Squads announced for Phoenician Cup showdown

By Sean Teuma / Roar Guru

Malta and Lebanon have named their squads ahead of the upcoming Phoenician Cup clash at New Era Stadium, Cabramatta on Saturday night.

The match kicks off at 7.30pm, and will be live streamed on Facebook.

Lebanon has won the two previous encounters between the countries, with their 34-16 win in 2015 the most recent.

The Cedars are using this match as a warm-up for their World Cup campaign where they will face Australia, England and France in their pool games.

Malta will be looking to build on their 44-26 win over the Philippines in February this year, and gather momentum for the Emerging Nations World Championship next year.

Malta Knights
Jake Attard
Nathan Benson
Joel Bradford
Samuel Buttel
Luke Cauchi
Clifford Debattista
Jye Ellul
Nathan Falzon
Timothy Good
Aaron Grech
Kyal Greene
Joshua Martin
Nathan Simpson
Benjamin Stone
Matt Thompson
Aaron Weston
Dylan Wilson
Dean Zammit

Lebanon Cedars
Danny Barakat
Brandon Bou Melhem
Ben Chahoud
Jamie Clark
Khaled Deeb
Adam Doueihi
Kayne Kalache
Mark Daoud
Mario El-Boustani
Tarek El Masri
Abraham El-Zakhem
Elie El-Zakhem
Ahmad Ellaz
Nick Kassis
Andrew Kazzi
Anthony Layout
Bilal Maarbani
Mitchel Mamary
Abbas Miskie
Raymond Moujalli
Raymond Maroun
Jaleel See-Derbes
Elias Sukkar

The under 18s clash will serve as a curtain-raiser for the main game, and gives the developing talent from both sides the chance to play on the international stage.

Malta Under-18s
Liam Amato
Luke Azzopardi
Ryan Azzopardi
Dylan Camilleri
Joel Cauchi
Joshua Colin Cregan
Joshua Debattista
Zach Dimech
Zarrin Galea
Trevor Graham
Lewis Mallia
Ben Mallia
Christopher Mercieca
Jasper Schembri
Jake Simpson
Brandon Wing
Dane Wilson
Jarrod Xerri
Jake Xuereb
William Zammit

Lebanon Under-18s
Les Abdennour
Ethan Abou Ghaida
Joe Akiki
Jeffrey Alam
Nabil Allouche
Charbel Bahkos
Joshua Boumelhem
Nathan Chadid
Adam Hamawi
Abdalla Mattar
Arthur Melhem
Nicholas Kairouz
Albert Rahme
Adam Rizk
Ali Saad
Anthony Sakr
Arisento Sleiman
Charbel Yacoub
George Yarak

The Crowd Says:

2017-05-06T05:07:36+00:00

Magnus M. Østergaard

Roar Guru


The people below will be livestreaming the match if you are keen. https://www.facebook.com/spotonvideo

AUTHOR

2017-05-05T14:50:22+00:00

Sean Teuma

Roar Guru


Most definitely Scott. I've got them pencilled in as comfortable favourites over France

AUTHOR

2017-05-05T14:47:32+00:00

Sean Teuma

Roar Guru


The youth in the Maltese squad is very encouraging. With a young captain and halfback, expect to see them really push hard for a World Cup start in the future. Should be a tight game (much tighter than tonight's Test match!). If Malta can hold them early, their confidence will be sky high.

2017-05-05T08:38:36+00:00

Scott Pryde

Expert


Lebanon are going to have a decent squad when you add NRL talent at the end of the season for the World Cup.

2017-05-05T06:59:05+00:00

Riley Pettigrew

Roar Guru


Thanks Sean, I'm excited to see how Malta hold up against Lebanon. The match will prove valuable ahead of next year's ENWC. It's great to see Clifford Debattista (Gozo) named to give it some local flavour. The Cedars have a very strong squad at their disposal, and will certainly be bolstered by NRL stars at the end of the year. Also wonderful to see the U18s being showcased. Bring it on!

AUTHOR

2017-05-05T02:08:35+00:00

Sean Teuma

Roar Guru


It's a shame that the NRL and Super League talent for both sides is missing from this game, however both nations have named strong teams, with what should be an almighty battle.

2017-05-05T00:42:33+00:00

Big Daddy

Guest


No Robbie Farah. Now that's a shame

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