Spain national rugby league team

Spain
Team information
Governing bodyAsociación Española de Rugby League
RegionEurope
Head coachMike Grady
IRL ranking42nd
Uniforms
First colours
Team results
First international
  12–10 Belgium 
(Brussels, 25 May 2014)
Biggest win
 Greece 4–76  
(Athens, 17 October 2015)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 94–4  
(Saluzzo, 10 June 2017)

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.

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]

2017 Rugby League World Cup

Qualifying

Main article: 2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying § Europe

On 9 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 5 14 Racing Club Albi XIII
Wing Alexis Escamilia 0 0 AS Carcassonne
Wing Romain Franco 2 4 Catalans Dragons
Wing Hadriel Mohamed Gonzales 7 20 Torrent Tigres
Wing Ludovic Renu 0 0 Villegailhenc-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 2 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 ÉC
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 Spain national team as of 29 September 2022.[6]

Team Play Win Draw Loss Win% For Against Difference
 Belgium 2 2 0 0 100% 66 20 +46
 Germany 1 0 0 1 0% 16 32 –16
 Greece 1 1 0 0 100% 76 4 +72
 Ireland 2 0 0 2 0% 14 88 –74
 Italy 2 0 0 2 0% 8 128 –120
 Latvia 1 1 0 0 100% 32 12 +20
 Malta 1 1 0 0 100% 40 30 +10
 Netherlands 1 0 0 1 0% 30 36 –6
 Russia 2 1 0 1 50% 38 64 –26
 Serbia 2 0 0 2 0% 24 88 –64
Total 15 6 0 9 40.00% 344 502 –158

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

2010s

Date Home Result Away Competition Venue Crowd Report
1 25 May 2014  Belgium 10–12   Friendly Neder-Over-Heembeek ERL
2 8 June 2014   54–10  Belgium Friendly Moncada, Valencia ERL
3 9 May 2015  Latvia 12–32   2015 European Championship C Riga 150 ERL
4 6 June 2015   16–32  Germany Friendly Valencia ERL
5 19 September 2015   36–24  Italy B Friendly Muro de Alcoy 1,200 ERL
6 26 September 2015   40–30  Malta 2015 European Championship C Valencia ERL
7 17 October 2015  Greece 4–76   Athens ERL
8 24 September 2016   4–64  Serbia Friendly Valencia ERL
9 15 October 2016  Russia 40–6   2017 World Cup Qualifying Fili Stadium, Moscow 427 ERL
10 22 October 2016   6–46  Ireland Valencia 323 ERL
11 10 June 2017  Italy 94–4   Friendly Saluzzo[7] ERL
12 6 October 2018   32–24  Russia European Championship B Valencia ERL
13 20 October 2018  Serbia 24–20   Makiš Stadium, Belgrade 150 ERL
14 26 October 2019   8–42  Ireland 2021 World Cup Qualifying Ciutat de I'Esport Xàtiva 1,013 ERL
15 2 November 2019  Italy 34–4   Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro ERL

2020s

Date Home Result Away Competition Venue Crowd Report
16 17 September 2022   30–36  Netherlands Friendly Getafe ERL

World Cup

World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
2017 Did not qualify
2021 Did not qualify
Total 0 Titles 0/13 0 0 0 0

Honours

European Bowl: 2015

IRL Rankings

IRL Men's World Rankings
Official rankings as of December 2024
Rank Change Team Pts %
1  Australia 100
2  New Zealand 86
3  England 84
4 1  Tonga 63
5 1  Samoa 54
6 1  Papua New Guinea 53
7 1  Fiji 44
8  France 30
9 2  Serbia 23
10  Cook Islands 22
11 1  Netherlands 22
12 5  Wales 18
13 2  Malta 17
14 6  Ukraine 13
15 1  Greece 12
16 7  Lebanon 12
17 4  Italy 11
18 2  Ireland 9
19 1  Jamaica 8
20 1  Czech Republic 8
21 2  Chile 8
22 3  Scotland 7
23 4  Philippines 7
24 7  United States 7
25 1  Poland 5
26 2  South Africa 5
27 5  Germany 5
28 3  Norway 5
29 4  Brazil 4
30 4  Kenya 4
31 10  Canada 4
32  Montenegro 4
33 2  North Macedonia 3
34 15  Argentina 3
35 5  Albania 2
36  Bulgaria 2
37 7  Ghana 2
38 9  Nigeria 2
39 5  Turkey 1
40 3  Cameroon 1
41 2  Japan 1
42 4   1
43 1  Colombia 1
44 1  El Salvador 0
45  Russia 0
46 1  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0
47 3  Hong Kong 0
48 3  Solomon Islands 0
49 8  Vanuatu 0
50  Niue 0
51 1  Latvia 0
52 2  Denmark 0
53 2  Belgium 0
54 4  Estonia 0
55 9  Sweden 0
56 12  Morocco 0
57 9  Hungary 0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

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.
  7. ^ "Italy and Spain set for double-header". ERL. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
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