rugby league championship and an MRL Academy. Popularity The match against England Lionhearts was partly the catalyst for continued rugby league development on the Maltese Islands and has helped set up a domestic competition within Malta. A crowd of approximately 750 were in attendance for the first rugby league match in Malta played at Matthew Micallef St John Athletic Stadium, Marsa. The MRL's Australian links lie in the form of Maltese Heritage Rugby League that enables the foundation to promote the legacy across Australia, promoting and developing rugby league within the Maltese community. Maltese Heritage RL has teams catering for 12-year-olds through to seniors, via Academy, U16s, U18s and the Open Age Maltese Heritage RL team. The national team The Malta national rugby league team is made up of local rugby league players from Malta and Heritage players from England and Australia. The team is nicknamed the Knights. Malta XIII is a national representative team for the Republic of Malta. Players must satisfy international eligibility criteria or be a resident of Malta or Gozo. Eligible players of Malta XIII can be selected for Malta Knights. See also Rugby union in Malta External links MRL official site