Switzerland national rugby union team

The Switzerland national rugby union team,( ) nicknamed The White Flowers (Edelweiss), currently competes 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 six countries in Europe (apart from the teams in the Six Nations) compete. They are yet to participate in any Rugby World Cup. They 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=25)World Cup Qualification recordYearRound 1987Not InvitedNot Invited 1991did not qualify31024974 1995510420122 199941124050 20039504297171 200741127751 2011620479102 201543019275 20195302140122 2023Automatically eliminatedTotal0/90000004017221794767

European Competitions Since 2000 Season Division2000European Nations Cup Third Division4103 47 60 -13 6 3rd2002-04European Nations Cup Second Division Pool B8530 145 95 +50 21 1st2004-06European Nations Cup Third Division Pool A4103 34 87 -53 8 3rd2006-08European Nations Cup Third Division 3A8404 150 129 +24 16 3rd2008-10European Nations Cup Third Division 3A7205 79 112 -33 11 5th2010-12European Nations Cup Second Division 2B8701 253 77 +176 34 1st2012-14European Nations Cup Second Division 2A8413 170 159 +11 21 2nd2014-16European Nations Cup Second Division 2A8701 223 120 +103 33 1st2016-17Rugby Europe Trophy5302 140 122 +18 13 3rd2017-18Rugby Europe Trophy5203 109 122 -13 11 4th2018-19Rugby Europe Trophy5302 108 138 -20 12 3rd2019-20Rugby Europe Trophy5221 93 52 +41 14 2nd2021-22*Rugby Europe Trophy5203 120 117 +3 9 4th2022-23*Rugby Europe Trophy4400 205 72 +133 20 1st2023-24*Rugby Europe Trophy5500 198 64 +134 22 1st2025*2025 Rugby Europe Championship4104 38 281 -243 0 7th

Overall Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Switzerland national XV at test level up until 15 March 2026, updated after match with . Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost Win % For Aga Diff 7 6 0 1 % 142 88+54 5 3 0 2 % 107 106+1 3 3 0 0 % 79 32+47 Basque Country 1 0 0 1 % 17 56-39 15 4 0 11 % 171 321–150 1 1 0 0 % 43 6+37 5 5 0 0 % 230 36+194 11 8 0 3 % 270 174+96 8 3 0 5 % 127 152–25 10 3 2 5 % 152 180–28 1 1 0 0 % 60 0+60 3 0 0 3 % 24 186–162 9 3 0 6 % 145 239–94 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 43–43 10 1 1 8 % 157 331–174 1 1 0 0 % 30 12+18 7 3 0 4 % 148 72–24 7 0 0 7 % 45 232–187 1 0 0 1 0% 13 27–14 18 5 1 12 % 199 240–41 5 3 1 1 % 176 68+108 3 0 0 3 % 27 136–109 8 2 0 6 % 133 143–10 2 0 0 2 % 6 43–37 6 4 0 2 % 220 118+102Total183 83 8 92 % 3512 3542-30

Match Record Matches

Current squad The following players have been selected for the 2022–23 Rugby Europe Trophy.

Head Coach: Olivier Nier

Caps update: 22 November 2021

Current coaching staff The current coaching staff of the Swiss national team:

NameNationalityRoleYann BenoitManagerOlivier Nier FRAHead coachMathieu Guyou KreisBacks Coash Simon Dupuy Forwards CoachDr Mathieu SaubadeTeam doctorGregory Tellier Physiotherapist

See also Rugby union in Switzerland

References

External links Fédération Suisse de Rugby - Official Site