Malta failed to qualify for the final tournament in France as the local girls finished fifth overall (from 12 teams) at the FIRA-AER European Women 7’s Championship in Belgium.

The Maltese girls finished fourth in Pool A and then fifth overall in the final ranking.

In their last Pool A game yesterday Malta lost 5-0 to Andorra.

But the Maltese girls gave a good account of themselves as they managed to win the Plate Pool with victories over Poland and Belgium. They beat Poland 0-24 and Belgium 5-29, showing overall superiority.

The final tournament is to be played between 14 and 15 June. England, Russia, Wales, France, Italy, Scotland, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Portugal will be joined by the top three in the previous two stages.

In other matches on Saturday, Malta lost 7-5 to Norway, beat Luxembourg 50-0, beat Switzerland 10-0 and lost to Moldova 15-5.

The Malta squad in Belgium comprised Amanda Cassar (Kavallieri WRFC), Esther Azzopardi (Kavallieri WRFC), Marion Azzopardi (Sharks WRFC), Victoria Aquilina (Kavallieri WRFC), Colette Abela (Kavallieri WRFC), Tessabelle Sultana (Sharks WRFC), Beverie Sultana (Sharks WRFC), Graziella Jones (Kavallieri WRFC), Ritienne Bondin (Kavallieri WRFC), Claire Casha (Sharks WRFC).