Spain Women's National Rugby Union Team
The Spain women's national rugby union team (Spanish: selección feminina de rugby de España) played their first match on 2 May 1989, against France, losing 0-28.
The team played the Women's Six Nations from 2000 to 2006, but they were replaced by Italy for 2007, in order to mirror the men's tournament.
| Nickname(s) | Las Leonas | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Spanish Rugby Federation | ||
| Head coach | Juan González Marruecos | ||
| Captain | Cristina Blanco | ||
| Most caps | Aroa González (74) | ||
| |||
| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 13 (as of 25 March 2024) | ||
| First international | |||
 Spain 0–28 France  (2 May 1989) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Spain 119–0 Finland  (A Coruña, Spain; 30 April 2011) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
Spain 3–86 England  (Madrid, Spain; 11 February 2006) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 5 (First in 1991) | ||
| Best result | 6th 1991 | ||
History
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | England | 96.90 |
| 2 | |  New Zealand | 90.56 |
| 3 | | France | 87.27 |
| 4 | |  Canada | 86.27 |
| 5 | |  Australia | 81.61 |
| 6 | |  Scotland | 75.99 |
| 7 |  1 |  Wales | 74.28 |
| 8 |  1 |  Italy | 74.26 |
| 9 | 1 |  Ireland | 73.53 |
| 10 | 1 |  United States | 72.57 |
| 11 | |  Japan | 69.38 |
| 12 | |  South Africa | 65.17 |
| 13 | | Spain | 65.15 |
| 14 | |  Russia | 61.10 |
| 15 | |  Samoa | 59.57 |
| 16 | |  Netherlands | 58.98 |
| 17 | |  Fiji | 58.65 |
| 18 | |  Hong Kong | 58.31 |
| 19 | |  Kazakhstan | 55.97 |
| 20 | |  Sweden | 52.72 |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
Currently there are over 200 clubs in Spain and a league similar to that of male rugby. The first steps were taken in 1913, when women played in secret in schools, but rugby first began to be played seriously at training camps at the School of Architecture of Madrid in the early 70s by a group of architecture students. They formed a group of about 20 girls who trained regularly twice per week and as they were the only ones who practiced, played sided games between themselves. They played well
In the late seventies a group of female PE students taught by Jose Antonio Sancha, a professor of Rugby at Barcelona INEF, decided to train with the men's rugby and played the game seriously (though they were not recognised by the Catalan Federation rugby until 1983).
The first game was played in Barcelona between the BUC and INEF clubs and other clubs quickly formed in different parts of Spain but mainly in the early years only came from Barcelona and Madrid. In a few years female rugby spread to Madrid, the Basque Country and Valencia. In 1991 27 women's teams participating in regional competitions.
The national team first played in Cardiff (Wales) at the Rugby World Cup, where they won the fifth place behind the United States, England, France and New Zealand. In 1994, the Spanish team was unable to come to Scotland because of budgetary problems, however Spain remained one of the top teams in Europe. In 1995 Spain became the unexpected champions of the first European Championship by defeating rival France, in the final 21–6. The 1996 European brought a repeat of that final but this time the Spanish lost by 15–10.
In January 1997 a tour of England took place where Spain and were in the lead against the World Champions until 10 minutes from the end of the match. Only a last minute try by England gave them the win and in European (the first where all the British teams competed) played the final but Spain came 3rd. Spain qualified for the World Championships in Amsterdam and managed a creditable 7th place. Spain again reached the European final in 1999 against France, losing 13–5, after beating Wales (14-8) and Scotland (11-9).
The 2002 World Cup was held in Barcelona, New Zealand retaining its title in defeating (19-9) to England in the final at the Olympic Stadium Lluis Companys. France took the bronze after beating Canada (41-7), while Spain finished in 8th place after yielding to the United States (23-5).
Spain were also members of the Five and Six Nations from 2000 to 2006, finishing third on three occasions and winning 10 of the 33 games they played. However, in 2007 they were replaced by Italy because the Six Nations Committee wished to align the women's tournament with the men's. This has severely reduced Spain's opportunities to play top level international rugby, and may have been a factor in Spain's failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. However, they were compensated a little in 2010 when they won the "double" of the European 15s and 7s titles without losing a game.
Competitive record
Rugby World Cup
| Rugby World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Plate final | 6th | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 38 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 | Plate Semi-final | 8th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 71 | 141 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 83 | 66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Group stage | 9th | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 132 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Group stage | 9th | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 105 | 86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Group stage | 10th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 73 | 134 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Did not qualify | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 6/9 | 29 | 13 | 0 | 16 | 428 | 597 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Five/Six Nations Championship
| Women's Six Nations Championship record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Position | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | |
| 2000 Women's Five Nations |  | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 88 | |
| 2001 Women's Five Nations | | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 31 | 47 | |
| 2002 Women's Six Nations | 4th | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 56 | 100 | |
| 2003 Women's Six Nations | 6th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 204 | |
| 2004 Women's Six Nations | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 114 | |
| 2005 Women's Six Nations | 4th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 32 | 161 | |
| 2006 Women's Six Nations | 6th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25 | 175 | |
| Total | 3rd (best result) | 33 | 10 | 1 | 22 | 240 | 889 | |
Rugby Europe Women's Championship
Overall
(Full internationals only, updated to 23 March 2024)
| Opponent | First Match | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 17 | 0.00% |
 Belgium | 2010 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 142 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Canada | 1991 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 129 | 0.00% |
 Czech Republic | 2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 0 | 100.00% |
| England | 1991 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 138 | 714 | 11.11% |
| Fiji | 2023 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 19 | 100.00% |
| Finland | 2011 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 0 | 100.00% |
| France | 1989 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 154 | 450 | 30.00% |
 Germany | 1996 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 171 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Hong Kong | 2015 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 189 | 30 | 100.00% |
| Ireland | 1997 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 154 | 154 | 54.55% |
| Italy | 1991 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 297 | 235 | 62.50% |
| Japan | 1991 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 113 | 27 | 66.67% |
| Kazakhstan | 1998 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 20 | 100.00% |
 Kenya | 2023 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Netherlands | 1991 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 562 | 31 | 100.00% |
| New Zealand | 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 0.00% |
| Russia | 2007 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 178 | 10 | 100.00% |
| Samoa | 2006 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 65 | 22 | 100.00% |
| Scotland | 1997 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 15 | 275 | 442 | 34.78% |
| South Africa | 2014 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 134 | 148 | 42.86% |
| Sweden | 2004 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 220 | 24 | 83.33% |
| United States | 1998 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 35 | 124 | 0.00% |
| Wales | 1998 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 167 | 128 | 63.64% |
| Summary | 1989 | 159 | 84 | 3 | 72 | 3359 | 2770 | 52.83% |
Players
Recent squad
Spain announced their final squad for the inaugural 2023 WXV 3 tournament in Dubai on 2 October 2023.
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| María de las Huertas Román | Hooker | 12 February 1999 (aged 24) | 10 | Ghenova Cocos |
| Inés Antolínez | Prop | 16 January 1997 (aged 26) | 26 | Crealia El Salvador |
| Sidorella Bracic | Prop | 12 June 1993 (aged 30) | 12 | Olímpico de Pozuelo |
| Mireia de Andrés | Prop | 14 January 2017 (aged 6) | 0 | Sant Cugat |
| Laura Delgado | Prop | 7 April 1990 (aged 33) | 32 | Gloucester-Hartpury |
| Marta Estellés | Prop | 2 January 1994 (aged 29) | 11 | Silicius Majadahonda |
| Lourdes Alameda | Second row | 28 July 1991 (aged 32) | 28 | AC Bobigny 93 Rugby |
| Leyre Bianchi | Second row | 20 January 1996 (aged 27) | 1 | CRAT Residencia Rialta |
| Carmen Castellucci | Second row | 26 August 2002 (aged 21) | 14 | Gloucester-Hartpury |
| Anna Puig | Second row | 14 October 1999 (aged 23) | 25 | UE Santboiana |
| Cristina Blanco | Back row | 30 September 1995 (aged 28) | 15 | Ealing Trailfinders |
| María Calvo | Back row | 16 February 1999 (aged 24) | 22 | Complutense Cisneros |
| Alba Capell | Back row | 28 October 2003 (aged 19) | 9 | Stade Rennais Rugby |
| María del Castillo | Back row | 11 January 1996 (aged 27) | 6 | Olímpico de Pozuelo |
| Nerea García | Back row | 17 November 1996 (aged 26) | 4 | Eibar RT |
| Vico Gorrochategui | Back row | 16 April 1994 (aged 29) | 4 | Silicius Majadahonda |
| Beatriz Rivera | Back row | 26 February 2002 (aged 21) | 0 | Crealia El Salvador |
| Julia Castro | Scrum-half | 8 November 1999 (aged 23) | 7 | Ghenova Cocos |
| Bingbing Vergara | Scrum-half | 31 May 2004 (aged 19) | 1 | Crealia El Salvador |
| Maider Aresti | Half-back | 24 July 2003 (aged 20) | 6 | Getxo Giroa - Veolia |
| Inés Bueso-Inchausti | Fly-half | 9 November 1999 (aged 23) | 13 | Sant Cugat |
| Zahía Pérez | Fly-half | 14 January 2004 (aged 19) | 10 | Silicius Majadahonda |
| Tecla Masoko | Wing | 20 October 2000 (aged 22) | 0 | Crealia El Salvador |
| Claudia Pérez | Wing | 24 June 2004 (aged 19) | 7 | Silicius Majadahonda |
| Alba Vinuesa | Wing | 30 March 1999 (aged 24) | 16 | Stade Français Paris |
| Claudia Peña | Centre | 26 October 2004 (aged 18) | 7 | AVR FC Barcelona |
| Iciar Pozo | Centre | 24 June 2000 (aged 23) | 8 | CRAT Residencia Rialta |
| Amalia Argudo | Fullback | 24 January 2000 (aged 23) | 7 | Stade Toulousain |
| Jimena Blanco Hortiguera | Fullback | 1 December 2005 (aged 17) | 1 | Silicius Majadahonda |
| Clara Piquero | Fullback | 11 February 1999 (aged 24) | 10 | Lons Section paloise |
Previous squads
Most capped Players
- As of 30 October 2022
| # | Player | Position | Career | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Aroa González | Hooker | 1997–2017 | 74 |
| 2. |  Inés Etxegibel | Fly-half | 1994–2007 | 64 |
 Rocío García | Prop | 2003–2017 | ||
| 4. | Isabel Rodríguez | Scrum-half | 2003–2011 | 56 |
| 5. | Bárbara Plà | Centre | 2004–2017 | 53 |
| 6. |  Pilar López | Lock | 1996–2003 | 49 |
| Nerea Otxoa de Aspuru | Prop | 2003–2013 | ||
| 8. |  Mercedes Batidor | Flanker | 1995–2002 | 47 |
| 9. |  María Isabel Pérez | Wing | 1991–2002 | 46 |
| 10 | Helena Roca | Centre / Fly-half | 2001–2014 | 45 |
| 10. | Karitte Alegria | Number 8 | 1994–2005 | 43 |
| Coral Vila | Fullback | 1996–2003 | ||
| Paula Medín | Loose forward | 2007–2022 | ||
| Patricia García | Scrum-half | 2010–2022 |
See also
References
External links
- (in Spanish) Federación Española de Rugby – Official Site
- (in Spanish) Federación Asturiana de Rugby Archived 2020-11-25 at the Wayback Machine – Official Site
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