Switzerland national rugby union team

Rugby team
country =Switzerland


imagesize= 65px
union = Swiss Rugby Union
nickname =
captain =
coach = flagicon|France Patrice Philippe
from =
caps =
top scorer =
pattern_la1 =
pattern_b1 =
pattern_ra1 =
leftarm1 = FF0000
body1 = FF0000
rightarm1 = FF0000
shorts1 = FF0000
socks1 = FF0000
first = Switzerland 4 - 23 Portugal
(11 April, 1973)
bigwin = Bulgaria 0 - 90 Switzerland
(14 October, 2000)
bigloss = Spain 40 - 0 Switzerland
(11 May, 1993)
no World cup apps =
year =
best = The Swiss national rugby union team is a member of the FIRA - Association of European Rugby and plays in the 3A division of the European Nations Cup. Thus far Switzerland have not qualified for a Rugby World Cup.

History

Switzerland played their first ever international rugby match on April 11, 1973 in Neuchatel against Portugal, losing 23 points to 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 points to 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 to nil by Monaco and 31 to nil 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 1982-1986, then defeating Serbia-Montenegro 5 points to nil 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.

External links

* [http://www.rugby.ch Fédération Suisse de Rugby] - Official Site
* [http://www.irb.com/en/Home/MemberUnionHomePage?UnionID=21 Switzerland] on IRB.com
* [http://rugbydata.com/switzerland Switzerland] on rugbydata.com