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Spain national rugby league team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spain
Badge of Spain team
Team information
Governing bodyAsociación Española de Rugby League
RegionEurope
Head coachMike Grady
IRL ranking38th
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)

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

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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

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Qualifying

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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

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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 France Racing Club Albi XIII
Wing Alexis Escamilia 0 0 France AS Carcassonne
Wing Romain Franco 2 4 France Catalans Dragons
Wing Hadriel Mohamed Gonzales 7 20 Spain Torrent Tigres
Wing Ludovic Renu 0 0 France Villegailhenc-Aragon XIII
Centre Alex Doutres 7 32 France Palau XIII Broncos
Centre Simon Juarez 0 0 France Racing Club Albi XIII
Centre Antonio Puerta 7 16 Spain Custodians Madrid
Five-eighth Daniel Garcia 9 60 England Crosfields
Halfback Miguel Blanco-Charters 4 8 England Seaton Rangers
Halfback Romain Pallares 2 12 France AS Carcassonne
Prop Adria Alonso 10 0 Spain Xativa Roosters
Prop Carlos Font 1 0 Spain Xativa Roosters
Prop Maxime Garcia 2 0 France Racing Club Albi XIII
Prop Juan Mudarra 2 0 Spain Custodians Madrid
Hooker Julien Agullo 0 0 France AS Carcassonne
Second-row Kevin Aparicio 4 0 France Rennes ÉC
Second-row Emir-Walid Bouregba 0 0 France Lézignan Sangliers
Second-row Anthony Delgado 2 4 France AS Carcassonne
Second-row Gaetan Estruga 0 0 France Racing Club Albi XIII
Second-row Rafael Garcia 2 10 Spain Custodians Madrid
Lock Miquel Tomas Enrique 0 0 Spain Torrent Tigres

Competitive record

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Overview

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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

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  Win   Draw   Loss

2010s

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

2020s

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

World Cup

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

Honours

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European Bowl: 2015

IRL Rankings

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

See also

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References

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  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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