Spain women's national rugby union team

Spain

Union	Spanish Rugby Federation
Nickname(s)	Las Leonas
Coach(es)	Inés Etxegibel
Captain(s)	Ana María Aigneren
Team kit Change kit
First international
Spain 0-28 France  (2 May 1989)
Largest win
Spain 119 - 0 Finland  (30 April 2011)
Largest defeat
England 86-3 Spain  (11 February 2006)
World Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1991)
Best result	Fourth 1991

The Spain women's national rugby union team are a national sporting side of Spain, representing them at rugby union.

They played their first match on 2 May 1989, against France, losing 0-28. For a while they were the sixth team in the Women's Six Nations, but this was subsequently altered so that Italy replaced them, in order to mirror the men's tournament.

History

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.

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.

Results

Summary

(Full internationals only)

Rugby: Spain internationals 1989-

Opponent	First game	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Percentage
Australia	1998	1	0	0	1	0.00%
Belgium	2010	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Canada	1991	3	0	0	3	0.00%
England	1991	15	1	1	13	6.67%
Finland	2011	1	1	0	0	100.00%
France	1989	19	5	0	14	26.32%
Germany	1996	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Hong Kong	2015	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Ireland	1997	9	5	0	4	55.56%
Italy	1991	11	9	0	2	81.82%
Japan	1991	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Kazakhstan	2006	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Netherlands	1996	5	5	0	0	100.00%
New Zealand	1998	1	0	0	1	0.00%
Russia	1997	2	2	0	0	100.00%
Samoa	2006	3	3	0	0	100.00%
Scotland	1997	17	5	0	12	29.41%
South Africa	2014	1	1	0	0	100.00%
Sweden	2004	5	4	0	1	80.00%
United States	1998	2	0	0	2	0.00%
Wales	1998	9	6	1	2	66.67%
Summary	1989	112	55	2	55	49.11%

Squad

The following players were called up for the friendlies against Scotland and Hong Kong in late 2015.

Caps updated: 31 December 2015

• Head Coach: José Antonio Barrio
• Team Manager: Eliseo Patrón-Costas
• Assistant Coach: José Luís Ballestereos

Forwards Player Position Height/Weight Age Caps Club Claudia Alonso Hooker 1.55 m / 64 kg 21 1 Hortaleza XV Aroa González Hooker 1.60 m / 67 kg 36 64 INEF Barcelona Saioa Jaurena Hooker 1.62 m / 74 kg 26 4 Getxo RT Magdalena Pérez Prop 1.65 m / 66 kg 26 2 GEiEG Isabel Macías Prop 1.68 m / 73 kg 25 1 O.Pozuelo Isabel Rico Prop 1.64 m / 69 kg 28 15 Wasps Selene Roz Prop 1.62 m / 67 kg 21 1 CRAT A Coruña María Sobrinos Prop 1.77 m / 89 kg 29 2 O.Pozuelo Jaenina Vinueza Prop 1.74 m / 93 kg 21 2 Sarracens Lourdes Alameda Lock 1.75 m / 73 kg 24 9 XV Sanse Scrum Tania Ortega Lock 1.70 m / 63 kg 28 4 INEF Barcelona María Ribera Lock 1.76 m / 72 kg 29 22 XV Sanse Scrum Nerea Aguirre Flanker 1.73 m / 65 kg 23 1 Getxo RT Macarena Del Valle Flanker 1.65 m / 68 kg 28 1 CR Majadahonda Diana Gassó Flanker 1.70 m / 64 kg 31 9 Gòtics RC Paula Medín Flanker 1.71 m / 65 kg 31 28 CRAT A Coruña Carmen Pérez Flanker 1.64 m / 72 kg 30 2 Savoie RF Elsa Porto Flanker 1.64 m / 67 kg 27 3 CRAT A Coruña Mónica Castelo Number 8 1.75 m / 83 kg 28 3 CRAT Elena Redondo Number 8 1.75 m / 83 kg 27 13 O.Pozuelo

Backs Player Position Height/Weight Age Caps Club Anna Arnau Scrumhalf 1.62 m / 55 kg 28 8 GEiEG Anne Fernández Scrumhalf 1.58 m / 58 kg 17 2 Gaztedi RT Anna Ramón Scrumhalf 1.63 m / 61 kg 19 2 INEF Barcelona Carlota Méliz Flyhalf 1.59 m / 57 kg 22 2 INEF Barcelona Irene Schiavon Flyhalf 1.71 m / 69 kg 28 13 O.Pozuelo Amaia Erbina Centre 1.71 m / 67 kg 18 2 INEF Barcelona África Félez Centre 1.66 m / 60 kg 22 4 GEiEG Patricia García Centre 1.63 m / 64 kg 25 21 Waikato RU Sabina Hurtado Centre 1.69 m / 64 kg 20 0 O.Pozuelo Lucía Díaz Wing 1.61 m / 59 kg 17 2 CR Majadahonda Joana Murray Wing 1.64 m / 68 kg 20 1 Durango RT Nuria Yurrita Fullback 1.70 m / 63 kg 23 2 CR Cisneros Isis Velasco Fullback 1.65 m / 62 kg 27 5 CR Majadahonda

Previous squads

World Cup 2014

Results

Full internationals

See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering

[32]
	1989-05-02	Spain	0-28	France	Boe	[1/16/1]

[50]
	1991-04-06 (WC)	England	12-0	Spain	Swansea	[8/2/1]

[58]
	1991-04-10 (WC)	Italy	7-13	Spain	Glamorgan Wanderers	[9/3/1]

[61]
	1991-04-11 (WC)	Japan	0-30	Spain	Cardiff	[3/4/1]

[66]
	1991-04-12 (WC)	Netherlands	0-30	Spain	Cardiff	[26/5/1]

[67]
	1991-04-11 (WC)	Canada	19-4	Spain	Cardiff	[8/6/1]

[64]
	1992-06-13	France	14-10	Spain	Bon Encontre	[22/7/2]

[118]
	1995-04-12 (FIRA)	Italy	0-5	Spain	Trévise	[11/8/2]

[120]
	1995-04-16 (FIRA)	France	6-22	Spain	Trévise	[32/9/3]

[132]
	1996-04-09 (FIRA)	Spain	29-0	Netherlands	Madrid	[10/28/2]

[134]
	1996-04-10 (FIRA)	Spain	53-0	Germany	Madrid	[11/9/1]

[138]
	1996-04-14 (FIRA)	Spain	10-15	France	Madrid	[12/35/4]

[148]
	1997-01-05	England	17-15	Spain	Leeds	[29/13/2]

[158]
	1997-04-02 (FIRA)	Spain	27-0	Ireland	Nice, France	[14/15/1]

[161]
	1997-04-04 (FIRA)	Scotland	11-10	Spain	Nice, France	[22/15/1]

[166]
	1997-04-06 (FIRA)	France	8-25	Spain	Nice, France	[42/16/5]

[179]
	1997	Spain	17-12	Russia	?	[17/8/1]

[192]
	1998-05-02 (WC)	Spain	28-18	Wales	Amsterdam	[18/32/1]

[200]
	1998-05-05 (WC)	Spain	16-38	United States	Amsterdam	[19/26/1]

[209]
	1998-05-09 (WC)	New Zealand	46-3	Spain	Amsterdam	[18/20/1]

[216]
	1998-05-12 (WC)	Australia	17-15	Spain	Amsterdam	[9/21/1]

[227]
	1998-05-16 (WC)	France	9-22	Spain	Amsterdam	[49/22/6]

[231]
	1998-12-05	Spain	3-5	Scotland	Madrid	[23/34/2]

[246]
	1999-04-19 (FIRA)	Spain	14-8	Wales	Belluno, Italy	[24/41/2]

[251]
	1999-04-21 (FIRA)	Spain	11-9	Scotland	Belluno, Italy	[25/40/3]

[255]
	1999-04-24 (FIRA)	France	13-5	Spain	Belluno, Italy	[56/26/7]

[260]
	2000-01-09	Spain	10-42	England	Barcelona	[27/55/3]

[262]
	2000-02-06 (5N)	England	31-7	Spain	Banbury	[56/28/4]

[264]
	2000-02-18 (5N)	Spain	13-9	Scotland	Murcia	[29/42/4]

[268]
	2000-03-18 (5N)	France	38-5	Spain	Dax	[60/30/8]

[271]
	2000-04-01 (5N)	Spain	18-10	Wales	Majadahonda, Madrid	[31/48/3]

[275]
	2000-05-08 (FIRA)	Spain	58-16	Italy	Roquetas, Spain	[32/27/3]

[280]
	2000-05-10 (FIRA)	Spain	13-10	Scotland	Almeria, Spain	[33/47/5]

[284]
	2000-05-13 (FIRA)	Spain	0-31	France	Almeria, Spain	[34/63/9]

[300]
	2001-02-03	Spain	42-0	Ireland	Madrid	[35/34/2]

[302]
	2001-02-18 (5N)	England	28–12	Spain	Worcester	[67/36/5]

[304]
	2001-03-03 (5N)	Spain	6–0	France	Madrid	[37/65/10]

[307]
	2001-03-18 (5N)	Scotland	19-8	Spain	Melrose	[52/38/6]

[309]
	2001-04-08 (5N)	Wales	0–5	Spain	Wrexham	[55/39/4]

[311]
	2001-05-06 (FIRA)	Spain	34-3	Italy	Lille UC, France	[40/31/4]

[322]
	2001-05-10 (FIRA)	England	8-15	Spain	Lille, France	[72/41/6]

[329]
	2001-05-12 (FIRA)	Spain	3-15	Scotland	Lille, France	[42/55/7]

[343]
	2002-02-02 (6N)	France	24–0	Spain	Bègles	[71/43/11]

[347]
	2002-02-16 (6N)	Spain	14–17	Scotland	Barcelona	[44/59/8]

[350]
	2002-03-02 (6N)	Spain	20–0	Wales	Madrid	[45/62/5]

[358]
	2002-03-25 (6N)	Ireland	6–8	Spain	Limerick	[43/46/3]

[360]
	2002-04-07 (6N)	Spain	14–53	England	Madrid	[47/82/7]

[367]
	2002-05-13 (WC)	Spain	62-0	Japan	Barcelona	[48/12/1]

[375]
	2002-05-18 (WC)	Spain	5-13	England	Barcelona	[49/83/8]

[383]
	2002-05-21 (WC)	Spain	16-23	Scotland	Barcelona	[50/65/9]

[390]
	2002-05-25 (WC)	Spain	5-23	United States	Barcelona	[51/44/2]

[397]
	2003-02-15 (6N)	Wales	44–0	Spain	Cardiff Arms Park	[73/52/6]

[401]
	2003-02-21 (6N)	Spain	0–16	Ireland	Madrid	[53/50/4]

[403]
	2003-03-09 (6N)	England	69–0	Spain	Harlequins RFC	[88/54/9]

[406]
	2003-03-22 (6N)	Spain	7–27	France	Girona	[55/83/12]

[410]
	2003-03-29 (6N)	Scotland	48–7	Spain	Meadowbank	[72/56/10]

[412]
	2003-05-01 (FIRA)	Italy	5-29	Spain	Malmö, Sweden	[40/57/5]

[414]
	2003-05-03 (FIRA)	France	10-16	Spain	Malmö, Sweden	[86/58/13]

[429]
	2004-02-15 (6N)	Spain	3-71	England	Pinares de Venecia, Zaragoza	[59/94/10]

[433]
	2004-02-21 (6N)	France	24-0	Spain	Perpignan	[88/60/14]

[435]
	2004-03-06 (6N)	Spain	6-5	Scotland	Lalin, Pontevedra	[61/76/11]

[438]
	2004-03-20 (6N)	Ireland	7-8	Spain	Thomond Park, Limerick	[57/62/5]

[441]
	2004-03-27 (6N)	Wales	7-12	Spain	Arms Park, Cardiff	[82/63/7]

[443]
	2004-05-01 (FIRA)	France	24-5	Spain	Castres, France	[92/64/15]

[452]
	2004-05-05 (FIRA)	Spain	31-5	Sweden	Toulouse, France	[65/35/1]

[456]
	2004-05-08 (FIRA)	Ireland	20-12	Spain	Toulouse, France	[61/66/6]

[477]
	2005-02-05 (6N)	Spain	19-17	Ireland	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid	[67/63/7]

[478]
	2005-02-12 (6N)	Spain	10-10	Wales	O Couto, Ourense	[68/89/8]

[482]
	2005-02-26 (6N)	Scotland	19-3	Spain	Anniesland, Glasgow	[85/69/12]

[485]
	2005-03-12 (6N)	England	76-0	Spain	Imber Court, London	[109/70/10]

[489]
	2005-03-19 (6N)	Spain	0-39	France	San Boï de Llobregat, Barcelona	[71/99/16]

[521]
	2006-02-04 (6N)	Ireland	25-10	Spain	Donnybrook, Dublin	[69/72/8]

[525]
	2006-02-11 (6N)	Spain	3-86	England	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid	[73/116/12]

[529]
	2006-02-25 (6N)	France	38-0	Spain	Saint Jean De Luz, Biarritz	[104/74/17]

[530]
	2006-03-10 (6N)	Wales	10-0	Spain	Sardis Rd, Pontypridd	[98/75/9]

[535]
	2006-03-18 (6N)	Spain	12-16	Scotland	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid	[76/95/13]

[560]
	2006-08-31 (WC)	Spain	0-24	Scotland	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[77/96/14]

[567]
	2006-09-04 (WC)	Canada	79-0	Spain	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[57/78/1]

[572]
	2006-09-08 (WC)	Spain	14-12	Samoa	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[79/11/1]

[582]
	2006-09-12 (WC)	Spain	17-12	Kazakhstan	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[80/1/36]

[584]
	2006-09-16 (WC)	Samoa	5-10	Spain	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[13/81/2]

[627]
	2007-04-28 (FIRA)	Spain	15-6	Italy	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[82/58/6]

[631]
	2007-04-30 (FIRA)	Spain	54-3	Russia	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[83/23/2]

[635]
	2007-05-02 (FIRA)	Spain	22-22	England	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[84/132/13]

[640]
	2007-05-05 (FIRA)	Spain	37-0	Netherlands	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[85/80/3]

[684]
	2008-05-17 (FIRA)	Ireland	41-7	Spain	Amsterdam	[90/86/9]

[689]
	2008-05-20 (FIRA)	Sweden	0-20	Spain	Drachten, Netherlands	[48/87/2]

[701]
	2008-05-24 (FIRA)	Scotland	27-25	Spain	Amsterdam	[114/88/15]

[741]
	2009-05-17 (FIRA)	Germany	0-74	Spain	Stockholm, Sweden	[56/89/2]

[747]
	2009-05-20 (FIRA)	Sweden	11-6	Spain	Enköping	[53/90/3]

[751]
	2009-05-23 (FIRA)	Italy	7-12	Spain	Stockholm, Sweden	[77/91/6]

[807]
	2010-05-08 (FIRA)	Netherlands	12-26	Spain	Longwy	[96/92/4]

[813]
	2010-05-12 (FIRA)	Belgium	0-66	Spain	Metz	[25/93/1]

[824]
	2010-05-15 (FIRA)	Italy	13-31	Spain	Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg	[85/94/8]

[866]
	2011-01-03	Spain	28-13	Scotland	Madrid	[95/136/16]

[885]
	2011-04-30 (FIRA)	Spain	119-0	Finland	University of A Coruña	[96/9/1]

[886]
	2011-05-04 (FIRA)	Spain	18-3	Sweden	University of A Coruña	[97/72/4]

[941]
	2012-05-13 (FIRA)	England	61-0	Spain	Rovereto, Italy	[187/98/14]

[944]
	2012-05-16 (FIRA)	France	60-3	Spain	Rovereto, Italy	[164/99/18]

[946]
	2012-05-19 (FIRA)	Italy	54-3	Spain	Rovereto, Italy	[101/100/9]

[965]
	2012-12-03	Italy	29-12	Spain	Centro di Preparazione Olimpica Roma	[102/101/10]

[986]
	2013-04-20 (WCQ)	Spain	55-0	Sweden	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[102/75/5]

[987]
	2013-04-23 (WCQ)	Spain	78-0	Netherlands	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[103/109/5]

[994]
	2013-04-23 (WCQ)	Spain	38-7	Italy	Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, Spain	[104/110/11]

[1053]
	2014-07-01	Spain	3-37	France	Valladolid, Castile and León	[105/185/17]

[1058]
	2014-08-01 (WC)	Canada	31-5	Spain	FFR Headquarters, Marcoussis	[104/106/3]

[1065]
	2014-08-05 (WC)	England	45-5	Spain	FFR Headquarters, Marcoussis	[216/107/15]

[1070]
	2014-08-09 (WC)	Spain	41-5	Samoa	FFR Headquarters, Marcoussis	[108/21/3]

[1077]
	2014-08-13 (WC)	Spain	18-5	Kazakhstan	Marcoussis	[109/62/2]

[1082]
	2014-08-17 (WC)	South Africa	0-36	Spain	Marcoussis	[40/110/1]

[1121]
	2015-11-22	Spain	10-34	Scotland	Valladolid, Castile and León	[111/167/17]

[1122]
	2015-12-19	Spain	57-0	Hong Kong	Majadahonda	[112/30/1]

Other internationals

[-]
	2002-01-19	Spain	5-10	England A	Cornella	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2003-02-01	Spain	0-34	England A	Cornella	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2004-01-31	England A	35-5	Spain	Imber Court	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2006-01-07	Basque Country	5-54	Spain	Plaiaundi, Irun	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2008-02-09	Spain	5-22	England A	Madrid	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2009-02-07	England A	29-0	Spain	London Welsh	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2010-02-14	Spain	5-10	England A	Gijón	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2010-05-10 (FIRA)	France A	5-22	Spain	Verdun	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2011-03-19	England A	34-7	Spain	Guildford	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2011-05-02 (FIRA)	Spain	12-11	France A	University of A Coruña	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2011-05-07 (FIRA)	Spain	3-5	England A	University of A Coruña	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2013-01-05	Wales XV	7-0[1]	Spain	National Centre of Excellence, Cardiff	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2013-02-23	Spain	29-19	Nomads	Las Mestas, Gijón	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2013-01-20	Ireland XV	39-7	Spain	Ashbourne	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2014-07-05	Spain XV	20-36	Ireland XV	Valladolid, Castile and León	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2015-12-15	Spain XV	59-12	Hong Kong XV	Hortaleza, Madrid	[-/-/-]

Other matches

[-]
	1990-10-21	Catalonia	4-0	Wales	Barcelona	[-/-/-]

[-]
	1995-05-06	Germany	3-75	Catalonia	Rottweil	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2000-03-31	Catalonia	21-50	Italy	Aubagne, France	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2009-04-21	Netherlands	24-10	Catalonia	RC Waterland	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2010-03-14	Catalonia	12-17	Basque Country	Lleida	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2010-12-05	Basque Country	15-22	Catalonia	Durango, Biscay	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2012-02-05	Portugal	16-7	Galicia	Estádio Universitário de Lisboa	[-/-/-]

[-]
	2016-02-06	Basque Country	-	France U20	Hernani	[-/-/-]

Most capped Spanish players

#	Player	Position	Debut	Caps
1.	Inés Etxegibel	fly-half	1994	64
	Aroa González	hooker	1997	64
3.	Rocio García	prop	2003	58
4.	Isabel Rodríguez	scrum-half	2003	56
5.	Pilar López	lock	1996	49
	Nerea Otxoa	prop	2003	49
7.	Mercedes Batidor	flanker	1995	47
8.	Mª Isabel Pérez	wing	1991	46
9.	Karitte Alegria	number 8	1994	43
	Coral Vila	fullback	1996	43
	Helena Roca	centre / fly-half	2001	43
	Bárbara Plà	centre / scrum-half	2004	43

See also

Spain women's national rugby union team (sevens)

References

1. http://www.wru.co.uk/eng/news/24555.php#.UOnUrG9JqSp

External links

• (Spanish) Federación Española de Rugby - Official Site
• (Spanish) Federación Asturiana de Rugby - Official Site