Switzerland have now won the men’s Rugby Europe Trophy title two years in a row with the latter one securing them promotion to the Championship - and head coach Olivier Nier believes that “the best is yet to come”.
Nier has been involved with coaching the national team for eight years and the hard work put in by him and others within the governing body has led to the excellence that we have seen in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Last season, the senior team won four matches from four and collected 19 points in total to win the Trophy after playing against Ukraine, Sweden, Lithuania and Croatia.
This term, they won five from five and collected 22 points to again top the standings with the Championship now their destination for 2024/25.
In 2023/24, it all started in November when they defeated Sweden 23-12 at home at the Stade Municipal in Yverdon-les-Bains.
A 31-17 triumph on the road seven days later came in Lithuania before a break until March.
Then a 41-25 away win was recorded in Czechia before a 35-10 home victory over Croatia back in Yverdon-les-Bains.
To make it five from five and win the title and all that comes with it they had to defeat Ukraine on April 13 at home in Zurich and they did that in style 68-0.
The hosts came out of the blocks flying and two tries from winger Cyril Fluckiger and one apiece from No.8 Cyril Lin, the skipper, scrum-half William Meyer, tighthead prop Reuben Bachofner-Brown and winger Hugo Malyon - with five converted by stand-off Jules Porcher - made it 40-0 at half-time.
Maylon scored a second after the break which Porcher converted before Fluckiger completed his hat-trick, Maylon did the same and then Donovan O'Grady put the icing on the cake with the final try. Replacement O’Grady also converted the last three.
“There is a mixture of pride and satisfaction right now for a job well done,” Nier said reflecting on the last two years with his team sitting 26th in the world rankings
“To win two titles - and complete two Grand Slams - in a row is a rare and is an exceptional achievement.
“The national team is a driving force for Swiss rugby as a whole and the ambition that we have as a group is shared by the youth and women's teams at Swiss level and within club teams in the country,
I have been heading up the Swiss national men's team since 2016 as a coach.
“Winning the Trophy in two consecutive years is an amazing milestone, but the best is yet to come going forward.”
