Spain national rugby league team

Spain

Team information
Governing body	Asociación Española de Rugby League
Region	Europe
Head coach	Darren Fisher
IRL ranking	22nd
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
Spain 4–64 Serbia  (Valencia, 24 September 2016)

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	2	10	Racing Club Albi XIII
Wing		0	0	AS Carcassonne
Wing		0	0	Catalans Dragons
Wing		7	20	Torrent Tigres
Wing		0	0	Villeghailhenc-Aragon XIII
Centre		7	32	Palau XIII Broncos
Centre		0	0	Racing Club Albi XIII
Centre		7	16	Custodians Madrid
Five-eighth		9	60	Crosfields
Halfback		4	8	Seaton Rangers
Halfback		2	12	AS Carcassonne
Prop		10	0	Xativa Roosters
Prop		1	0	Xativa Roosters
Prop	Maxime Garcia	0	0	Racing Club Albi XIII
Prop		2	0	Custodians Madrid
Hooker		0	0	AS Carcassonne
Second-row		4	0	Rennes Étudiants Club
Second-row		0	0	Lézignan Sangliers
Second-row		2	4	AS Carcassonne
Second-row		0	0	Racing Club Albi XIII
Second-row		2	10	Custodians Madrid
Lock		0	0	Torrent Tigres

Competitive record[]

Overview[]

International record for the Spanish national team as of 1 January 2021.^[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
Russia	2	1	0	1	50%	38	64	–26
Serbia	2	0	0	2	0%	24	88	–64
Total	14	6	0	8	42.86%	314	466	–152

Results[]

  Win   Draw   Loss

2010s[]

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

2020s[]

	Date	Home	Result	Away	Competition	Venue	Crowd
15	17 October 2020	Ireland	–	Spain	2020 European Championship
16	31 October 2020	Spain	–	Wales

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

See also[]

References[]