Santiago Santos Muñoz (born in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, on 11 October 1961) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

former rugby union player and currently coach of the

Spain national rugby union team The Spain national rugby union team ( Spanish: '' Selección de rugby de España''), nicknamed Los Leones (''The Lions''), represents Spain in men's international rugby union competitions. The team is administered by the Spanish Rugby Federatio ...

since 2013.

Playing career

Santos made his debut for Real Canoe N.C. at the age of 18 years. In 1984, many players left the club and went to Liceo Francés, where he played for the rest of his career, initially in the second division, and finally in the top category. That Liceo team finished runner-up in the 1990–91 and 1992-93 seasons, and runner-up in 1988-89 Copa del Rey. Santos arrived to Alcalá de Henares almost by chance. His life brought him to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to teach at Instituto Español in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

for six years. That adventure in London brought him to retire in the amateur teams of the professional London side

Wasps RFC Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

International career

As a Spanish international, he debuted at the age of 18, in the test match against Sweden in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

, on 9 June 1980 and his last cap was at the age of 30, during the test match against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, on 4 April 1992, earning 45 caps for Spain in aggregate.

Coaching career

After his retirement as player, he became a coach. Since then, great clubs from Madrid such as Liceo Francés, MARU (currently

Alcobendas Rugby Club Deportivo Básico Alcobendas Rugby is a Spanish rugby team based in Alcobendas, Spain. History The club was established in 2003 by local fans from Alcobendas, and played its first ever season in División de Honor that year, occupying the pl ...

) and Complutense Cisneros were some of the teams he coached until his appointment for the Spanish national side, replacing the New Zealander Bryce Bevin. His highest goal is to bring Spain in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

which the national team did not made to it since 1999. Despite his work as national coach, he is still a highly qualified physical education teacher at the IES Antonio Machado.

Personal life

Although born in

, Santos resides in Alcalá de Henares. He is cousin of the former Real Madrid football player

Emilio Butragueño Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the '' La Quinta del Buitre'' ...

References

External links

Santiago Santos international stats
at

ESPN Scrum ESPNscrum was an online news site based in United Kingdom dedicate to providing the latest news in Rugby union. It provided live minute-by-minute updates on major international and club games and kept an in-depth statistics on every international ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Santiago 1961 births Sportspeople from Madrid Spanish rugby union players Spanish rugby union coaches Rugby union hookers Living people Rugby union players from the Community of Madrid Spanish expatriates in England