Switzerland national rugby union team

Switzerland
Nickname(s)	Edelweiss (The White Flowers)
Emblem	Edelweiss
Union	Fédération Suisse de Rugby
Head coach	Olivier Nier
Captain	TBC
Home stadium	TBC
First colours	Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	28 (as of 04 February 2021)
Highest	28 (2020, 2021)
Lowest	67 (2010)
First international
	Switzerland 4-23 Portugal ; (Neuchâtel, Switzerland 11 April 1973)
Biggest win
	Bulgaria 9–90 Switzerland ; (Pernik, Bulgaria 14 October 2000)
Biggest defeat
	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 away 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.

Current players

Name	Position	Date of Birth	Club/Province
Schelte Betten			GC Zürich
Olivier Gerber			GC Zürich
Bang Gomay			RC Genève PLO
Frédéric Rossier			Stade Lausanne RC
Alfredo Burgener			RC Nyon
Gaby Fox			RC Fribourg
Josh Bjornson			GC Zürich
Nicolas Guyou	Flanker	18 May 1982	RC Châteaurenard
Didier Richard			Stade Lausanne RC
Sergio Hösel			GC Zürich
Ludovic Keller			CA Pontarlier
Ali Nouri			Hermance RRC
Loïc Verreman			RC Nyon
Pedro Dubois			RC Nyon
Ismael Meyer			Stade Lausanne RC
Geoff Johnson			Hermance RRC
Jonathan Hudson			Hermance RRC - Oxford University
Iain Wise			Hermance RRC
Mathieu Guyou-Kreis			RCA Cergy-Pontoise
Jacky Dervey			Stade Lausanne RC
Thomas Douvegheant			Hermance RRC
Christophe Guillet			RC Genève PLO
Thomas Brossard			RC Annemasse
Florian Dillet			Hermance RRC

Record

Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 15 February, 2021^[1]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.20
2		New Zealand	088.95
3		England	087.49
4		France	086.42
5	1	Australia	083.08
6	1	Ireland	082.31
7	1	Wales	082.11
8	1	Scotland	081.29
9		Argentina	080.31
10		Japan	079.29
11		Fiji	076.87
12		Georgia	072.18
13		Tonga	071.44
14		Italy	070.88
15		Samoa	070.72
16		United States	068.10
17		Spain	067.71
18		Uruguay	067.02
19		Romania	065.33
20		Portugal	062.25
21		Russia	062.12
22		Hong Kong	061.23
23		Canada	061.11
24		Namibia	061.04
25		Netherlands	060.09
26		Brazil	058.19
27		Belgium	057.17
28		Switzerland	054.12
29		Chile	053.81
30		Germany	053.13
*Change from the previous week

Switzerland national rugby union team results as of 14 December 2020.

Opponent	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	% Won	Points For	Points Against	Pts Difference
Andorra	8	6	0	2	75.0	142	94	+48
Armenia	4	3	0	1	75.0	92	78	+14
Austria	3	3	0	0	100.0	79	32	+47
Belgium	12	3	0	9	25.0	123	189	–66
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1	1	0	0	100	43	6	+37
Bulgaria	3	3	0	0	100	181	20	+161
Croatia	7	5	0	2	71.4	163	104	+61
Czech Republic	4	1	0	3	25	58	91	–33
Czechoslovakia	3	0	0	3	0	24	51	–27
Denmark	10	4	2	4	40	182	165	+17
Finland	1	1	0	0	100	60	0	+60
Georgia	2	0	0	2	0	42	44	–2
Germany	1	0	0	1	0	0	37	–37
Hungary	1	1	0	0	100	61	23	+38
Israel	7	5	0	2	71.4	170	64	+106
Latvia	4	1	0	3	25.0	34	82	–48
Lithuania	4	1	0	3	25.0	76	101	–25
Luxembourg	7	7	0	0	100	139	43	+96
Malta	5	3	0	2	60	93	79	+14
Moldova	1	1	0	0	100	29	26	+3
Monaco	1	1	0	0	100	20	16	+4
Morocco	1	0	0	1	0	0	43	–43
Netherlands	6	0	1	5	0	86	169	–83
Poland	2	0	0	2	0	23	35	–12
Portugal	5	0	0	5	0	14	153	–139
Serbia	15	4	1	10	26.7	165	224	–59
Slovenia	5	3	1	1	60	176	68	+108
Spain	1	0	0	1	0	0	40	–40
Sweden	6	0	0	6	0	41	119	–78
Tunisia	3	0	0	3	0	6	46	–40
Ukraine	2	1	0	2	33.3	72	78	–6
West Germany	4	0	0	4	0	22	84	–62
Total	140	58	7	75	41.43%	2400	2404	–4