Spain national rugby union team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spain
Union Federación Española de Rugby
Nickname(s) Los Leones
Coach England Ged Glyn
Captain Ferran Velazco
Most caps Albert Malo (74)
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
　
Team colours
First international
Italy 0 - 9 Spain
(May 20, 1929)
Largest win
Czech Republic 8 - 90 Spain
(April 2, 1995)
Worst defeat
Australia 92 - 10 Spain
(September 1, 2001)
World Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 1999)
Best result No games won

The Spain national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Spain, representing them at rugby union. The side first played in 1929 and has made one Rugby World Cup appearance, in 1999.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1920s-1960s

Spain played their first rugby union match in 1929, winning 9-0 over Italy. Throughout the 1930s the Spanish contested games against other European sides, winning the majority of them, losing only to Italy and Germany. The national Spanish rugby team did not participate in any rugby during the 1940s.

The Spanish returned in 1951, and throughout the decade found moderate success. Though the side lost regularly to sides such as Italy and West Germany.

The side found success in the earlier years of the 1960s, though there was a lack of games played during the 1963-5. The latter half of the decade saw the Spanish win most of their fixtures against neighbouring European sides.

[edit] 1970-present

By the early 1970s, the number of games being played by the Spanish had increased considerably in comparison to previous years, and had become more consistent. Spain competed regularly against sides such as Italy, Portugal, Romania, Netherlands, Poland, Morocco and Czechoslovakia. In the late 1970s, Spain recorded one of its largets wins, beating Tunisia 62 points to nil.

During the early 1980s Spain played Argentina for the first time, as well as consistently playing their old European rivals, a New Zealand Maori side also played the Spanish in 1982, Spain did however lose the match by over 60 points. Spain played the Soviet Union as well as other new opponents during the decade, including Zimbabwe, whom the Spanish played several times during the mid 1980s.

In 1994 the Spanish played rugby union heavy-weights, Wales, who won by over 50 points. A year later Spain recorded their largest win, beating Czech Republic 90 points to 8. During the mid to late 1990s, Spain completed a nine game winning streak, winning games against nine different European sides.

However, when the 1999 Rugby World Cup came around, Spain fell to an eight game winning streak, losing all their pool games.

[edit] Current Squad

Forwards:

  • César Caballero
  • Ion Insausti
  • Javier Salazar
  • Mathieu Cidre
  • Diego Zarzosa
  • Andrew Ebbet
  • Sergio Souto
  • César Bernasconi
  • Rafael Camacho
  • Alfonso Mata
  • Oskar Astarloa
  • Cyril Hijar

Backs:

  • Pablo Feijoo
  • Igor Mirones
  • Esteban Roqué
  • Rafael Álvarez
  • Andrei Kovalenco
  • Alvar Enciso
  • Ferran Velazco
  • Javier Canosa
  • Juan Cano
  • Víctor Marlet
  • César Sempere

[edit] Upcoming fixtures

[edit] 2007-2008 ENC First Division

[edit] Recent results

[edit] 2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying

[edit] Four Nations tournament

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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