LITHUANIA v MALTA: World Cup Qualifying, Europe R3 European Nations Cup, Division 2A

03.11.2012
Lithuania v Malta in La Valette (WCQ Europe R3; ENC 2A)

Venue: Hibernians Stadium, Corridino, Paola

Referee: Luc Janssens (Belgium)

Preview

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	BT	BL	PT
CROATIA	1	1	0	0	20	19	1	0	0	4
MALTA	1	0	0	1	19	20	-1	0	1	1
NETHERL.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
LTHUANIA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SWITZ.	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

www.rugbyinternational.net

This rugby test match is the first of the ENC 2A competition this weekend. Croatia will play newcomers Switzerland in the other.

Malta lost by one point to Croatia last weekend but by all accounts were unlucky to lose after dominating the match for much of the time. At home they will be a handful. I suspect that they will be able to hold most of their England-based players, a luxury apparently not available to the visitors.

Lithuania is supposed to hold the world record for most number of test wins. However there is now some doubt to their 18 match run a year or so ago due to the status of one of those victories. Never-the-less Lithuania have been a team on the rise despite missing out on promotion last season.

The Lithuanians have a number of new players they are blooding on this trip.

Previous Encounters
05.11.2011 Malta 14-10 in La Valette (ENC 2A)
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)

Honours have been shared between these two rugby nations. Results have been close but have favoured the home side.

Malta Last Five P 5, W 3, L 2
27.10.2012 v Croatia L 19-20 in Malarska (WCQ Europe R3; ENC 2A)28.04.2012 v Croatia L 16-31 in Zabgreb (ENC 2A)
21.04.2012 v Sweden W 22-14 in La Valette (ENC 2A)
05.11.2011 v Lithuania W 14-10 in La Valette (ENC 2A)
29.10.2011 v Latvia W 28-0 in Riga (ENC 2A)

Lithuania Last Five P 5, W 3, D 1, L 1
05.05.2012 v Croatia W 28-26 in Vilnius (ENC 2A)
28.04.2012 v Latvia W 48-8 in Riga (ENC 2A)
05.11.2011 v Malta L 10-14 in La Valette (ENC 2A)
22.10.2011 v Sweden D 30-30 in Kuanas (ENC 2A)
07.05.2011 v Croatia W 29-12 in Split (ENC 2A)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Europe Table: Lithuania 20th, Malta 22nd

IRB Ranking Points
Lithuania 50.90, Malta 47.28

Prediction: Malta by 2 points

TEAMS

Lithuania Squad

Tomas Astrauskas (RK Šiauliai)

Vytaras Bloškys (Šiauliai BaltRex)

Vaidotas Gaubas (Šiauliai BaltRex) 

Evaldas Gaubys (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Mindaugas Grigas (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Daivaras Jonaitis (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Kęstutis Marcišauskas (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Mindaugas Misevičius (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Mantas Maršantas (Derby University RFC, England)

Karolis Navickas (Bordeaux Bègles, France).

Mindaugas Norvaišas (Kaunas Ąžuolas)

Richardas Stankus (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Andrius Sutkus (Šiauliai BaltRex) 

Gediminas Švoba (Šiauliai BaltRex) 

Dovydas Taujanskas (Šiauliai BaltRex) 

Laurynas Tipelis (Šiauliai BaltRex) 

Justinas Urbonas(Jurbarkas Lūšis)

Justinas Vasiliauskas (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Donatas Vilimavičius (Šiauliai Vairas/Jupoja)

Tomas Zibolis (RK Šiauliai)

 

‘A much younger team with 4 rookies, including big man Karolis Navickas from Bordeaux.’ thanks to ‘ignas rugby.it’ from http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4186

Malta Squad not yet available