Gibraltar Rugby to play Cyprus, Andorra and Israel in Conference debut

With the new rugby season due to start, Rugby Europe has announced the fixture list for the Trophy and Conference, the latter of which Gibraltar XV will debut in after being accepted into the association.

Gibraltar will play Cyprus in its first encounter, with the schedule published by Rugby Europe seeing Gibraltar host Cyprus on October 17.

Gibraltar will then have to wait until January 16 for their next match, which will see them in another home encounter, this time against Andorra.

Gibraltar will then head to Israel for an April 3 away match, although no venue had been confirmed at the time of publishing.

Rugby Europe Conference 2026/27 will consist of 19 teams in five pools. At the end of the season, two teams will face each other in a play-off for promotion to the Trophy division.

Prior to the start of their campaign, Gibraltar will play recently promoted Malta. Malta were promoted to the Championship division after winning their play-off fixture against Conference side Austria.

The pre-campaign friendly, scheduled for September 26 in Chiswick, will give Gibraltar a chance to test itself once again before its international competition debut against Cyprus.

Czechia were ultimately crowned champions, with Poland promoted back to the Championship at the end of the two-year cycle.