Castilla y León Iberians

The Castilla y León Iberians is a professional Spanish rugby union team based in the Castilla y León region. They compete annually in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.[1] Their motto is "We are Iberians". Their homeground is Estadio Pepe Rojo, Valladolid.

Castilla y León
Full nameCastilla y León Iberians
Founded2021; 3 years ago (2021)
LocationCastilla y León, Spain
Ground(s)Estadio Pepe Rojo (Capacity: 5,000)
Coach(es)Miguel Velasco
Captain(s)Kalokalo Gavidi
League(s)Rugby Europe Super Cup
2021–223rd
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.iberiansrugby.com

History edit

The franchise was founded in 2021 as the Spanish representative in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. The Castilla y Leon Iberians is made up of the clubs from the Castile and León Rugby División de Honor, thus bringing together VRAC, El Salvador, and the University of Burgos (UBU) teams.

The Rugby Europe Super Cup competition features 8 teams or franchises in two groups or "conferences", which is played in a Round Robin format. At the end of the two rounds, the two best teams from each conference participated in the final phase.

During 2021 the Western Conference included the Brussels Devils of Belgium, the Delta of the Netherlands, the Lusitanos of Portugal, and the Castilla y Leon Iberians.

The Iberians qualified for the semi-finals, losing to the Black Lion 43-40 at Avchala Stadium.

The Rugby Europe Super Cup 2022 saw the Iberians in the semi-finals losing again to the Black Lion 41-9.

Home Ground edit

Estadio Pepe Rojo is located in the city of Valladolid, Spain. It is also the home ground of CR El Salvador and Valladolid RAC. The sports complex consists of five rugby fields (Field no.1 - main field; Field no.2; field no.3 - 'track and field'; field no.4 and field no. 5, - 'artificial grass' ), of which the no. 1 y no. 2 are used regularly for first-grade official competition.

 
Estadio Pepe Rojo

The No. 1 field, which is the main field of the complex, has a roofed grandstand with seats at the west end, as well as a unroofed stand at the east end, with also a small stand at the north end, with the west stand being refurbished and expanded and the south end was built in 2016 (the stadium records big attendances when both teams play the local derby or a championship final). With this refurbishment it was possible to expand the capacity of Pepe Rojo to 1.150 seats, thus, reaching the amount of 6.000 seats in the No.1 field.

2021-22 squad edit

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
  Jordan Argerich Hooker (1993-04-06) 6 April 1993 (age 31) 0 Aparejadores
  Pablo Miejimolle Hooker (1995-01-17) 17 January 1995 (age 29) 2 VRAC
  Álvaro Pírez Hooker (1999-07-19) 19 July 1999 (age 24) 0 VRAC
  Matthew Smith Hooker (1990-10-12) 12 October 1990 (age 33) 1 El Salvador
  Andrés Alvarado Prop (1990-10-12) 12 October 1990 (age 33) 2 El Salvador
  Alberto Blanco Prop (1990-10-18) 18 October 1990 (age 33) 22 VRAC
  Raúl Calzón Prop (1997-02-16) 16 February 1997 (age 27) 0 VRAC
  Lucas Favre Prop (1990-10-12) 12 October 1990 (age 33) 2 El Salvador
  Nicolás Jurado Prop (1998-12-14) 14 December 1998 (age 25) 1 El Salvador
  Leandro Wozniak Prop (1991-08-10) 10 August 1991 (age 32) 1 Aparejadores
  Sacha Casañas Lock (1993-10-24) 24 October 1993 (age 30) 0 VRAC
  Kalokalo Gavidi (c Lock (1981-10-09) 9 October 1981 (age 42) 15 VRAC
  Víctor Sánchez Lock (1987-06-20) 20 June 1987 (age 36) 27 El Salvador
  Daniel Stöhr Lock (1995-05-23) 23 May 1995 (age 28) 1 VRAC
  Nicolas Walker Lock (1998-01-05) 5 January 1998 (age 26) 0 Aparejadores
  Michael Walker-Fitton Lock (1986-10-02) 2 October 1986 (age 37) 13 El Salvador
  Valentín Bustos Back row (2000-08-22) 22 August 2000 (age 23) 0 Aparejadores
  Rodrigo Fernández Back row (2000-08-18) 18 August 2000 (age 23) 0 El Salvador
  Ignacio Martínez Back row (1999-11-12) 12 November 1999 (age 24) 0 El Salvador
  Siosiua Moala Back row (1989-05-29) 29 May 1989 (age 34) 0 VRAC
  Marc Sánchez Back row (1999-08-21) 21 August 1999 (age 24) 0 Aparejadores
  George Stokes Back row (1995-05-15) 15 May 1995 (age 28) 0 VRAC
  Kirk Tufuga Back row (1991-06-04) 4 June 1991 (age 32) 0 El Salvador
  Gabriel Vélez Back row (1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 (age 26) 0 VRAC
  Nicolás Herreros Scrum-half (1990-01-23) 23 January 1990 (age 34) 3 Aparejadores
  Zee Mkhabela Scrum-half (1994-10-15) 15 October 1994 (age 29) 0 VRAC
  Facundo Munilla Scrum-half (1995-05-16) 16 May 1995 (age 28) 24 El Salvador
  Nicolás Rocaries Scrum-half (2000-03-30) 30 March 2000 (age 24) 0 Aparejadores
  Sam Katz Fly-half (1990-09-07) 7 September 1990 (age 33) 0 El Salvador
  Baltazar Taibo Fly-half (1997-01-30) 30 January 1997 (age 27) 3 VRAC
  Nathan de Thierry Fly-half (1994-02-14) 14 February 1994 (age 30) 2 VRAC
  Martin du Toit Fly-half (1989-06-27) 27 June 1989 (age 34) 0 El Salvador
  Alejandro Alonso Centre (1998-07-21) 21 July 1998 (age 25) 1 VRAC
  David Barrios Centre (1999-05-02) 2 May 1999 (age 25) 0 El Salvador
  Álvar Gimeno Centre (1995-12-15) 15 December 1995 (age 28) 23 VRAC
  Juan Diego Zabalegui Centre (1991-12-26) 26 December 1991 (age 32) 0 Aparejadores
  Miguel Lainz Wing (1994-11-02) 2 November 1994 (age 29) 0 VRAC
  Andrés Masuyama Wing (1998-07-16) 16 July 1998 (age 25) 0 Aparejadores
  Pedro Luis de la Lastra Wing (1995-12-05) 5 December 1995 (age 28) 23 VRAC
  Pablo Rascón Wing (1999-07-21) 21 July 1999 (age 24) 0 Aparejadores
  Franco Velarde Wing (1994-11-04) 4 November 1994 (age 29) 0 6 El Salvador
  Jean-Yves Zebango Wing (1993-05-03) 3 May 1993 (age 31) N/A El Salvador
  J. W. Bell Fullback (1990-01-18) 18 January 1990 (age 34) 4 VRAC
  Tomás Carrió Fullback (1989-03-10) 10 March 1989 (age 35) 0 Aparejadores
  Federico Castiglioni Fullback (1990-08-10) 10 August 1990 (age 33) 28 Aparejadores
  • Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.

See also edit

External links edit

References edit