Wikipedia

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
Badge of Spain team
Team information
Governing bodyAsociación Española de Rugby League
RegionEurope
Head coachMike Grady
IRL ranking42nd
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
 Italy 94–4 Spain 
(Saluzzo, 10 June 2017)

History

edit

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.[citation needed]

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

edit

Qualifying

edit
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

edit

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

edit

Overview

edit

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

edit

  Win   Draw   Loss

2010s

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

2020s

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

World Cup

edit
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

edit

European Bowl: 2015

IRL Rankings

edit
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   Spain 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

edit

References

edit
  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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spain_national_rugby_league_team&oldid=1265988059"