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Spain

Nickname	Las Leonas
Union	Spanish Rugby Federation
Head coach	Juan González Marruecos
Captain	Cristina Blanco
Most caps	Aroa González (74)
First colours Second colours
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

The Spain women's national rugby union team 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.

History

Women's
World Rugby Rankings

• v
• t
• e

Top 20 rankings as of 25 November 2024

Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	097.56
2		Canada	089.31
3		New Zealand	088.64
4		France	085.11
5		Australia	078.10
6		Ireland	078.03
7		Scotland	076.82
8		Italy	074.75
9		United States	074.20
10		Wales	072.58
11		Japan	066.41
12		South Africa	066.18
13		Spain	065.42
14		Russia	061.10
15		Samoa	060.56
16		Netherlands	060.20
17		Fiji	059.14
18		Hong Kong	056.20
19		Kazakhstan	055.23
20		Sweden	052.72
*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
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
2025	Qualified
2029	TBD
2033
Total	6/9	6th	29	13	0	16	428	597
Champion   Runner-up   Third place   Fourth place * Tied placing Best placing Home venue

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

Rugby Europe Women's Championship record
Year	Position	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1988 European Cup	Withdrew
1995 European Championship		2	2	0	0	27	6
1996 European Championship		3	2	0	1	82	15
1997 European Championship		3	2	0	1	62	19
1999 European Championship		3	2	0	1	30	30
2000 European Championship		3	2	0	1	71	57
2001 European Championship		3	2	0	1	52	26
2002 European Nations Cup	Withdrew
2003 European Championship		2	2	0	0	45	15
2004 European Championship	6th	3	1	0	2	48	49
2005 European Championship	Withdrew
2006 European Nations Cup
2007 European Championship		4	3	0	1	128	31
2008 European Championship	6th	3	1	0	2	52	68
2009 European Trophy		3	2	0	1	92	18
2010 European Trophy		4	4	0	0	145	33
2011 European Trophy		4	3	0	1	152	19
2012 European Championship	4th	3	0	0	3	6	175
2013 European Championship		3	3	0	0	171	7
2014 European Trophy	Withdrew
2015 European Trophy
2016 European Championship		3	3	0	0	208	7
2018 European Championship		2	2	0	0	84	7
2019 European Championship		2	2	0	0	95	0
2020 European Championship		2	2	0	0	143	7
2022 European Championship		2	2	0	0	96	0
2023 European Championship		2	2	0	0	160	5
2024 European Championship		3	3	0	0	99	5
Total	11 titles	62	47	0	15	2,048	599

Overall

(Full internationals only, updated to 23 March 2024)

Spain Internationals From 1989

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 squad on 3 September 2024 for the WXV 3 tournament in Dubai.

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
María del Castillo	Hooker	(1996-01-11)11 January 1996 (aged 28)	13	Olímpico de Pozuelo
Inés Antolínez	Prop	(1996-06-12)12 June 1996 (aged 28)	13	Crealia El Salvador
Cristina Blanco	Hooker	(1995-09-30)30 September 1995 (aged 28)	22	Ealing Trailfinders
María de las Huertas Román	Prop	(1999-02-12)12 February 1999 (aged 25)	14	Simón Verde Magnolia Cocos
Nuria Jou	Prop	(2001-11-10)10 November 2001 (aged 22)	6	UE Santboiana
Sidorella Bracic	Prop	(1993-06-12)12 June 1993 (aged 31)	18	Crealia El Salvador
Laura Delgado	Prop	(1988-06-30)30 June 1988 (aged 36)	40	Harlequins
Mireia de Andrés	Prop	(1999-09-10)10 September 1999 (aged 25)	3	Sant Cugat
Anna Puig	Second row	(1999-10-14)14 October 1999 (aged 24)	31	UE Santboiana
Mónica Castelo	Second row	(1987-04-18)18 April 1987 (aged 37)	24	Stade Rennais
Lourdes Alameda	Second row	(1989-07-02)2 July 1989 (aged 35)	29	AC Bobigny 93 Rugby
Nadina Cisa	Second row	(1993-07-24)24 July 1993 (aged 31)	7	LOU Rugby
Nerea García	Back row	(1996-11-17)17 November 1996 (aged 27)	6	Crealia El Salvador
Alba Capell	Back row	(2003-10-28)28 October 2003 (aged 20)	17	Sale Sharks
Lia Piñeiro	Prop	(2001-08-28)28 August 2001 (aged 23)	5	Olímpico de Pozuelo
María Calvo	Back row	(1999-02-16)16 February 1999 (aged 25)	26	Complutense Cisneros
Carmen Castellucci	Second row	(2002-08-26)26 August 2002 (aged 22)	18	Gloucester-Hartpury
Lucía Díaz	Scrum-half	(1998-02-04)4 February 1998 (aged 26)	28	Silicius Majadahonda
Maider Aresti	Centre	(2003-07-24)24 July 2003 (aged 21)	10	Simón Verde Magnolia Cocos
Anne Fernández de Corres	Scrum-half	(1998-05-30)30 May 1998 (aged 26)	23	Spanish Rugby Federation
Amàlia Argudo	Fly-half	(2000-01-24)24 January 2000 (aged 24)	14	Stade Toulousain
Naroa Azpitarte	Centre	(2005-11-20)20 November 2005 (aged 18)	1	Getxo Artea
Zahía Pérez	Fly-half	(2004-01-14)14 January 2004 (aged 20)	18	Silicius Majadahonda
Claudia Cano	Fly-half	(2005-08-02)2 August 2005 (aged 19)	4	Complutense Cisneros
Alba Vinuesa	Wing	(1999-03-30)30 March 1999 (aged 25)	24	Stade Français Paris
Claudia Pérez	Wing	(2004-06-29)29 June 2004 (aged 20)	12	Silicius Majadahonda
Clara Piquero	Fullback	(1999-02-11)11 February 1999 (aged 25)	18	Lons Section paloise
Martina Márquez	Centre	(2003-01-29)29 January 2003 (aged 21)	4	AVR FC Barcelona
Claudia Peña	Fullback	(2004-10-26)26 October 2004 (aged 19)	15	Harlequins
Lea Ducher	Fullback	(2002-04-29)29 April 2002 (aged 22)	5	Simón Verde Magnolia Cocos

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

• Spain women's national rugby sevens team
• Spain men's national rugby union team

References

1. "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
2. "30 Leonas para preparar la clasificación al Mundial de Inglaterra 2025" [30 Lionesses to prepare for qualification for the 2025 England World Cup]. Spanish Rugby Federation (in Spanish). 2024-09-03. Archived from the original on 2024-09-05. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
3. "Leonas XV Histórico" (in Spanish). Rugby Femenino. Retrieved 2022-10-30.

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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