Spanish rugby

[Welshdragon2000]

Time Spain had a thread of their own seeing as they're one of the emerging rugby nations.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Spain beat Namibia today 15-13. Great result for them against a side that will very likely be in the World Cup. Score was 3-3 at half time so thankfully the second half was better than the first..

 

[profitius]

Great to see these second tier nations progress. In the last decade we've seen Georgia emerge but in the next decade we might see plenty of new teams follow their lead.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I was looking for such a thread earlier. Awful first half, decent second half. Spain not at full strength apparently.

They now 1.6 ranking points ahead of 19th (Russia). I think there is a chance Spain will never drop out of the top 20 again. They and Brazil are the countries I expect to climb the rankings the most in the next 5-10 years. Spain has a domestic league, good youth coming through and can get 25,000 spectators to a club match.

The Nations Cup in Uruguay looks like a good wee tournament. Russia vs Argentina XV was 39-38 and is an amazing result for Russia. Any team could beat any other team in that tournament.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

It's certainly encouraging to see Spain progress like this and it's great to hear about such a good youth. Was namibia's side full strength?
Russia's result is excellent, I look forward to the Spain-Italy game personally. Shame it's not the proper Italy side cos i would love to see Italy play a side like Georgia or Spain to show how the gap between the six nations and the six nations B is closing.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

It was apparently a pretty much full strength Namibia. They looked reasonable too in the second half.

 

[Osezno]

The game against Namibia was awful to watch and the result isn't that important considering Spain has traditionally had the upper hand over Namibia, but it's still pleasant to win with a team that was lacking a big amount of professional players.

Anyway, I still think we won't qualify for 2019 RWC. But the future is bright in spite of Spanish Rugby Union financial struggles. In Uruguay we've got six very young players (Munilla, Gimeno, Mateu, Jorba, Rábago, Zabala), under age results have been decent and registered players figures are increasing by 10% every year. In 2016 it went above 30k for the first time. Plus 7s and women's rugby are more than OK.

I look forward to the Spain-Italy game personally. Shame it's not the proper Italy side cos i would love to see Italy play a side like Georgia or Spain to show how the gap between the six nations and the six nations B is closing.

Spain isn't playing Emerging Italy. European sides don't play each other in Nations Cup. Next fixture is against Argentina XV, then Uruguay.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

The game against Namibia was awful to watch and the result isn't that important considering Spain has traditionally had the upper hand over Namibia, but it's still pleasant to win with a team that was lacking a big amount of professional players.

Anyway, I still think we won't qualify for 2019 RWC. But the future is bright in spite of Spanish Rugby Union financial struggles. In Uruguay we've got six very young players (Munilla, Gimeno, Mateu, Jorba, Rábago, Zabala), under age results have been decent and registered players figures are increasing by 10% every year. In 2016 it went above 30k for the first time. Plus 7s and women's rugby are more than OK.


Spain isn't playing Emerging Italy. European sides don't play each other in Nations Cup. Next fixture is against Argentina XV, then Uruguay.

Thanks mate, the future bodes well.
Shame European sides won't play each other but the games they play should be good. The big one should be against Uruguay as that could potentially play each other in the repechage competition.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Spain isn't playing Emerging Italy. European sides don't play each other in Nations Cup. Next fixture is against Argentina XV, then Uruguay.

Ah, I wondered how the fixtures worked. Spain vs Uruguay should be a further stiff challenge for the Spaniards. Russia vs Namibia hopefully also should be decent.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

A bit of a hammering for Spain today against Argentina XV. I assume they put out a weak side as there was no ranking points available and they want to keep players for the Uruguay game on Sunday? Anyone watch the game?

 

[Osezno]

Spain held the possession for 35 minutes in the first half and wasn't able to convert it into points. A try right at the start and a late kick allowed Argentina XV to lead 10-0 at halftime. Then in the second half it simply became a fiesta.

Forwards were amazing, regularly beating Argentina XV's scrum, but backs' lack of inspiration (most of them very young, but still...) was ridiculous. And then in the second half everything exploded, just like in Bucharest last year (6-0 at halftime; 44-8 at the end).

When Spain sends a squad mostly based on its national league last 20-25 minutes always become an agony. I'm sure we will be more competitive against Uruguay next Sunday, but we don't have the tools to beat a team that has been training and playing together for over a month and they will be eager to destroy us after November test defeat.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Spain held the possession for 35 minutes in the first half and wasn't able to convert it into points. A try right at the start and a late kick allowed Argentina XV to lead 10-0 at halftime. Then in the second half it simply became a fiesta.

Forwards were amazing, regularly beating Argentina XV's scrum, but backs' lack of inspiration (most of them very young, but still...) was ridiculous. And then in the second half everything exploded, just like in Bucharest last year (6-0 at halftime; 44-8 at the end).

When Spain sends a squad mostly based on its national league last 20-25 minutes always become an agony. I'm sure we will be more competitive against Uruguay next Sunday, but we don't have the tools to beat a team that has been training and playing together for over a month and they will be eager to destroy us after November test defeat.

Thanks for the report! A win on Sunday would be really important especially as there's a strong chance of the repechage coming up for both sides.
Uruguay struggled past Russia yesterday and were losing for most of the game I hear.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I think Uruguay have really got their act together this year after an awful 2016. They did well in the ARC and could have won in the USA. Their performance against Russia wasn't great but Russia had just defeated Argentina XV.

I'd make Uruguay favourites at Spain given home advantage (although Uruguay consistently has very poor crowds, so maybe that isn't such a factor).

 

[Osezno]

I don't give our team any chance of victory. It could be close if defense works, but it's not realistic to expect these guys to win. We could build a full squad only with those players that haven't done the trip to Montevideo. And it's not even a question of not having called French-born guys. Barrera, Pinto, Moreno or Usárraga are all Spanish-born pros in France that haven't gone, while Villanueva and Carrión play in Spain but at this time are probably focused on 7s. And there a few promising youngsters that had to miss this tournament because of exam clashes.

We traditionally don't care too much about Nations Cup and this year it was a decent squad, but we can't ask a team made of second, third and even fourth choices to beat a direct rival like Uruguay in their land.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Highlights of Uruguay vs Spain at the Rugby Nations Cup.

If Uruguay won they win the ***le. If they lost then Russia could win.

 

[Osezno]

Spanish league starts this weekend. It's still semipro, but at least it has a ***le sponsor. It's being rebranded as Liga Heineken:

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

VRAC and El Salvador probably favourites? Any coaches we might have heard of from elsewhere?

 

[RedruthRFC]

Spanish league starts this weekend. It's still semipro, but at least it has a ***le sponsor. It's being rebranded as Liga Heineken:

Better than the English Championship could manage for a few years!

 

[Osezno]

VRAC and El Salvador probably favourites? Any coaches we might have heard of from elsewhere?

The only hope is to see them challenged by Alcobendas. Last season they led until January came and their players began to be requested by national teams (XV & 7s). And watch out FC Barcelona rise, with a pretty serious project.

Foreign coaches aren't that frequent in Spanish league, at least in its top-tier. VRAC, El Salvador, Alcobendas, Cisneros, Ordizia, Gernika & Barça have national coaches. UE Santboiana has Lewis Williams (NZ), Independiente has Tristán 'Chucho' Mozimán (Argentina), Hernani is coached by Patrick Polidori (France), newly promoted team La Vila is led by Hernán 'Falu' Quirelli (Argentina) and Getxo recently hired Juan Carlos Bado (Uruguay).

In División de Honor B (second tier) you can find more easily foreign former players turned into coaches. CAU Valencia hired Ricky Andrew (played for Ulster) this Summer. CD Arquitectura, the most decorated team in Spanish league but deeply rooted in amateurism, has signed Campbell Johnstone (was an AB). Burger Heldenguys, from Marbella, has some experience in Super Rugby if I'm not mistaken. And we've got plenty of coaches from Argentina that have been coming in the last 15 years, some of them are maybe not so well known or aren't head coaches, but they bring valuable experience.

The most notable example is Mario Barandiarán. He was part of Los Pumas staff during 2007 RWC and after decades teaching coaches in Argentina he's left his job in his regional union there to sign with VRAC as Director of Rugby.

 

[Osezno]

2017 Spanish Supercup - VRAC Quesos Entrepinares v Unió Esportiva Santboiana