Guided by rugby coaching legend Phil Pretorius, the Malta national team has been in rampant form in this season’s competition as they stamped their authority with two convincing away victories over Cyprus (27-8) and Andorra (44-24).
Those wins earned the national team valuable bonus points that enabled them to top the standings on ten points, and another bonus-win today will boost the team’s aspirations to finish among the best group winners from all four groups and qualify for the promotion play-off.
Liam Scicluna, the team’s forwards coach, said that the Malta Rugby Football Union has a clear goal in mind – to qualify for the World Cup, and victory in today’s clash against Israel will be the first step towards reaching that objective.
“Our ambitions as a Malta Rugby Football Union is to qualify for the 2031 World Cup and winning promotion to the Trophy Division is our first step towards reaching this target,” Scicluna told Times of Malta.
“The clash against Israel provides us with the first opportunity to take the first step towards this goal, as if we take the maximum number of points from this match will put us in a strong position to secure one of the two spots for the promotion play-offs.
“The team is well prepared for this game, and we are determined to provide the best possible display against Israel.”
‘Team comes first’
Malta coach Pretorius said that since his appointment six months ago he has looked to build his team on solid foundations and has been delighted with what he saw from his players so far.
“I firmly believe that human beings can fly, so the first thing I worked on was to inject an unshakeable self-belief in my players and coaching staff,” Pretorius said.
“We have worked hard in the past months to build a strong team structure and ensure the players are mentally strong so they can survive all the difficult situations in matches.
“Our motto is very clear – team comes first – as I don’t want any prima donnas. We are striving to be part of something great, and our final goal is to lead the team to qualification for the 2031 Rugby World Cup.
“In a few months, our team has moved up from 51st to 48th in the world rankings. To get into the World Cup, we have to push ourselves into the top 28 positions, which I believe is a reachable goal.
“The team is progressing nicely and I am confident that against Israel on Saturday we can show how far this team has come in the past few months.”
Asked on what identity he wants to get his team in terms of style of play, Pretorius, who led the South African Barbarians, Tonga, and the Czech Republic in the past, has a clear vision in his mind.
“I want my team to be able to score tries from every position on the pitch,” the South African coach said.
“Our work is just the start of a process, and there is a lot of work to be done. But I want my team to go from the goal line and run 100 metres to score tries.
“Added to that, I want the team to be very good at set pieces, as like South Africa have shown on their way to winning the World Cup, scrums and line-out and are a crucial part of the game as well as having good kickers.”