Catalonia national rugby league team

Catalonia
Governing body Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga
Region Europe
Head coach Eric Delherbe
Captain Albert Homs
Colours
First game
 Catalonia 12–62 Morocco 
(Perpignan, 21 June 2008)
Biggest win
 Czech Republic 16–66 Catalonia 
(Prague, 10 July 2010)
Biggest defeat
 Catalonia 12–62 Morocco 
(Perpignan, 21 June 2008)

The Catalonia national rugby league team represents Catalonia in the sport of rugby league football, running under the auspices of the Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga.

Contents

History

Rugby league started in Catalonia in autumn 2007, with the advice of people from the French Catalan region, where this sport has been played since the 1930s.

The number of clubs has been growing since 3 clubs participated in the first competition in southern Catalonia in 2008 (FC Barcelona, Aligots Girona and Nord-Català),[1] to reach 9 teams in the first Catalonia Championships in April 2009: CR Tarragona, CR Valls, CR Sant Cugat, INEF Lleida, GEiEG, Poble Nou Enginyers, BUC, RC Garrotxa and Vic Crancs.[2] Also, the first Rugby League Catalan University Championship was played in February 2009, with 9 teams in competition.[3]

Catalonia is an unranked member of the Rugby League European Federation,[4] however, though their participation in some international rugby league competitions, such as the Rugby League World Cup, is open to question, since Catalonia is not a sovereign nation, but an autonomous community of Spain. There is, however, a history of non-sovereign nations taking part: the teams from the British Isles in previous world cups have either been a joint Great Britain and Ireland team, or separate teams representing England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and a New Zealand Māori team has also participated in a World Cup.

First matches of Catalonia were in January 2008, when they participated in the French Interleague Championship held near Perpignan, in France. In June of the same year, Morocco beat Catalonia in a match played in Perpignan, 62-12.

In June 2009, Catalonia beat the Czech Republic[5] in a match played prior to the Catalans Dragons vs Warrington Wolves Super League game. This match was an international warm-up ahead of the Euro Med Challenge contested by Catalonia, Morocco and Belgium. They lost 6-29 at home to Morocco, and 28-22 at Belgium.[3][6]

In 2010 Catalonia played only friendlies, with a win over Czech Republic 16-66 in Prague.[7]

All-Time Results

Team 1st Played Play Win Draw Loss Points For Points Agn.
Morocco 2008 2 0 0 2 18 91
Czech Republic 2009 2 2 0 0 118 26
Belgium 2009 1 0 0 1 22 28

Team Matches to Date

French championships interleagues - Short game[8]
Date Opponents Result Venue Crowd Competition
26 January 2008 Languedoc-Roussillon 0-24 Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque 200 French Interleague Championship
27 January 2008 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 4-14 Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque 200 French Interleague Championship
27 January 2008 Île-de-France 14-26 Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque 200 French Interleague Championship
Date Venue Home Result Away Crowd Competition
7 June 2008 Girona Catalonia 18-64 French Universities 150 Friendly
21 June 2008 Perpignan Catalonia 12-62 Morocco 2,000 Friendly
20 June 2009 Barcelona Catalonia 52-10 Czech Republic 18,150 Friendly
4 July 2009 Torroella de Montgrí Catalonia 6-29 Morocco 1,000 RLEF Euro Med Challenge
25 July 2009 Wavre Belgium 28-22 Catalonia 400 RLEF Euro Med Challenge
10 July 2010 Prague Czech Republic 16-66 Catalonia Friendly

Team Squad 2010

Catalonia vs. Czech Republic, July 10.[9]
Name Club
Pau Puigdollers CR Sant Cugat
Raül Vall-llosada
Richard Cottrell
Xavi Zubero BUC
Marc Forman CR Sant Cugat
Alex Carrasco
Ermengol Alemany BUC
Mariano Lago
Joan Porras BUC
Joan Miquel Petanàs CE INEF Lleida
Òscar Mercè CE INEF Lleida
Sergio Calzada BUC
Albert Homs GEiEG
Julien Lebon CNPN Enginyers
Calvin Tchoumi CE INEF Lleida
Jose A. Pleguezuelos CR Tarragona
Joaquim Sala GEiEG
Javier López BUC
Marco Pasarello

2009 squads

See also

References

  1. ^ "El FC Barcelona guanya la primera Copa Catalunya de Rugbi Lliga" (in Catalan). vilaweb.cat. 2011. http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/2823249/20080419/noticia.html. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
  2. ^ "Associació Catalana - Rugby Lliga - I Campionat de Catalunya de rugby lliga". rugbylliga.cat. 2011 [last update]. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/textos/i-campionat-de-catalunya-de-rugby-lliga-10. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
  3. ^ a b "Catalonia - Introduction". rlef.eu.com. 2011 [last update]. http://www.rlef.eu.com/catalonia/introduction. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ "Catalonia won 52 to 10 in the Czech Republic". Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga. 2009-06-22. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/news/catalonia-won-52-to-10-in-the-czech-republic-125. Retrieved 2009-06-30. 
  6. ^ "Derrota per la mínima contra Bèlgica" (in Catalan). rugbylliga.cat. 2011 [last update]. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/noticia/derrota-per-la-minima-contra-belgica-137. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
  7. ^ "Catalonia win over Czech Republic (Catalan)". ACRL. July 13, 2010. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/noticia/16-66-catalunya-demostra-el-seu-potencial-a-europa-177. 
  8. ^ "Debut molt satisfactori de la Selecció Catalana de rugbi a XIII" (in Catalan). rugbylliga.cat. 2011 [last update]. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/noticia/debut-molt-satisfactori-de-la-seleccio-catalana-de-rugbi-a-xiii-35. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 
  9. ^ "Roster Czech Republic-Catalonia (Catalan)". ACRL. 2010.07.08. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/noticia/aquest-dissabte-catalunya-republica-txeca-a-praga-176. 
  10. ^ "Catalunya prepara el partit contra Bèlgica" (in Catalan). rugbylliga.cat. 2011 [last update]. http://www.rugbylliga.cat/noticia/catalunya-prepara-el-partit-contra-belgica-133. Retrieved 25 October 2011. 

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