Switzerland national rugby union team explained

Switzerland
Nickname:Edelweiss (The White Flowers)
Badge:Swiss Rugby Logo.png
Badge Size:120px
Emblem:Edelweiss
Union:Fédération Suisse de Rugby
Confederation:Rugby Europe
Coach:Olivier Nier
Captain:Cyril Lin
Home Stadium:TBC
World Rugby Trigramme:SUI
Leftarm1:D40000
Body1:D40000
Rightarm1:D40000
Shorts1:D40000
Socks1:D40000
Leftarm2:FFFFFF
Body2:FFFFFF
Rightarm2:FFFFFF
Shorts2:FFFFFF
Socks2:FFFFFF
World Rugby Rank:27
World Rugby Rank Date:5 february 2024
World Rugby Max:26
World Rugby Max Year:2023
World Rugby Min:67
World Rugby Min Year:2010
First Game: Switzerland 4-23 Portugal
(Neuchâtel, Switzerland 11 April 1973)
Largest Win: Bulgaria 9–90 Switzerland
(Pernik, Bulgaria 14 October 2000)
Largest Loss: Morocco 43–0 Switzerland
(Casablanca, Morocco 25 March 1979)
Website:www.suisserugby.com

The Switzerland national rugby union team (French: Equipe Nationale Suisse de Rugby à XV German: Schweizer Rugby-Union-Nationalmannschaft Italian: Nazionale di Rugby XV della Svizzera) 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 and 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 6 countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the 6 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

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

World Cup

World Cup recordwidth=1% rowspan=25World Cup Qualification record
YearRound
1987Not InvitedNot Invited
1991did not qualify31024974
1995510420122
199941124050
20039504297171
200741127751
2011620479102
201543019275
20195302140122
2023Automatically eliminated
Total0/90000004017221794767

European Competitions Since 2000

width=75SeasonDivisionwidth=35width=35width=35width=35width=45width=45width=45width=45width=45
2000European Nations Cup Third Division410347 60 -13 6 3rd
2002-04European Nations Cup Second Division Pool B8530145 95 +50 21 1st
2004-06European Nations Cup Third Division Pool A410334 87 -53 8 3rd
2006-08European Nations Cup Third Division 3A8404150 129 +24 16 3rd
2008-10European Nations Cup Third Division 3A720579 112 -33 11 5th
2010-12European Nations Cup Second Division 2B8701253 77 +176 34 1st
2012-14European Nations Cup Second Division 2A8413170 159 +11 21 2nd
2014-16European Nations Cup Second Division 2A8701223 120 +103 33 1st
2016-17Rugby Europe Trophy5302140 122 +18 13 3rd
2017-18Rugby Europe Trophy5203109 122 -13 11 4th
2018-19Rugby Europe Trophy5302108 138 -20 12 3rd
2019-20Rugby Europe Trophy522193 52 +41 14 2nd
2021-22Rugby Europe Trophy5203120 117 +3 9 4th
2022-23Rugby Europe Trophy4400205 72 +133 20 1st
2023-24Rugby Europe Trophy5500198 64 +134 22 1st

Overall

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

OpponentPlayedWonDrawnLostWin %ForAgaDiff
7 6 0 1 % 142 88+54
5 3 0 2 % 107 106+1
3 3 0 0 % 79 32+47
12 4 0 8 % 143 196–53
1 1 0 0 % 43 6+37
5 5 0 0 % 230 36+194
11 8 0 3 % 270 174+96
7 2 0 5 % 86 127–41
10 3 2 5 % 152 180–28
1 1 0 0 % 60 0+60
1 0 0 1 0% 21 22–1
7 1 0 6 % 90 197–107
1 1 0 0 % 61 23+38
7 5 2 0 % 171 64+107
2 1 1 0 % 36 33+3
4 1 0 3 % 34 82–48
9 5 0 4 % 246 185+61
5 5 0 0 % 95 29+66
5 3 0 2 % 93 79+14
2 2 0 0 % 51 46+5
1 1 0 0 % 20 16+4
1 0 0 1 0% 0 43–43
8 0 1 7 0% 128 235–107
1 1 0 0 % 30 12+18
7 3 0 4 % 148 72–24
7 0 0 7 0% 45 232–187
18 5 1 12 % 199 240–41
5 3 1 1 % 176 68+108
1 0 0 1 0% 0 40–40
8 2 0 6 % 133 143–10
2 0 0 2 0% 6 43–37
6 4 0 2 % 220 118+102
Total170 79 8 83 % 3315 2967+348

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2022–23 Rugby Europe Trophy.[1]

Caps update: 22 November 2021

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Swiss national team:[2]

NameNationalityRole
Yann BenoitManager
Olivier Nier FRAHead coach
Mathieu Guyou KreisBacks Coash
Simon Dupuy Forwards Coach
Dr Mathieu SaubadeTeam doctor
Gregory Tellier Physiotherapist

See also

References

  1. Web site: Switzerland Men XVs . 2023-03-07 . www.suisserugby.com . en-CH.
  2. News: Poland vs Switzerland Game Sheet. Rugby Europe. 20 November 2021. 22 November 2021.

External links