Region Europe Captain Aitor Davila Location Spain | Head coach Darren Fisher RLIF ranking 21st | |
Governing body Asociación Española de Rugby League | ||
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.
Contents
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.
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. 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, defeating Belgium in Brussels. The first captain was Aitor Davila and the first Spanish try at international level was scored by Gonzalo Morro.
Qualifying
On the 9th of 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. In the final phase of qualifying, Spain will take on Russia and Ireland in a bid to qualify for their first ever Rugby League World Cup appearance.
Current squad
The Spain national team squad for the 2017 World Cup qualifiers.
Honours
European Bowl: 2015