 1 92 75
Japan 2019 5 3 0 2 140 122
France 2023 Automatically eliminated
Total 0/9 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 17 2 21 794 767

European Competitions Since 2000

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Season Division G W D L PF PA +/− Pts Pos
2000 European Nations Cup Third Division 4 1 0 3 47 60 -13 6 3rd
2002-04 European Nations Cup Second Division Pool B 8 5 3 0 145 95 +50 21 1st
2004-06 European Nations Cup Third Division Pool A 4 1 0 3 34 87 -53 8 3rd
2006-08 European Nations Cup Third Division 3A 8 4 0 4 150 129 +24 16 3rd
2008-10 European Nations Cup Third Division 3A 7 2 0 5 79 112 -33 11 5th
2010-12 European Nations Cup Second Division 2B 8 7 0 1 253 77 +176 34 1st
2012-14 European Nations Cup Second Division 2A 8 4 1 3 170 159 +11 21 2nd
2014-16 European Nations Cup Second Division 2A 8 7 0 1 223 120 +103 33 1st
2016-17 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 3 0 2 140 122 +18 13 3rd
2017-18 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 2 0 3 109 122 -13 11 4th
2018-19 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 3 0 2 108 138 -20 12 3rd
2019-20 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 2 2 1 93 52 +41 14 2nd
2021-22* Rugby Europe Trophy 5 2 0 3 120 117 +3 9 4th
2022-23* Rugby Europe Trophy 4 4 0 0 205 72 +133 20 1st
2023-24* Rugby Europe Trophy 5 5 0 0 198 64 +134 22 1st
Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 as of 18 November 2024[2]
Rank Change[i] Team Points
1 Steady  South Africa 092.78
2 Increase1  Ireland 090.78
3 Decrease1  New Zealand 090.09
4 Steady  France 088.08
5 Steady  Argentina 085.40
6 Steady  Scotland 082.70
7 Steady  England 082.31
8 Steady  Australia 082.17
9 Steady  Fiji 080.07
10 Steady  Italy 078.92
11 Steady  Wales 074.01
12 Steady  Georgia 073.85
13 Increase1  Japan 072.95
14 Decrease1  Samoa 072.68
15 Increase1  United States 068.90
16 Decrease1  Portugal 068.82
17 Steady  Spain 067.10
18 Increase1  Uruguay 065.94
19 Decrease1  Tonga 065.46
20 Steady  Romania 064.13
21 Steady  Chile 061.72
22 Steady  Hong Kong 059.49
23 Steady  Canada 059.18
24 Increase3  Netherlands 058.56
25 Decrease1  Russia 058.06
26 Decrease1  Namibia 057.87
27 Increase2  Zimbabwe 057.16
28 Decrease2  Brazil 056.53
29 Decrease1  Belgium 056.51
30 Steady   Switzerland 056.04
  1. ^ Change from the previous week
Switzerland's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[2]
Graph updated to 11 November 2024

Overall

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Switzerland national rugby union team results as of 13 April 2024, following match against Ukraine.

Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost Win % For Aga Diff
 Andorra 7 6 0 1 85.71% 142 88 +54
 Armenia 5 3 0 2 60% 107 106 +1
 Austria 3 3 0 0 100% 79 32 +47
 Belgium 13 4 0 9 30.77% 150 244 –94
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 1 0 0 100% 43 6 +37
 Bulgaria 5 5 0 0 100% 230 36 +194
 Croatia 11 8 0 3 72.73% 270 174 +96
 Czech Republic 8 3 0 5 37.5% 127 152 –25
 Denmark 10 3 2 5 30% 152 180 –28
 Finland 1 1 0 0 100% 60 0 +60
 Georgia 1 0 0 1 0% 21 22 –1
 Germany 7 1 0 6 14.29% 90 197 –107
 Hungary 1 1 0 0 100% 61 23 +38
 Israel 7 5 2 0 71.43% 171 64 +107
 Ivory Coast 2 1 1 0 50% 36 33 +3
 Latvia 4 1 0 3 25% 34 82 –48
 Lithuania 9 5 0 4 55.56% 246 185 +61
 Luxembourg 5 5 0 0 100% 95 29 +66
 Malta 5 3 0 2 60% 93 79 +14
 Moldova 2 2 0 0 100% 51 46 +5
 Monaco 1 1 0 0 50% 20 16 +4
 Morocco 1 0 0 1 0% 0 43 –43
 Netherlands 8 0 1 7 0% 128 235 –107
 Norway 1 1 0 0 100% 30 12 +18
 Poland 7 3 0 4 42.86% 148 72 –24
 Portugal 7 0 0 7 0% 45 232 –187
 Serbia 18 5 1 12 27.78% 199 240 –41
 Slovenia 5 3 1 1 60% 176 68 +108
 Spain 1 0 0 1 0% 0 40 –40
 Sweden 8 2 0 6 25% 133 143 –10
 Tunisia 2 0 0 2 0% 6 43 –37
 Ukraine 6 4 0 2 66.67% 220 118 +102
Total 172 80 8 84 46.51% 3363 3040 +323

Match Record

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Current squad

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The following players have been selected for the 2022–23 Rugby Europe Trophy.[3]

Caps update: 22 November 2021

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Reuben Bachofner-Brown Prop (1996-05-02) 2 May 1996 (age 28) 1 England Hornets RFC
Maximiliano Ducommun Prop (1992-03-20) 20 March 1992 (age 32) 3 Switzerland Nyon RC
Cameron Holestein Prop (1995-03-11) 11 March 1995 (age 29) 3 England Hartpury University
Vincent Vial Prop (1994-06-21) 21 June 1994 (age 30) 14 France CS Vienne
Alexandre Grillon Prop (1992-02-14) 14 February 1992 (age 32) 2 Switzerland Lausanne University
Dominic Gorman Prop (1997-11-23) 23 November 1997 (age 26) 17 Switzerland Yverdon RC
Nathan Pelsy Hooker (1997-03-07) 7 March 1997 (age 27) 18 France US Annecy
Maxime Luçon Hooker (1991-07-19) 19 July 1991 (age 33) 30 France CA Pontarlier
Manu Ronza Hooker (1997-04-02) 2 April 1997 (age 27) 13 Switzerland Lausanne University
Andri Koeferli Hooker (1999-09-04) 4 September 1999 (age 25) 3 Switzerland GC Zürich
Christian Rohrig Lock (1990-12-07) 7 December 1990 (age 33) 10 Switzerland GC Zürich
Ben Bodinham Lock (1991-06-07) 7 June 1991 (age 33) 5 England Oxford Quins R.F.C.
Romin Vivarie Lock (1992-11-18) 18 November 1992 (age 32) 2 Switzerland Lausanne University
Antoine Salino Back row (2000-11-15) 15 November 2000 (age 24) 2 Switzerland Servette RC
Tim Vögtli Back row (1994-06-13) 13 June 1994 (age 30) 23 Switzerland GC Zürich
George Hallam Back row (2003-04-26) 26 April 2003 (age 21) 2 England Coventry Academy
Cyril Lin (c) Back row (1984-08-17) 17 August 1984 (age 40) 42 Switzerland Nyon RC
Nicolas Lugeon Back row (1994-06-09) 9 June 1994 (age 30) 5 Switzerland Stade Lausanne RC
Ahmed Kane Back row (2001-07-05) 5 July 2001 (age 23) 2 France Lyon
William Meyer Scrum-half (2000-09-28) 28 September 2000 (age 24) 6 France Rumilly
Simon Perrod Scrum-half (1990-07-14) 14 July 1990 (age 34) 36 France Drancy RC
Donovan O'Grady Scrum-half (1993-02-16) 16 February 1993 (age 31) 16 England Eton Manor RFC
Jules Porcher Fly-half (1998-07-01) 1 July 1998 (age 26) 9 France RC Aubenas Vals
Jess Roberson Centre (1992-08-04) 4 August 1992 (age 32) 4 Switzerland GC Zürich
Tommaso Volta Centre (2000-01-11) 11 January 2000 (age 24) 4 Switzerland Hermance RRC
Gaëtan Moser Centre (2001-05-25) 25 May 2001 (age 23) 1 Switzerland Servette RC
Lucas Heinrich Wing (1995-06-13) 13 June 1995 (age 29) 29 Switzerland Servette RC
Hugo Malyon Wing (1995-07-25) 25 July 1995 (age 29) 9 France RC Suresnes
Hugh Kisielewski Wing (1990-05-08) 8 May 1990 (age 34) 10 Switzerland GC Zürich
Jolan Vincent Fullback (2002-01-12) 12 January 2002 (age 22) 6 France US Nantua Haut Bugey

Current coaching staff

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The current coaching staff of the Swiss national team:[4]

Name Nationality Role
Yann Benoit   SUI Manager
Olivier Nier France FRA Head coach
Mathieu Guyou Kreis   SUI Backs Coash
Simon Dupuy   SUI Forwards Coach
Dr Mathieu Saubade   SUI Team doctor
Gregory Tellier   SUI Physiotherapist

See also

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References

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  1. ^ (French: Equipe Nationale Suisse de Rugby à XV German: Schweizer Rugby-Union-Nationalmannschaft Italian: Nazionale di Rugby XV della Svizzera)
  2. ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Switzerland Men XVs". www.suisserugby.com. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  4. ^ "Poland vs Switzerland Game Sheet" (PDF). Rugby Europe. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
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