Switzerland national rugby union team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Switzerland women's national rugby union team.
Switzerland
NicknameEdelweiss (The White Flowers)
EmblemEdelweiss
UnionFédération Suisse de Rugby
Head coachOlivier Nier
CaptainCyril Lin
Home stadiumTBC
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current27 (as of 5 February 2024)
Highest26 (2023)
Lowest67 (2010)
First international
   4–23 Portugal 
(Neuchâtel, Switzerland; 11 April 1973)
Biggest win
 Bulgaria 9–90  
(Pernik, Bulgaria; 14 October 2000)
Biggest defeat
 Georgia 110–0  
(Tbilisi, Georgia; 1 February 2025)
Websitewww.suisserugby.com

The Switzerland national rugby union team,[1] 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 record World Cup Qualification record
Year Round P W D L F A P W D L F A
1987 Not Invited Not Invited
1991 did not qualify 3 1 0 2 49 74
1995 5 1 0 4 20 122
1999 4 1 1 2 40 50
2003 9 5 0 4 297 171
2007 4 1 1 2 77 51
2011 6 2 0 4 79 102
2015 4 3 0 1 92 75
2019 5 3 0 2 140 122
2023 Automatically eliminated
Total 0/9 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 17 2 21 794 767

European Competitions Since 2000

Season Division G W D L PF PA +/− Pts Pos
2000 European Nations Cup Third Division 4 1 0 3 47 60 -13 6 3rd
2002-04 European Nations Cup Second Division Pool B 8 5 3 0 145 95 +50 21 1st
2004-06 European Nations Cup Third Division Pool A 4 1 0 3 34 87 -53 8 3rd
2006-08 European Nations Cup Third Division 3A 8 4 0 4 150 129 +24 16 3rd
2008-10 European Nations Cup Third Division 3A 7 2 0 5 79 112 -33 11 5th
2010-12 European Nations Cup Second Division 2B 8 7 0 1 253 77 +176 34 1st
2012-14 European Nations Cup Second Division 2A 8 4 1 3 170 159 +11 21 2nd
2014-16 European Nations Cup Second Division 2A 8 7 0 1 223 120 +103 33 1st
2016-17 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 3 0 2 140 122 +18 13 3rd
2017-18 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 2 0 3 109 122 -13 11 4th
2018-19 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 3 0 2 108 138 -20 12 3rd
2019-20 Rugby Europe Trophy 5 2 2 1 93 52 +41 14 2nd
2021-22* Rugby Europe Trophy 5 2 0 3 120 117 +3 9 4th
2022-23* Rugby Europe Trophy 4 4 0 0 205 72 +133 20 1st
2023-24* Rugby Europe Trophy 5 5 0 0 198 64 +134 22 1st
2025* 2025 Rugby Europe Championship 4 1 0 4 38 281 -243 0 7th
Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 as of 7 July 2025[2]
Rank Change[i] Team Points
1  South Africa 92.78
2  New Zealand 90.98
3  Ireland 89.83
4  France 88.90
5  England 86.72
6  Argentina 82.98
7  Scotland 82.36
8  Australia 82.08
9  Fiji 79.52
10  Italy 77.77
11  Georgia 74.69
12  Japan 73.70
13  Samoa 72.68
14 2  Wales 72.65
15  United States 70.02
16  Spain 67.34
17  Uruguay 67.06
18  Portugal 66.44
19  Tonga 65.46
20  Chile 63.20
21  Romania 63.13
22  Hong Kong 59.98
23  Belgium 59.98
24  Canada 59.18
25  Namibia 57.87
26  Zimbabwe 57.16
27  Netherlands 57.01
28  Brazil 56.53
29    55.26
30  Poland 54.06
  1. ^ Change from the previous week
Switzerland's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[2]
Graph updated to 7 July 2025

Overall

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Switzerland national XV at test level up until 1 March 2025, updated after match with  Germany.

Opponent Played Won Drawn Lost Win % For Aga Diff
 Andorra 7 6 0 1 85.71% 142 88 +54
 Armenia 5 3 0 2 60% 107 106 +1
 Austria 3 3 0 0 100% 79 32 +47
 Belgium 14 4 0 10 28.57% 155 282 –127
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 1 0 0 100% 43 6 +37
 Bulgaria 5 5 0 0 100% 230 36 +194
 Croatia 11 8 0 3 72.73% 270 174 +96
 Czech Republic 8 3 0 5 37.5% 127 152 –25
 Denmark 10 3 2 5 30% 152 180 –28
 Finland 1 1 0 0 100% 60 0 +60
 Georgia 2 0 0 2 0% 21 132 –111
 Germany 8 2 0 6 25% 110 214 –104
 Hungary 1 1 0 0 100% 61 23 +38
 Israel 7 5 2 0 71.43% 171 64 +107
 Ivory Coast 2 1 1 0 50% 36 33 +3
 Latvia 4 1 0 3 25% 34 82 –48
 Lithuania 9 5 0 4 55.56% 246 185 +61
 Luxembourg 5 5 0 0 100% 95 29 +66
 Malta 5 3 0 2 60% 93 79 +14
 Moldova 2 2 0 0 100% 51 46 +5
 Monaco 1 1 0 0 50% 20 16 +4
 Morocco 1 0 0 1 0% 0 43 –43
 Netherlands 9 0 1 8 0% 128 308 –180
 Norway 1 1 0 0 100% 30 12 +18
 Poland 7 3 0 4 42.86% 148 72 –24
 Portugal 7 0 0 7 0% 45 232 –187
 Serbia 18 5 1 12 27.78% 199 240 –41
 Slovenia 5 3 1 1 60% 176 68 +108
 Spain 2 0 0 2 0% 13 83 –70
 Sweden 8 2 0 6 25% 133 143 –10
 Tunisia 2 0 0 2 0% 6 43 –37
 Ukraine 6 4 0 2 66.67% 220 118 +102
Total 177 81 8 88 45.76% 3401 3321 +80

Match Record

Current squad

The following players have been selected for the 2022–23 Rugby Europe Trophy.[3]

  • Head Coach: Olivier Nier

Caps update: 22 November 2021

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Reuben Bachofner-Brown Prop (1996-05-02) 2 May 1996 1 Hornets RFC
Maximiliano Ducommun Prop (1992-03-20) 20 March 1992 3 Nyon RC
Cameron Holestein Prop (1995-03-11) 11 March 1995 3 Hartpury University
Vincent Vial Prop (1994-06-21) 21 June 1994 14 CS Vienne
Alexandre Grillon Prop (1992-02-14) 14 February 1992 2 Lausanne University
Dominic Gorman Prop (1997-11-23) 23 November 1997 17 Yverdon RC
Nathan Pelsy Hooker (1997-03-07) 7 March 1997 18 US Annecy
Maxime Luçon Hooker (1991-07-19) 19 July 1991 30 CA Pontarlier
Manu Ronza Hooker (1997-04-02) 2 April 1997 13 Lausanne University
Andri Koeferli Hooker (1999-09-04) 4 September 1999 3 GC Zürich
Christian Rohrig Lock (1990-12-07) 7 December 1990 10 GC Zürich
Ben Bodinham Lock (1991-06-07) 7 June 1991 5 Oxford Quins R.F.C.
Romin Vivarie Lock (1992-11-18) 18 November 1992 2 Lausanne University
Antoine Salino Back row (2000-11-15) 15 November 2000 2 Servette RC
Tim Vögtli Back row (1994-06-13) 13 June 1994 23 GC Zürich
George Hallam Back row (2003-04-26) 26 April 2003 2 Coventry Academy
Cyril Lin (c) Back row (1984-08-17) 17 August 1984 42 Nyon RC
Nicolas Lugeon Back row (1994-06-09) 9 June 1994 5 Stade Lausanne RC
Ahmed Kane Back row (2001-07-05) 5 July 2001 2 Lyon
William Meyer Scrum-half (2000-09-28) 28 September 2000 6 Rumilly
Simon Perrod Scrum-half (1990-07-14) 14 July 1990 36 Drancy RC
Donovan O'Grady Scrum-half (1993-02-16) 16 February 1993 16 Eton Manor RFC
Jules Porcher Fly-half (1998-07-01) 1 July 1998 9 RC Aubenas Vals
Jess Roberson Centre (1992-08-04) 4 August 1992 4 GC Zürich
Tommaso Volta Centre (2000-01-11) 11 January 2000 4 Hermance RRC
Gaëtan Moser Centre (2001-05-25) 25 May 2001 1 Servette RC
Lucas Heinrich Wing (1995-06-13) 13 June 1995 29 Servette RC
Hugo Malyon Wing (1995-07-25) 25 July 1995 9 RC Suresnes
Hugh Kisielewski Wing (1990-05-08) 8 May 1990 10 GC Zürich
Jolan Vincent Fullback (2002-01-12) 12 January 2002 6 US Nantua Haut Bugey

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Swiss national team:[4]

Name Nationality Role
Yann Benoit  SUI Manager
Olivier Nier FRA Head coach
Mathieu Guyou Kreis  SUI Backs Coash
Simon Dupuy  SUI Forwards Coach
Dr Mathieu Saubade  SUI Team doctor
Gregory Tellier  SUI Physiotherapist

See also

References

  1. ^ (French: Equipe Nationale Suisse de Rugby à XV German: Schweizer Rugby-Union-Nationalmannschaft Italian: Nazionale di Rugby XV della Svizzera)
  2. ^ a b "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  3. ^ "Switzerland Men XVs". www.suisserugby.com. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  4. ^ "Poland vs Switzerland Game Sheet" (PDF). Rugby Europe. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
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