"There's no real limits" - Switzerland star looks ahead to 2026 Rugby Europe Championship
Rugby NewsFriday, 09 January 2026 at 10:26
For much of its history, Swiss rugby has existed on the fringes of the European game. Overshadowed by football and ice hockey at home and by the continent’s traditional rugby powers abroad, progress came slowly and often quietly.
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This interview was conducted in conjunction with What’s All The Ruckus? — a weekly podcast featuring Tier 2 and 3 international rugby guests
Over the last decade, however, that has begun to change. Results have improved, standards have risen, and belief has grown within a national side determined to prove that Switzerland belongs on the European rugby map.
Few embody that transformation better than Ahmed Kane. A former Lyon (LOU) lock now playing for Chambéry in France’s Nationale, Kane is a 24-year-old Switzerland international who represents both the sport’s expanding footprint and the country’s evolving identity.
Born and raised in Switzerland with Senegalese heritage, Kane only discovered rugby at 13 after a friend encouraged him to try it on the walk home from school. A decade later, he has become part of a generation carrying Swiss rugby into new territory.
“There’s always been progression,” Kane said of the national team’s recent development.
“To me, you just see the last few years, there's always been progression and we will be able to do better. There is huge potential in Switzerland and we're going to do our best to sustain that level so that whole country can rise and we can get better, and the ones that come after us have better infrastructure, better everything.”
That progression can be traced back to 2016, when Switzerland reached the second division of the European Nations Cup structure for the first time since the format was introduced in 2000.
By winning Division 2A over the 2014–16 cycle, they announced themselves as a side on the rise. But it was their step up in 2024 that truly underlined how far they had come. Switzerland earned promotion into the Rugby Europe Championship, the top tier of European rugby outside the Six Nations, where the continent’s strongest emerging nations compete.
The challenge was immediate. Competing against more established rugby countries such as Georgia and Spain, Switzerland were no longer simply chasing development; they were fighting for survival at the highest level they had ever reached. Yet in the final game of last year’s cycle, they delivered a moment that will be remembered as a landmark in Swiss rugby history.
Away in Germany, they secured a dramatic 20–17 victory — their first win in the competition and the first time a newly promoted side had managed to win at that level.
Kane was part of that historic performance, and for him, wearing the red and white carries a weight that goes beyond the result. “There is a responsibility for us to represent the country correctly,” he said.
“I was born in Switzerland, I grew up in Switzerland and I'm really proud of being Swiss, so for me there's a responsibility to represent the country in the best possible way. You have to give 100% and that's the basics because people are at home watching and you don't want to have really bad results with your country's flag.”
That sense of pride also brings honesty about where Switzerland still falls short. Heavy defeats to established powers, such as 73-0 against The Netherlands or 110-0 against Georgia, remain part of the learning curve.
“The losses against Georgia and The Netherlands, that's something that you don't enjoy because it makes your whole country look ridiculous,” Kane admitted. “We had one win last season, and we want to be better this year.”
As Switzerland moves into the second year of the current two-year Rugby Europe Championship cycle, the aim is straightforward: secure survival, avoid relegation, and keep building for the future. This season will test not only the squad’s quality, but also the foundations beneath it — from player development pathways and coaching standards to the strength of the domestic game.
Their campaign begins with a home fixture against Georgia on February 8, followed by an away match in Spain six days later. The pool stage concludes with a home game against the Netherlands before they progress to the play-offs.
Despite the challenges, Kane’s outlook was unapologetically ambitious. “I think that we can do great things,” he said.
“I think that we can have a great game against Georgia, even though it was not the case last year. I also think we can beat Germany and The Netherlands and every game that we play at home, we need to try and win it.
"It's going to be really tough against Georgia because they are a really good team and they have great players and they have been dominating for years, but we are going to give our best to represent our country proudly. there's no real limits, I just hope that we can have the best possible conditions for it and that's it.”
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