Valladolid Rugby Asociación Club is a Spanish

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club. The club was established in 1986 and currently competes in the

División de Honor de Rugby The División de Honor de Rugby is Spain's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The División de Honor de Rugby Championship is organised by the Federación Española de Rugby (Spanish Rugby Federation) and currently consists of 12 ...

competition, the highest level of Spanish club rugby. The club are based in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

in central Spain. VRAC play in blue and white colours. The team have in the past won both the Spanish League and the Copa del Rey de Rugby. They play at

Estadio Pepe Rojo Estadio Pepe Rojo is a sports stadium located in the city of Valladolid, Spain. It is the home ground of CR El Salvador and Valladolid RAC leading clubs of the División de Honor, the top-level of Spanish rugby. The stadium is named after José ...

Honours

* División de Honor: 10 ** Champions: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 5 ** Champions: 1997–98, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2017–18 ** Runners-up: 2012–13 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

: 7 ** Champions: 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 *

Copa Ibérica de Rugby The Copa Ibérica de Rugby (''Iberian Rugby Cup'') is a rugby union knock-out competition played annually by clubs of the Spanish Rugby Federation and Portuguese Rugby Federation. It was played for the first time in 1965. Between 1965 and 1971 it ...

: 3 ** Champions: 2014, 2017, 2018

European rugby

Valladolid RAC's first foray into Europe was in the 2001–02 European Challenge Cup. Playing in a pool with

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

(England),

Dax Dax or DAX may refer to: Business and organizations * DAX, stock market index of the top 40 German companies ** DAX 100, an expanded index of 100 stocks, superseded by the HDAX ** TecDAX, stock index of the top 30 German technology firms * Dax ...

(France) and

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

(Italy), they lost all six games. The 2003–04 season saw a change in format in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

. Teams played in a knockout format, over two legs, in each round. First round losing teams then played in a new, third tier, Shield competition. Having lost heavily home and away to England's

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in Round 1 of the

2003–04 European Challenge Cup The 2003–04 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 8th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 28 teams pa ...

, they dropped into the

European Shield The European Shield (known as the Parker Pen Shield for sponsorship reasons) was a repechage tournament for teams knocked out in the first round of the European Challenge Cup. As such, it formed Europe's third-tier club rugby union competition ...

. Here their performance against Italy's Overmach Parma was better, but nevertheless they again lost home and away. The 2004–05 season was a close repeat of 2003–04: heavy losses home and away to Italy's

Viadana Viadana may refer to: Surname * Lodovico Grossi da Viadana (c. 1560 – 1627), Italian composer, teacher, and Franciscan friar * Gilberto Viadana (born 1973), Italian figure skater Other * Viadana, Lombardy, a town in the province of Mantua, Lom ...

in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

was followed by even heavier defeats at the hands of England's

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in the

Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

. As the winners of the

2011–12 División de Honor de Rugby The 2011–12 División de Honor was the 45th season of the top flight of the Spanish domestic rugby union competitions since 1953. It began in autumn 2011 and finished on May 12 with the Final. Valladolid won the title, while Alcobendas were releg ...

and the championship playoff, Valladolid RAC qualified to play in the

2012–13 European Challenge Cup The 2012–13 Amlin Challenge Cup was the 17th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition. A total of 23 teams participated — 20 in the pool stage, plus three teams parachuting into the knockout ...

but turned down the opportunity due to economic factors.

Gernika RT Gernika Rugby Taldea is a Basque rugby team based in Gernika, Bizkaia which play in the Spanish League. The team was set up by some rugby supporters of the unfortunately bombed village, and is enjoying a steady rise in popularity in the region. ...

took their place and represented Spain. As the winners of the 2013–14 División de Honor championship, VRAC qualified to play the Iberian Rugby Cup against CDUL of Lisbon, winning the game and the title. In 2015/16 season, Valladolid RAC as the champion of the 2014/15 División de Honor championship, represented Spain at the Qualifying Competition of the European Rugby Challenge Cup. In this competition VRAC won two games, against

Royal Kituro Rugby Club The Royal Kituro Avia Schaerbeek Rugby Club, often shortened Kituro RC, is a Belgian rugby union club currently competing in the Belgian Elite League. On 8th February 2015, they beat RC Soignies 356-3, breaking the all-time record for the highest ...

(Belgium) and

Mogliano Rugby Mogliano Rugby 1969 is an Italian rugby union club founded in 1956. They are based in Mogliano Veneto (Province of Treviso), in Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , populat ...

(Italy) but lost against

Grupo Desportivo Direito Grupo Desportivo Direito is a Portuguese rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football ...

(Portugal) and

Timișoara Saracens ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

(Romania).

Summary

Squad 2012–13

International honours

* Víctor Acevedo * Fernando de la Calle * Aníbal Fernando Bonan * Benjamín Pardo (Rugby) * Nacho Müller *

Glen Rolls A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

* Gareth Griffiths

Other notable players

* Sgt. Adam Newton (English Armed Services XV, England U18) * Gareth Griffiths (former player from Bath, international England U18, U19) * Mike Davis (International New Zealand Sevens) * Glen Lewis Rolls (New Zealand U17, Hurricanes Schools, Canterbury B) *

Lisandro Arbizu Lisandro Arbizu (born September 29, 1971 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine rugby union footballer. He plays at fly-half or inside centre. He began playing for the local traditional club Belgrano Athletic Club and was one of the first Argentine pla ...

(Player/Coach 2012-2014, Argentina international 1990-2005 Cpt 1992-1999)

Season to season

---- *25 seasons in División de Honor

References

External links

VRAC Official website

Spanish Rugby website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valladolid Spanish rugby union teams Sport in Valladolid Sports teams in Castile and León Rugby clubs established in 1986