Spain national rugby league team

Spain
Team information
Governing body	Asociación Española de Rugby League
Region	Europe
Head coach	Mike Grady
IRL ranking	38th
Uniforms
	First colours
	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)

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.^{[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

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]

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	Loss	Win%	For	Against	Difference
Belgium	2	2	0	100%	66	20	+46
Germany	1	0	1	0%	16	32	–16
Greece	1	1	0	100%	76	4	+72
Ireland	2	0	2	0%	14	88	–74
Italy	2	0	2	0%	8	128	–120
Latvia	1	1	0	100%	32	12	+20
Malta	1	1	0	100%	40	30	+10
Netherlands	1	0	1	0%	30	36	–6
Russia	2	1	1	50%	38	64	–26
Serbia	2	0	2	0%	24	88	–64
Total	15	6	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	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	2015 European Championship C	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	2017 World Cup Qualifying	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	European Championship B	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	2021 World Cup Qualifying	Stadio G. Teghil, Lignano Sabbiadoro		ERL

2020s

	Date	Home	Result	Away	Competition	Venue	Crowd	Report
16	17 September 2022	Spain	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 v t e
Official rankings as of 30 June 2024
Rank	Change	Team	Pts %
1		Australia	100
2		New Zealand	82
3		England	80
4		Samoa	67
5		Tonga	49
6	1	Fiji	47
7	1	Papua New Guinea	46
8		France	28
9		Lebanon	22
10		Cook Islands	20
11		Serbia	19
12		Netherlands	17
13		Italy	15
14	1	Greece	15
15	1	Malta	14
16		Ireland	14
17		Wales	13
18		Jamaica	10
19		Scotland	9
20		Ukraine	7
21		Czech Republic	7
22		Germany	6
23	3	Chile	6
24		Poland	6
25	3	Norway	6
26	1	Kenya	5
27	4	Philippines	5
28	3	South Africa	4
29		Nigeria	4
30		Ghana	4
31	2	United States	4
32	4	Montenegro	4
33	2	Brazil	3
34	2	Turkey	3
35	7	North Macedonia	3
36	2	Bulgaria	3
37	2	Cameroon	2
38	1	Spain	2
39	1	Japan	1
40	1	Albania	1
41	5	Canada	1
42	2	Colombia	1
43	2	El Salvador	1
44	1	Morocco	1
45		Russia	0
46	2	Sweden	0
47	2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0
48	2	Hungary	0
49	3	Argentina	0
50		Hong Kong	0
51	3	Solomon Islands	0
52	5	Niue	0
53	1	Latvia	0
54	1	Denmark	0
55	6	Belgium	0
56	1	Estonia	0
57	6	Vanuatu	0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT

References

^ RLEF profile - Spain
^ Spain set for emotional international rugby league debut
^ RLEF match report - Belgium vs Spain
^ RLEF match report - Latvia vs Spain
^ "Match day squads confirmed for European qualifiers for RLWC2021". Rugby League Planet. 20 October 2019.
^ "Spain". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^ "Italy and Spain set for double-header". ERL. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2024.

[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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