Spain national rugby union team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Spain women's national rugby union team.

Spain

Nickname	Los Leones (The Lions)
Emblem	Lion
Union	Spanish Rugby Federation
Head coach	Pablo Bouza
Captain	Fernando López
Most caps	Francisco Puertas (93)
Top scorer	Esteban Roqué (285)
Top try scorer	César Sempere (31)
Home stadium	Estadio Universidad Complutense de Madrid
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	20 (as of 11 September 2023)
Highest	15 (2022)
Lowest	32 (2004, 2005)
First international
Spain 9–0 Italy (Barcelona, Spain; 20 May 1929)
Biggest win
Spain 90–8 Czech Republic (Madrid, Spain; 2 April 1995)
Biggest defeat
Spain 10–92 Australia (Madrid, Spain; 1 November 2001)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 1999)
Best result	Pool stage (1999)
Website	ferugby.es

The Spain national rugby union team (Spanish: Selección de rugby de España), nicknamed Los Leones (The Lions), represents the Spanish Rugby Federation in men's international rugby union competitions. The team annually takes part in the European Nations Cup, the highest European rugby championship outside the Six Nations. The national side is ranked 20th in the world (as of 20 March 2023).

Rugby union in Spain dates back to 1901, although Spain did not play its first international until 1929, beating Italy 9–0 in Barcelona. Throughout the century, Spain mostly played against other European opponents such as France, Italy, Romania, West Germany, the Soviet Union, and Portugal. The team's greatest moment of success came in 1999, when Spain qualified for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Despite being whitewashed, the team performed admirably in a group which included South Africa and Scotland.

Today, Spain competes in the European Nations Cup against Georgia, Germany, Portugal, Romania, and Russia. Spain has never been crowned European champions, though has come close. The closest they've come to becoming European champions was in 2012, having beaten both Romania and Georgia and finishing second.

History

Early history and amateur era

The exact starting point of rugby union in Spain is unknown; Catalan student Baldiri Aleu introduced the game from France to a mainstream Spanish audience in 1921, but the game might have been played on Spanish soil earlier. Through the 1920s, the game gradually gained popularity through universities in the country. The first Copa del Rey de Rugby was organized in 1926, and won by Barcelona. An unofficial Spanish XV played France, including Yves du Manoir, in 1927, but it was organised by a rebel governing body.

Spain played their first officially recognised match in 1929, winning 9–0 over Italy in the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc. During the 1930s the Spanish rugby team played sporadically in the 1930s, playing against the national teams of Italy, Morocco, Germany, and Portugal. Due to the outbreak of World War II, rugby in much of Europe was suspended, and this included Spain. Rugby operations throughout Europe were continued in the 1950s; through this decade the Spanish struggled to the likes of West Germany, Italy and Romania. This pattern of consistency continued somewhat in the 1960s and 1970s; Spain traditionally struggled versus more established opponents such as Romania and Italy, but beat other neighboring sides such as Portugal and Morocco. However, while no official games were played between Spain and the Home Nations or the SANZAR, some Spanish sides traveled to play against various foreign sides.

The 1980s proved to be somewhat of a golden age for Spanish rugby; for the first time Spain played against non-FIRA competition, playing a test against both the Māori All Blacks as well as South American giants Argentina in November 1982, in Madrid. The Spanish were thrashed 66–3 to the Māori, but came close to upsetting Argentina, losing only 28 to 19. The Spanish also received Zimbabwe through various tests in the 80s. The Spanish recorded upsets, defeating Zimbabwe in Harare in 1984, winning 30–18.

World Cup begins (1987–2009)

Even more impressive, the Spanish swept a two-game tour in Zimbabwe, a team that had appeared in the 1987 Rugby World Cup, winning 28–16 and 14–9 in Bulawayo and Harare. Other notable results in this period included beating Uruguay 18–6, as well as giving scares to the sides of England and Scotland, and coming within 10 points of beating the Māori in 1988. By the end of the 80s, Spain was considered one of the best non-5 Nations teams in Europe, just barely behind Romania, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Spain officially joined the IRB in 1987, after not being invited for the 1987 Rugby World Cup, despite the USSR declining an invitation.

Spain playing against the Czech Republic in 2007.

The 1990s provided a mixed fortune of both near misses and eventual success. In the 1991 qualifying rounds, Spain easily toppled its first group consisting of the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium, all games being played at home. However, Spain very narrowly missed on qualifying for the Rugby World Cup, losing 19–6 against Romania, finishing third behind Italy and Romania. In 1992, Spain finally beat Romania for the first time in 1992, winning 6–0. Spain again nearly beat Argentina that same year, only losing 43–34 in a shootout in Madrid.

1995 began in similar fashion to the 1991 campaign, easily toppling the first group. However, Spain were unfortunately placed in a group with Wales, losing the key fixture 54–0, and again coming close, yet not close enough.

Spain began their quest for 1999 Rugby World Cup qualification in Pool 3 of Round B of the European qualification. They won all four of their games in the round, finishing first in the group above Portugal. They, along with Portugal advanced to the next pool round with Scotland. They finished second and qualified for their first Rugby World Cup.

For the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Spain were in Pool A, along with Scotland, South Africa and Uruguay. Their first ever World Cup game was played against Uruguay, with Spain losing 27–15. They lost their subsequent pool games to Scotland and the Springboks by 40 points, both of which were played at Murrayfield. They failed to score a try in the tournament, the only team in the World to have qualified but not scored a try in the World cup.

Spain began 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying games in May 2002. Spain advanced to Round 3 after defeating Portugal. However, they lost to both Italy and Romania, and moved through to face Russia for a place in the repechage competition. Despite losing the first game in Madrid 3–36, and looking dead in the water, Spain pulled off a very unlikely victory, winning 38–22. Despite losing on aggregate, Spain went through the repechage due to Russia being disqualified for fielding ineligible players. They defeated Tunisia and moved on to face the United States. Spain lost 62–13 and 58–13, again missing out on the World Cup.

Spain playing against Portugal in 2013.

For the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Spain finished at the top of Pool A or Round 2 of the European qualification and advanced to Round 3 where they went into Pool A. Here they won all four fixtures to finish at the top and advance to the play-off. There they faced Germany, and although they lost the first game, they won the second and went through on a 42–28 aggregate and went into Round 4 where they defeated the Czech Republic to enter Round 5. However they lost out to Romania and Georgia in Pool B, ending their hopes of reaching the World Cup in France.

2010–present

Spain playing Classic All Blacks at Metropolitano Stadium in 2022.

Spain missed the qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, this time struggling through their fixtures. They lost 8 of their 10 fixtures, beating only Germany those two times, and missed out on advancing to the next round of qualifying.

Spain entered the top 20 in the IRB ranking in February 2013 for the first time following a 25–18 win over the higher ranked Georgia making headlines with semi-pro back Jack Rowland making a surprising call up, due to both fly-half and first team inside center pulling out with injury moments before the squad was announces. Rowland a last moment replacement scoring 12 out of the 25 points on his international debut. Surprising ranked Georgia first time in 29 years with a victory. Spain remained in the top 20 throughout the year, ending 2013 ranked 19th. Despite this, the 2015 campaign was similarly disastrous, winning only two of their games as well as two draws. This led to a restructure of the makeup and strategies of the FER. Spain has recently participated in the World Rugby Nations Cup and the 2014 IRB Tbilisi Cup.

The 2019 qualifying saw the team markedly improve; in 2017 they beat Germany, Russia and Belgium, and lost narrowly to Romania at home. The Spaniards started 2018 with great fortune, as they defeated Russia on their home soil for the first time since 2002, and defeated Romania for the first time since 2012. With both of these victories, Spain led their qualifying group and looked set for a possible qualification at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, but a controversial defeat at Belgium in the last round, and a heavy deduction of points because of fielding of ineligible players, ended their hopes.

A similar outcome occurred in 2022 when the team initially qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup after wins over direct rivals Romania and Portugal but was later disqualified due to fielding a player who didn't meet the selection criteria. This second expulsion resulted in many veteran players abandoning the national team and the Spanish side struggled to get good results in the 2023 rugby championship campaign. With heavy defeats against Georgia and Portugal and a narrow home defeat to Romania.

Strip

Historically, Spain's kit reflected the colours of Spain; a red jersey with blue shorts deriving from the House of Bourbon. The current home kit consists of a red shirt with a triangular pattern and black on the waist sides, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks, while the away kit consists of a dark blue jersey, red waist sides, dark blue shorts and dark blue socks; previously, during the 1980s and 1990s, the Spanish team wore a yellow top as away kit.

In 2013, it was announced that O'Neills, one of Ireland's most notable sporting brands, would be providing the new kits for Spain. This partnership is expected to last for the rest of the decade. The team has been previously sponsored by Iberia, Orange and Renfe, and previous kit providers include Canterbury, Westport, Viator, Kondy Sport and Puma.

Currently, the kits are provided by Joma since 2016. Since 2017, Generali is the current sponsor.

Record

European Nations Cup & FIRA Trophy

FIRA Nations Cup (1965 – 1973)
Nation	Games				Points			Table points	Champs
	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
France	26	25	0	1	824	198	+626	65	7
Romania	26	17	1	8	528	222	+306	51	1
Czechoslovakia	17	2	2	13	135	411	–267	16	0
Morocco	9	2	0	7	65	332	–267	13	0
Italy	13	4	1	8	86	227	–141	12	0
West Germany	10	1	1	8	81	132	–51	6	0
Spain	3	1	0	2	56	55	+1	5	0
Poland	3	0	0	3	19	132	–113	3	0
Portugal	3	0	0	3	23	108	–85	0	0

See also: European Nations Cup (rugby union)

Season	Division	Games	Won	Drew	Lost	PF	PA	Points	Position
2000	1	5	2	0	3	109	105	9	4th
2001–02	1	10	3	0	7	246	247	16	4th
2003–04	1	10	0	1	9	129	335	11	6th
2004–06	2	8	7	1	0	364	87	23	1st
2007–08	1	10	4	0	6	233	240	18	4th
2008–10	1	10	2	0	8	145	304	14	5th
2010–12	1A	10	5	0	5	225	275	26	3rd
2012–14	1A	10	2	2	6	159	243	15	4th
2014–16	1A	10	4	1	5	232	207	23	4th
2017	1A	5	3	0	2	91	54	13	3rd
2018	1A	5	3	0	2	147	66	13	3rd
2019	1A	5	4	0	1	127	75	18	2nd
2020	1A	5	3	0	2	103	93	13	2nd
2021	1A	5	2	0	3	164	109	12	4th
2022	1A	5	4	0	1	170	135	17	2nd
2023	1	5	2	0	3	98	133		4th

Note: Green signifies promotion; red signifies relegation. Italic signifies current competition.

Rugby World Cup record

Rugby World Cup record											Qualification
Year	Round	P	W	D	L	F	A	Squad	Head coach		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not invited										Not invited
1991	Did not qualify										6	4	0	2	159	94
1995											5	4	0	1	179	94
1999	Pool stage	3	0	0	3	18	122	Squad	A. Feijoo		6	5	0	1	182	144
2003	Did not qualify										9	2	0	7	158	359
2007											14	10	1	3	528	224
2011											10	2	0	8	145	304
2015											10	2	2	6	159	243
2019	Expelled from competing at tournament after qualification										8	6	0	2	217	85
2023											10	6	0	4	334	244
Total	—	3	0	0	3	18	124	—	—		78	41	3	34	2061	1791

Overall

Men's World Rugby Rankings

Top 20 as of 4 November 2024

Rank	Change	Team	Points
1		Ireland	092.12
2		South Africa	091.77
3		New Zealand	089.67
4		France	086.96
5		England	084.43
6		Argentina	084.30
7		Scotland	083.39
8		Italy	079.98
9	1	Australia	079.32
10	1	Fiji	079.07
11		Wales	076.04
12		Georgia	074.10
13		Samoa	072.68
14		Japan	072.31
15		Portugal	070.61
16		Tonga	068.12
17		Uruguay	067.39
18		Spain	066.29
19		United States	065.70
20		Romania	062.62
21		Chile	061.60
22		Canada	060.81
23		Hong Kong	060.40
24		Russia	058.06
25		Namibia	057.87
26	1	Netherlands	057.29
27	3	Belgium	056.51
28	2	Switzerland	056.04
29	1	Zimbabwe	056.03
30	1	Brazil	055.62

Spain's historical rankings

See or edit source data.

Source: World Rugby
Graph updated to 4 November 2024

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Spain national XV at test level up until 22 July 2024.

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Andorra	3	3	0	0	100.00%	129	3	+126
Argentina	5	0	5	0	0.00%	78	211	–133
Argentina XV	2	0	2	0	0.00%	13	81	–68
Argentina Jaguars	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	41	–34
Australia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	10	92	–82
Australia A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	36	–33
Barbarians	1	0	1	0	0.00%	26	52	–26
Belgium	17	14	2	1	81.25%	484	123	+361
Canada	4	2	2	0	50.00%	148	151	–3
Chile	5	3	2	0	60.00%	151	86	+65
Croatia	2	1	0	1	50.00%	84	35	+49
Czech Republic	8	6	2	0	75.00%	340	116	+224
Czechoslovakia	5	2	2	1	40.00%	69	63	+6
Denmark	1	1	0	0	100.00%	53	13	+40
England	1	0	1	0	0.00%	17	86	–69
England U23	2	0	2	0	0.00%	19	31	–12
Fiji	2	0	2	0	0.00%	33	82	–49
France XV	24	1	23	0	4.17%	283	1075	–792
French Military	4	1	2	1	25.00%	34	52	–18
Georgia	25	3	21	1	12%	340	790	–450
Germany	15	11	3	1	73.33%	418	198	+220
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	100.00%	29	7	+22
Hungary	1	1	0	0	100.00%	63	9	+54
Italy	27	3	23	1	11.11%	187	581	–394
Emerging Italy	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	37	–37
Italy A	1	0	1	0	0%	11	13	–2
Japan	3	0	3	0	0.00%	43	114	–71
Kenya	1	0	1	0	0.00%	27	36	–9
Moldova	1	1	0	0	100.00%	40	7	+33
Morocco	18	13	5	0	72.22%	332	142	+190
Namibia	7	5	2	0	71.43%	174	134	+40
Netherlands	18	17	0	1	94.44%	537	152	+385
New Zealand Māori	2	0	2	0	0.00%	15	88	–73
New Zealand Classic	1	0	1	0	0.00%	26	33	–7
Poland	16	10	6	0	62.50%	320	207	+113
Portugal	42	27	13	2	64.29%	920	677	+243
Romania	40	5	35	0	12.5%	482	1148	–666
Royal Air Force	4	0	2	2	0.00%	26	59	–33
Russia	24	8	16	0	33.33%	592	674	–82
Samoa	2	0	2	0	0%	40	62	–22
Scotland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	48	–48
Scotland XV	4	0	4	0	0.00%	34	211	–177
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	39	–32
Slovenia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	76	6	+70
South Africa	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	47	–44
Soviet Union	7	0	7	0	0.00%	60	152	–92
Sweden	2	2	0	0	100.00%	58	30	+28
Switzerland	1	1	0	0	100.00%	40	0	+40
Tonga	3	1	2	0	33.33%	48	88	–40
Tunisia	5	4	1	0	80.00%	141	51	+90
Ukraine	2	2	0	0	100.00%	76	19	+57
United States	4	0	4	0	0.00%	41	211	–170
Uruguay	13	6	7	0	46.15%	198	250	–52
Wales	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	54	–54
Wales XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	65	–49
West Germany	10	4	5	1	40.00%	137	96	+41
Yugoslavia	4	4	0	0	100.00%	86	17	+69
Zimbabwe	7	5	2	0	71.43%	153	108	+45
Total	407	169	225	13	41.52%	7,777	9,089	–1,312

Players

Current squad

On the 29 October, the following 42 players were called up for Spains Autumn internationals, playing against Uruguay, USA and Fiji.

Head Coach: Pablo Bouza

• Caps Updated: 19 July 2024 (as per squad announcement)

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Álvaro García	Hooker	(2003-08-23) 23 August 2003	5	Stade Français
Diego Gonzalez	Hooker	(2004-06-17) 17 June 2004	0	Cetransa El Salvador
Santiago Ovejero	Hooker	(1997-12-11) 11 December 1997	14	Stade Niçois
Thierry Futeu	Prop	(1995-06-23) 23 June 1995	34	C' Chartres Rugby
Joël Merkler	Prop	(2001-10-25) 25 October 2001	9	Toulouse
Hugo Pirlet	Prop	(1996-10-02) 2 October 1996	2	Colomiers
Jacobo Ruiz	Prop	(2003-04-12) 12 April 2003	0	Cetransa El Salvador
Lucas Santamaría	Prop	(2000-01-17) 17 January 2000	11	Tarbes
Bernardo Vázquez	Prop	(1989-06-09) 9 June 1989	1	Recoletas Burgos
Jon Zabala	Prop	(1996-11-27) 27 November 1996	29	Section Paloise
Alex Perez	Lock	(2001-01-07) 7 January 2001	3	Valladolid RAC
Ignacio Piñeiro	Lock	(2003-01-04) 4 January 2003	7	Oyonnax
Marc Sánchez	Lock	(1999-08-21) 21 August 1999	4	Valladolid RAC
Imanol Urraza	Lock	(2002-04-05) 5 April 2002	5	Rangers Vicenza
Asier Usárraga	Lock	(1994-12-31) 31 December 1994	9	CA Brive
Vicente Boronat	Back row	(1997-08-15) 15 August 1997	1	Recoletas Burgos
Pepe Borraz	Back row	(2002-06-19) 19 June 2002	2	Cisneros
Brice Ferrer	Back row	(1994-04-12) 12 April 1994	10	US Dax
Matthew Foulds	Back row	(1991-04-27) 27 April 1991	32	UE Santboiana
Pablo Guirao	Back row	(2004-11-10) 10 November 2004	0	Alcobendas
Ekain Imaz	Back row	(2002-12-07) 7 December 2002	9	Biarritz
Nicolas Moleti	Back row	(2004-11-17) 17 November 2004	0	Aparejadores Rugby
Raphaël Nieto	Back row	(2000-08-27) 27 August 2000	5	Stade Niortais
Alex Saleta	Back row	(2001-06-08) 8 June 2001	4	AMPO Ordizia
Kerman Aurrekoetxea	Scrum-half	(2000-05-02) 2 May 2000	12	Biarritz
Estanislao Bay	Scrum-half	(1992-11-18) 18 November 1992	15	Recoletas Burgos
Ike Irusta	Scrum-half	(2001-01-13) 13 January 2001	6	Cisneros
Bautista Güemes	Fly-half	(1990-05-12) 12 May 1990	26	CP Les Abelles
Gonzalo López-Bontempo	Fly-half	(2000-02-10) 10 February 2000	9	RC Massy
Gonzalo Vinuesa	Fly-half	(2001-05-15) 15 May 2001	15	Cisneros
Pau Aira	Centre	(2001-07-03) 3 July 2001	5	Barça Rugby
Manuel Alfaro	Centre	(1999-03-15) 15 March 1999	1	AMPO Ordizia
Alex Alonso	Centre	(1998-07-21) 21 July 1998	10	Valladolid RAC
Yago Fernandez	Centre	(2004-01-08) 8 January 2004	0	Terenure College RFC
Álvar Gimeno	Centre	(1997-12-15) 15 December 1997	39	Real Ciencias
Iñaki Mateu	Centre	(1997-03-13) 13 March 1997	20	Recoletas Burgos
Martín Alonso	Wing	(1999-12-02) 2 December 1999	3	Vannes
Alberto Carmona	Wing	(2004-05-11) 11 May 2004	8	RC Toulon
Federico Casteglioni	Wing	(1990-08-10) 10 August 1990	41	Valladolid RAC
Martiniano Cian	Wing	(2001-08-15) 15 August 2001	8	Valladolid RAC
Gauthier Minguillon	Wing	(1994-03-03) 3 March 1994	19	Valence Romans
J. W. Bell	Fullback	(1990-01-18) 18 January 1990	23	CR El Salvador

Notable former players

• Alberto Malo (1986–1999) – 89 caps
• Francisco Puertas Soto (1994–2001) – 93 caps
• César Sempere (2004–2014) – 56 caps, 31 tries, 177 points
• Pablo Feijoo (2002–2015) – 67 caps, 20 tries
• Esteban Roqué Segovia (2004–2007) – 22 caps, 285 points
• Oriol Ripol (1998–2002) – 17 caps, played 8 seasons in English Premiership
• Diego Zarzosa (1998–2009) – 46 caps
• Cédric Garcia (2004) – 3 caps, played 12 seasons in the French Top 14

Coaches

Current coaching staff

The current coaching staff of the Spanish national team:

Name	Role
Pablo Manuel Pérez	Manager
Pablo Bouza	Head coach
Miguel Velasco	Assistant coach
Valentín Telleriarte	Video-analyst
Mar Álvarez	Strength & Conditioning coach
Dr. Carmen Leon Paris	Team doctor
Martin Diego Nunez	Physiotherapist
Hugo Garcia Fernandez	Physiotherapist

Former coaches

Coach	Years
Enrique Gutiérrez	1927–1928
Manuel Ordóñez	1931–1932
José Hermosa	1935–1936
César Palomino	1936
Jesús Luque	1952–1953
Juan Vázquez	1953–1960
Arnaldo Griñó	1960–1966
Ramón Rabassa	1965 (caretaker)
Alberto Serena	1967–1968
Alfredo Calzada	1968–1970
Gérard Murillo	1970–1978
Morgan Thomas	1978–1979
Luis Mocoroa	1979 (caretaker)
Francisco Sacristán	1979–1982
Jesús Linares	1982–1984
Ángel Luis Jiménez	1984–1986
José Maria Epalza	1986–1989
Gérard Murillo	1989–1993
Alfonso Feijoo	1992 (caretaker)
Bryce Bevin	1993–1997
Alfonso Feijoo	1997–1999
Tomás García	1999–2002
Pierre Pérez	2002–2003
Gerard Glynn	2003–2010
Régis Sonnes	2010–2012
Francisco Puertas	2012–2021
Santiago Santos	2021–2023

See also

• Spain national rugby sevens team
• Spain national under-20 rugby union team
• Spain women's national rugby union team
• Spain women's national rugby sevens team
• Rugby union in Spain

External links

• Federación Española de Rugby (in Spanish)
• Spain at RugbyData.com