Rugby league in Spain
Rugby league is a team sport that is played in several regions of Spain. The game gained popularity in the autonomous community of Catalonia following the success of the Perpignan-based Catalans Dragons club in the Rugby League Challenge Cup and Super League from 2006 onwards. With rugby league having long been played in Northern Catalonia (part of the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France), the success of Catalans Dragons was the catalyst to spread the game to the rest of Catalonia. On June 20, 2009, the first Super League game was played in Barcelona in front of a crowd of over 18,500, Catalans Dragons lost 12 - 24 to the Warrington Wolves and a raft of new teams were formed in Catalonia around this time.
New clubs have subsequently been formed in the Valencian Community, Madrid and Andalucia. For example, the first game in the province of Castellon took place in November 2013. A Spanish National team played their first rugby league international in 2014 and have reached the final qualifying stage for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
History: 1934 - 2005
The French part of Catalonia has been playing rugby league since 1934. Teams from this region, centred on the city of Perpignan, have had considerable success, with XIII Catalan (later Union Treiziste Catalan), AS Saint Estève and Pia XIII all being champions of France while Palau XIII (later Palau XIII Broncos) won silverware at various levels of the French game. However, there was little impact in Spain, although lower division club Font Romeu XIII were reported in 1999-2000 to have had to train in the neighbouring town of Llivia, an exclave of Catalonia, Spain due to a dispute with local authorities [1]
History: 2006 - 2009
French side Catalans Dragons joined the Super League in 2006. On July 29, 2007, the Dragons became the first French side and first non-English side to reach the final of the Challenge Cup. They were presented to the crowd at FC Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium. The success of the Dragons led to rugby league clubs being started in Southern Catalonia in the autumn of 2007 and a governing body in 2008. The Catalan representative side made their debut in January 2008, when they participated in the French Interleague Championship held near Perpignan, in France. In April of the same year, the first domestic competition took place in southern Catalonia, the Copa Catalunya de Rugby Lliga, with FC Barcelona emerging victorious from the three-way contest. Warrington Wolves played Catalans Dragons in Barcelona in 2009, with a game between Catalonia and the Czech Republic taking place before the main game.
Governing bodies
The Asociación Española de Rugby League (Spanish Rugby League Association) was formed and admitted to the Rugby League European Federation in 2013.
L'Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga, formed in 2008, is the governing body for rugby league in Catalonia. Catalonia is an unranked member of the Rugby League European Federation with Official observer status.
Domestic competitions
In April 2008, the first domestic competition took place in southern Catalonia, the Copa Catalunya de Rugby Lliga, with FC Barcelona emerging victorious from the three-way contest. The results from the competition were:
- FC Barcelona 22-20 Aligots Girona
- Aligots Girona 24-0 Nord-Català
- Nord-Català 4-24 FC Barcelona
In 2009 this was expanded to a nine team club championship and a seven team university tournament.
The 2009 competition compromised:
- Club Rugby Tarragona
- Club Rugby Sant Cugat
- Garrotxa Rugbi Club
- CNPN Enginyers
- CE INEF Lleida Rugby
- CA Vic - Crancs
- CR Valls
- GEIEG
- BUC (Barcelona Universitari Club)
National team
The Catalonia national rugby league team represents Catalonia in the sport of rugby league. Players are drawn from both North and South Catalonia. They have played international rugby league but do not take part in some international competitions, such as the Rugby League World Cup as Catalonia is not a sovereign nation. They played Belgium, Morocco and the Czech Republic in 2009 with the Belgium and Morocco games being part of the Euro Med tournament.
The Spain national rugby league represent Spain in rugby league, they are a newer concept than the Catalonia team playing their first international, a victory over Belgium in 2014. By beating Latvia in a playoff and then Malta and Greece in an initial qualifying group, they advanced to the final qualifying stage for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, where they were placed in a three team group (Pool B) alongside Russia and Ireland. Their first result was a 6-40 loss to Russia, at Fili Stadium, Moscow on 15 October 2016 [2] and their second a 46-6 defeat by Ireland, which resulted in their elimination.
The final 22-man squad representing Spain Rugby League in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers Pool B, as of 4 October 2016, was as follows:[3]
- Coach:
Darren Fisher
| Club Team | Players |
|---|---|
| Army Rugby League |  Chris Lopez |
 Custodians Madrid |  Antonio Puerta, Daniel Moreno |
| Hull F.C. |  Joel Marquez-Laynez |
| Irreductibles | Ivan Ordaz |
| Los Gossos | Clement Laguerre |
 Palau XIII Broncos |  Alexandre Doutres, Cedric Bringuier, Leandre Torres, Mathieu Griffi, Pierre Negre |
| Paterna Dragons | Matt Dulley |
| Seaton Rangers |  Miguel Charters-Blanco |
| *Stade Français |  Kevin Aparicio |
| Tonneins XIII |  Gonzalo Morro |
| Torrent Tigres | Aitor Davila, Juan Pablo Rango, Raul Simo |
| Valencia Warriors | Adrian Alonso, Andrew Pilkington, Luis Thorp |
| Woolston Rovers |  Daniel Garcia |
- * Denotes a rugby union club.
References
- Rugby League World, Vol 226, January 2000, Font Romeu XIII
- http://www.rlwc2017.com/news/european-qualifier-russia-40-spain-6
- FIVE DEBUTANTS IN SPAIN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS, rlef.com, 4 October 2016