Malta and Belgium, who meet at Headingley Carnegie stadium tomorrow (Sunday, 12.30pm kick off) as a curtain-raiser to the Leeds v Hull Super League clash have completed their preparations.

The Maltese were hoping that Jarrod Sammut would captain the side for the first time but he is being unveiled as a Workington player tomorrow after signing for them on Friday night.

Belgium coach Tony Benson can’t wait for the contest at such an iconic location.

“The Belgian squad is totally committed and has worked extremely hard and made plenty of sacrifices to improve for every game at regular training camps and sessions,” he said “Their progress has been phenomenal as evident against Czech Republic and Holland in their last two Test matches. They are quickly gaining an appreciation of the technical side and building an astute game awareness

“The prospect of the challenge of playing Malta at Headingly has them very excited as we see Malta as a step up and a realistic test of our progress.”

Some of the Belgium squads were guests of Wigan at their clash with Salford last night.

Opposite number Anthony Micallef is equally excited for the big stage. “We've lost some of our elite players but we've had great hospitality in Leeds since our arrival and the team is looking quite good,” the Malta coach said after completing the final training session.

Backrower Peter Debono added, “As a player, it's these kind of matches that we really look forward to, such experiences will help improve our game as a team and individuals. There's a lot of pressure on both of us to put on a good performance, especially considering that it's the curtain-raiser to such an important match in the Super League. We're more than up for the challenge. We've all been training hard since March for this international and we'll leave nothing behind when Sunday comes.”

BELGIUM
Guillaume Van Der Elst (Brussels Broncos), Karnik Avedikian, Kamel Belkiri, Yann Bertrand, Nicolas Bourgin, Yvan Leroyer, Colin Niez (all Lyon-Villeurbanne Rugby XIII), Adam Bahemou, Jonathan Bouillon, Agim Coroli, Martin Derom, Josquin De Winne, Christopher Eyns, Lelio Guilmard, Iliass Laachiri, Stanley Rogerio, Simon Troquereau (all North Brussels Gorillas), Quentin Leclercq, Damien Parée (both Villegailhenc Aragon RL)

MALTA
Jeremy Dela (Birmingham Bulldogs), James Redman (Central ASA Tigers), Justin Barlogio (DC Slayers), Jean Pierre Zarb (Eagles RL), Jake Lynch (Folly Lane), Paul Parkinson (Gateshead Storm), Joseph Pio Mizzi (Gozo RL), Blake Phillips (Helensburgh Tigers), Sam Blyton-Keep, Christian Briffa, Peter Debono (all Malta Origin RL), Danny Burke (London Skolars), Kaine Dimech (Medway Dragons), Karl Cassar (Shaw Cross), Malcolm Attard, Julian Caruana, Ed Willis (all Stompers RL)