EUROPEAN NATIONS CUP TEST MATCH: Lithuania v Malta

05.11.2011
Lithuania v Malta in La Valette (ENC 2A)

Venue: Hibernians Stadium, Paola

Referee: Montoya (Spain)

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
SWEDEN	6	5	1	0	194	125	65	2	0	24
LITHUANIA	5	3	1	1	147	77	70	2	1	17
MALTA	5	2	0	3	94	88	14	2	2	12
LATVIA	5	1	0	4	77	179	-102	2	1	7
CROATIA	5	1	0	4	71	118	-47	0	2	6

Preview
Lithuania will be desperate to win this game to keep in contact with Sweden, the competition pacemaker. They have drawn and lost against the Swedes in the past year.

For Lithuania to win this division it would cap off a fantastic period of its rugby history. In the past two seasons they reached a high level of World Cup qualification, defeating The Netherlands before bowing out against Ukraine. In the process they created a new world record by 18 consecutive test wins and then won promotion to Division 2A in the European Nations Cup.

Malta have a mathematical chance of winning this division but realistically they are off the pace. They pushed Sweden close in May and lost 6-9 to Lithuania in October 2010. They defeated Latvia easily in their last outing.

Malta could well win this game. Lithuania do not travel well and Malta is always strong at home. I predict Lithuania to have just enough to hold off the Maltese.

Previous Encounters
30.10.2010 Lithuania 9-6 in Siauliai (ENC 2A)
23.11.2002 Malta 22-18 in La Valette (ENC 3B)
21.04.2001 Lithuania 39-11 in Marsa (FIRA Pool 1; WCQ Europe R1)

Lithuania Last Five
22.10.2011 v Sweden D 30-30 in Kuanas (ENC 2A)
07.05.2011 v Croatia W 29-12 in Split (ENC 2A)
30.04.2011 v Latvia W 57-3 in Kuanas
06.11.2010 v Sweden L 22-26 in Trelleborg (ENC 2A)
30.10.2010 v Malta W 9-6 in Siauliai (ENC 2A)

Malta Last Five
29.10.2011 v Latvia W 28-0 in Riga (ENC 2A)
07.05.2011 v Sweden L 13-24 in Stockholm (ENC 2A)
30.04.2011 v Croatia W 21-14 in La Valette (ENC 2A)
06.11.2010 v Latvia L 26-33 in La Valette (ENC 2A)
30.10.2010 v Lithuania L 6-9 in Siauliai (ENC 2A)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table-Lithuania 19th, Malta 20th

IRB Ranking Points
Lithuania 51.14, Malta 46.80

Prediction: Lithuania by 5 points

Teams

Malta Squad
Ian Borda
Nathan Gatt
Thomas Pace Moore
Clayton Cassar
Michael Bonavia
Max Galea
Josua Howlands
Oliva Sacco
Alister Livesey
Harry Collins
Kyle Mason
Mark Davey
Darren Deguara
Thomas Holloway
Robert Holloway
Dominic Busutill
James Kirk
James O’Brian
Tobias Quarandon
Vincent Stivala
Matthew Camilleri
Robert Bonavia.
Head Coach: Damian Niell

http://www.maltasport.com/modules/local ... temid=1327

Lithuania Squad Not available