Spain national rugby league team explained

Spain
Badge:SpainRL.png
Badge Size:100px
Governing Body:Asociación Española de Rugby League
Region:Europe
Coach:Mike Grady
Rlif Rank:38
Pattern B1:_yellowV
Leftarm1:FF0000
Body1:FF0000
Rightarm1:FF0000
Shorts1:FF0000
Socks1:FF0000
First International: 12–10
(Brussels, 25 May 2014)
Largest Win: 4–76
(Athens, 17 October 2015)
Largest Loss: 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

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]

width=1%Pos.width=5%Playerwidth=1%Capswidth=1%Pointswidth=2%Club
Luc Franco514 Racing Club Albi XIII
Alexis Escamilia00 AS Carcassonne
Romain Franco24 Catalans Dragons
Hadriel Mohamed Gonzales720 Torrent Tigres
Ludovic Renu00 Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII
Alex Doutres732 Palau XIII Broncos
Simon Juarez00 Racing Club Albi XIII
Antonio Puerta716 Custodians Madrid
Daniel Garcia960 Crosfields
Miguel Blanco-Charters48 Seaton Rangers
Romain Pallares212 AS Carcassonne
Adria Alonso100 Xativa Roosters
Carlos Font10 Xativa Roosters
Maxime Garcia20 Racing Club Albi XIII
Juan Mudarra20 Custodians Madrid
Julien Agullo00 AS Carcassonne
Kevin Aparicio40 Rennes Étudiants Club
Emir-Walid Bouregba00 Lézignan Sangliers
Anthony Delgado24 AS Carcassonne
Gaetan Estruga00 Racing Club Albi XIII
Rafael Garcia210 Custodians Madrid
Miquel Tomas Enrique00 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
2 2 0 0 100% 66 20 +46
1 0 0 1 0% 16 32 –16
1 1 0 0 100% 76 4 +72
2 0 0 2 0% 14 88 –74
2 0 0 2 0% 8 128 –120
1 1 0 0 100% 32 12 +20
1 1 0 0 100% 40 30 +10
1 0 0 1 0% 30 36 –6
2 1 0 1 50% 38 64 –26
2 0 0 2 0% 24 88 –64
Total1560940.00% 344 502 –158

Results

2010s

DateHomeResultAwayCompetitionVenueCrowdReport
125 May 201410–12Friendly Neder-Over-HeembeekERL
28 June 201454–10Friendly Moncada, ValenciaERL
39 May 201512–32 2015 European Championship C Riga150ERL
46 June 201516–32Friendly ValenciaERL
519 September 201536–24 BFriendly Muro de Alcoy1,200ERL
626 September 201540–302015 European Championship C ValenciaERL
717 October 20154–76 AthensERL
824 September 20164–64Friendly ValenciaERL
915 October 201640–62017 World Cup Qualifying Fili Stadium, Moscow427ERL
1022 October 20166–46 Valencia323ERL
1110 June 201794–4Friendly Saluzzo[7] ERL
126 October 201832–24European Championship B ValenciaERL
1320 October 201824–20 Makiš Stadium, Belgrade150ERL
1426 October 20198–422021 World Cup Qualifying Ciutat de I'Esport Xàtiva1,013ERL
152 November 201934–4 Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano SabbiadoroERL

2020s

World Cup

World Cup record
width=150 Yearwidth=150 Roundwidth=50 Positionwidth=50 GPwidth=50 Wwidth=50 Lwidth=50 D
2017Did not qualify
2021Did not qualify
Total0 Titles0/130000

Honours

European Bowl

2015

Notes and References

  1. http://www.rlef.eu.com/spanish_rugby_league/introduction RLEF profile - Spain
  2. http://blogs.elpais.com/trans-iberian/2014/05/spain-set-for-emotional-rugby-league-debut.html Spain set for emotional international rugby league debut
  3. http://www.rlef.eu.com/other/report?RLE00000552 RLEF match report - Belgium vs Spain
  4. http://www.rlef.eu.com/other/report?RLE00000552 RLEF match report - Latvia vs Spain
  5. Web site: Match day squads confirmed for European qualifiers for RLWC2021. Rugby League Planet. 20 October 2019.
  6. Web site: Spain . Rugby League Project . 1 January 2021.
  7. Web site: Italy and Spain set for double-header . ERL . 9 June 2017 . 11 July 2024.