Spain national rugby league team

The Spain national rugby league team represents Spain in the sport of rugby league football, running under the auspices of the Asociación Española de Rugby League.

Spain
Team information
Governing bodyAsociación Española de Rugby League
RegionEurope
Head coachDarren Fisher
RLIF ranking22nd
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
 Spain 12–10 Belgium 
(Brussels, 25 May 2014)
Biggest win
 Greece 4–76 Spain 
(Athens, 17 October 2015)
Biggest defeat
 Spain 4–64 Serbia 
(Valencia, 24 September 2016)

History

The first international rugby league in Spain was played in the region of Catalonia in 2009, with a Catalonia national rugby league team playing several matches against European nations. However, desiring to represent only Catalonia and not the entirety of Spain, the Catalonia team was denied RLEF membership and disappeared from international competition shortly afterwards.

Rugby league in Spain began once again in 2013, with a national body (Asociación Española de Rugby League) being formed and admitted to the RLEF by the end of that year.[1] The first Spanish domestic competition kicked off in 2013 with clubs based in the Valencian Community, and the national team played its first match on May 25, 2014,[2] defeating Belgium in Brussels. The first captain was Aitor Davila and the first Spanish try at international level was scored by Gonzalo Morro.[3]

Qualifying
Main article: 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying § Europe

On the 9th of May 2015, Spain and Latvia kicked off proceedings for the qualifying fixtures for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying. It was a do or die match with the winner advancing to a qualifying group stage, already containing Malta and Greece, while the other would lose their chance of qualifying for their first ever World Cup. The Spaniards were the better team, winning the match by 20 points which therefore made them advance to the European C qualifying group stage. The team ended up winning the tournament and now advance to the final round robin tournament.[4] In the final phase of qualifying, Spain took on Italy and Ireland, however two losses in those matches saw them miss out in their bid to qualify for their first ever Rugby League World Cup.

Current squad

The 22-man national team squad selected for the first match day of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup European play-off tournament.[5]

Pos. Player Caps Points Club
Fullback Luc Franco 2 10 Racing Club Albi XIII
Wing Alexis Escamilia 0 0 AS Carcassonne
Wing Romain Franco 0 0 Catalans Dragons
Wing Hadriel Mohamed Gonzales 7 20 Torrent Tigres
Wing Ludovic Renu 0 0 Villeghailhenc-Aragon XIII
Centre Alex Doutres 7 32 Palau XIII Broncos
Centre Simon Juarez 0 0 Racing Club Albi XIII
Centre Antonio Puerta 7 16 Custodians Madrid
Five-eighth Daniel Garcia 9 60 Crosfields
Halfback Miguel Blanco-Charters 4 8 Seaton Rangers
Halfback Romain Pallares 2 12 AS Carcassonne
Prop Adria Alonso 10 0 Xativa Roosters
Prop Carlos Font 1 0 Xativa Roosters
Prop Maxime Garcia 0 0 Racing Club Albi XIII
Prop Juan Mudarra 2 0 Custodians Madrid
Hooker Julien Agullo 0 0 AS Carcassonne
Second-row Kevin Aparicio 4 0 Rennes Étudiants Club
Second-row Emir-Walid Bouregba 0 0 Lézignan Sangliers
Second-row Anthony Delgado 2 4 AS Carcassonne
Second-row Gaetan Estruga 0 0 Racing Club Albi XIII
Second-row Rafael Garcia 2 10 Custodians Madrid
Lock Miquel Tomas Enrique 0 0 Torrent Tigres

Competitive record

Overview

International record for the Spanish national team as of 1 January 2021.[6]

TeamPlayWinDrawLossWin%ForAgainstDifference
 Belgium2200100%6620+46
 Germany10010%1632–16
 Greece1100100%764+72
 Ireland20020%1488–74
 Italy20020%8128–120
 Latvia1100100%3212+20
 Malta1100100%4030+10
 Russia210150%3864–26
 Serbia20020%2488–64
Total1460842.86%314466–152

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

2010s
Date Home Result Away Competition Venue Crowd
1 25 May 2014  Belgium 10–12  Spain Friendly Neder-Over-Heembeek
2 8 June 2014  Spain 54–10  Belgium Friendly Moncada, Valencia
3 9 May 2015  Latvia 12–32  Spain 2015 European Championship C Riga 150
4 6 June 2015  Spain 16–32  Germany Friendly Valencia
5 19 September 2015  Spain 36–24  Italy Friendly Muro de Alcoy 1,200
6 26 September 2015  Spain 40–30  Malta 2015 European Championship C Valencia
7 17 October 2015  Greece 4–76  Spain Athens
8 24 September 2016  Spain 4–64  Serbia Friendly Valencia
9 15 October 2016  Russia 40-6  Spain 2017 World Cup Qualifying Fili Stadium, Moscow 427
10 22 October 2016  Spain 6–46  Ireland Valencia 323
11 6 October 2018  Spain 32–24  Russia European Championship B Valencia
12 20 October 2018  Serbia 24–20  Spain Makiš Stadium, Belgrade 150
13 26 October 2019  Spain 8–42  Ireland 2021 World Cup Qualifying Ciutat de I'Esport Xàtiva 1,013
14 2 November 2019  Italy 34–4  Spain Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro

2020s
Date Home Result Away Competition Venue Crowd
15 17 October 2020  Ireland –  Spain 2020 European Championship
16 31 October 2020  Spain –  Wales

World Cup
World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
2017Did not qualify
2021Did not qualify
Total0 Titles0/130000

Honours

European Bowl: 2015

See also

References
  1. RLEF profile - Spain
  2. Spain set for emotional international rugby league debut
  3. RLEF match report - Belgium vs Spain
  4. RLEF match report - Latvia vs Spain
  5. "Match day squads confirmed for European qualifiers for RLWC2021". Rugby League Planet. 20 October 2019.
  6. "Spain". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
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