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Rugby league in Spain

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Rugby league is a team sport that has begun to be played in some areas of Spain, notably the autonomous community of Catalonia and the Valencian Community. Rugby league has long been played in Northern Catalonia (part of the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France) and since the admission of Catalans Dragons to the European Super League efforts have been made to spread the game to the rest of Catalonia with some Dragons games being played in Barcelona. This has led to the formation of a Catalan league which includes an FC Barcelona team. On June 20, 2009, the first Super League game was played at Barcelona in front of a crowd of over 18,500, Catalans Dragons lost 12 - 24 to the Warrington Wolves. Moving outside of Catalonia the first game in the province of Castellon took place in November 2013 with five rugby league clubs operating across the Valencian Community. A representative team, Origin Espagnol, made up of players of Spanish Origin have taken part in rugby league nines competitions.

History

The French part of Catalonia has been playing rugby league since the 1930s. French side Catalans Dragons joined the European Super League in Super League in 2006. On July 29, 2007, the Dragons became the first French side and first non-English side to reach the final of the Challenge Cup. They were presented to the crowd at FC Barcelona's Nou Camp stadium. The success of the Dragons led to rugby league clubs being started in Southern Catalonia in the autumn of 2007 and a governing body in 2008. The Catalan representative side made their debut in January 2008, when they participated in the French Interleague Championship held near Perpignan, in France. In April of the same year, the first domestic competition took place in southern Catalonia, the Copa Catalunya de Rugby Lliga, with FC Barcelona emerging victorious from the three-way contest. Warrington Wolves played Catalans Dragons in Barcelona in 2009, with a game between Catalonia and the Czech Republic taking place before the main game.

Governing body

Main article: Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga

L'Associació Catalana de Rugby Lliga, formed in 2008, is the governing body for rugby league in South Catalonia. Catalonia is an unranked member of the Rugby League European Federation with Official observer status.

Domestic competitions

See also: Catalan Rugby League Championship

In April 2008, the first domestic competition took place in southern Catalonia, the Copa Catalunya de Rugby Lliga, with FC Barcelona emerging victorious from the three-way contest. The results from the competition were:

  • FC Barcelona 22-20 Aligots Girona
  • Aligots Girona 24-0 Nord-Català
  • Nord-Català 4-24 FC Barcelona

In 2009 this was expanded to a nine team club championship and a seven team university tournament.

The 2009 competition compromised:

  • Club Rugby Tarragona
  • Club Rugby Sant Cugat
  • Garrotxa Rugbi Club
  • CNPN Enginyers
  • CE INEF Lleida Rugby
  • CA Vic - Crancs
  • CR Valls
  • GEIEG
  • BUC (Barcelona Universitari Club)

National team

Main articles: Catalonia national rugby league team and Spain national rugby league team

The Catalonia national rugby league team represents Catalonia in the sport of rugby league. Players are drawn from both North and South Catalonia. They have played international rugby league but do not take part in some international competitions, such as the Rugby League World Cup as Catalonia is not a sovereign nation. They played Belgium, Morocco and the Czech Republic in 2009 with the Belgium and Morocco games being part of the Euro Med tournament.

The Spain national rugby league represent Spain in rugby league, they are a newer concept than the Catalonia team playing their first international, a victory over Belgium in 2014. By beating Latvia in a playoff and then Malta and Greece in an initial qualifying group, they advanced to the final qualifying stage for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, where they were placed in a three team group (Pool B) alongside Russia and Ireland.[1] Their first result was a 6-40 loss to Russia, at Fili Stadium, Moscow on 15 October 2016.[2]

The final 22-man squad representing Spain Rugby League in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers Pool B, as of 4 October 2016, was as follows:[3]

Club Team Players
England Army Rugby League Chris Lopez
Spain Custodians Madrid Antonio Puerta, Daniel Moreno
England Hull F.C. Joel Marquez-Laynez
Spain Irreductibles Ivan Ordaz
Spain Los Gossos Clement Laguerre
France Palau XIII Broncos Alexandre Doutres, Cedric Bringuier, Leandre Torres, Mathieu Griffi,
Pierre Negre
Spain Paterna Dragons Matt Dulley
England Seaton Rangers Miguel Charters-Blanco
France *Stade Français Kevin Aparicio
France Tonneins XIII Gonzalo Morro
Spain Torrent Tigres Aitor Davila, Juan Pablo Rango, Raul Simo
Spain Valencia Warriors Adrian Alonso, Andrew Pilkington, Luis Thorp
England Woolston Rovers Daniel Garcia
  • * Denotes a rugby union club.

See also

References

  1. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Rugby_League_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_Europe
  2. ^ http://www.rlwc2017.com/news/european-qualifier-russia-40-spain-6
  3. ^ FIVE DEBUTANTS IN SPAIN 22-MAN SQUAD FOR QUALIFIERS, rlef.com, 4 October 2016
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