Spain's national rugby sevens team is one of 15 core teams participating in all ten tournaments of the

World Rugby Sevens Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

, having qualified by winning the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier tournament. Spain participated as a core team in the 2012–13

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

, but was relegated the following season. The team trains together at the country's Olympic training facilities in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, which itself has been a result of the sport entering its first Olympic cycle. Spain won the 2016 Olympic qualifying repechage tournament by beating

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

22–19 to qualify for the last available qualifying spot for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. The team also competes annually in Rugby Europe's

Sevens Grand Prix Series The Rugby Europe Sevens are a series of rugby sevens tournaments held by Rugby Europe. It was formerly known as the FIRA-AER Sevens until 2013, and the Sevens Grand Prix Series until 2021. Only one annual tournament existed prior to 2011, when ...

tournament.

Tournament history

Summer Olympic Games

Rugby World Cup Sevens

World Rugby Sevens Series

Spain started off the 2012–13 IRB Sevens Series with a bang at the 2012 Gold Coast Sevens, defeating core teams Wales and England to finish ninth and win the Bowl. Pedro Martin led Spain in scoring in the 2012 Gold Coast Sevens, contributing 5 tries and 27 points, while Pablo Feijoo added 4 tries and 22 points. Spain was elevated to "core team" status for the 2012–13 IRB Sevens World Series, following its performance in qualifying at the

2012 Hong Kong Sevens The 2012 Hong Kong Sevens was the 37th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament and the sixth tournament of the 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series. The host stadium was the Hong Kong Stadium. Fiji won the title by defeating New Zealand 35–28 ...

. At that tournament, Spain defeated Zimbabwe, Philippines, Tonga and Japan to reach the finals, where it lost to Canada. Spain participated in other events during the 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series. In that season, Spain played in the 2012 Scotland Sevens, reaching the Bowl finals, and the 2012 London Sevens, reaching the Cup quarterfinal. Spain's best finish on the World Series was the 2017–18 season where Spain finished 11th.

Team

Current squad

Former squads

Coach

Pablo Feijoo Pablo Feijoo Ugalde (born 18 May 1982) is a Spanish rugby sevens former player and current coach. He played in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia. He was in the squad that secured the last Olympic spot when they defeated in Monaco. He w ...

has served as head coach of the Spain national rugby sevens team since the 2016–17 season. He played in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and was a member of the squad that defeated to secure a place in the

. Feijoo replaced Ignacio "Tiki" Inchausti, who played in Spain's only ever appearance at the 1999 fifteens Rugby World Cup, and also played at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2001 in

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

. Prior to his appointment to the men's team, Inchausti was in charge of Spain's women's squad, whom he managed to qualify for the inaugural participation of women in the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

in 2009. Inchausti coached the Spanish men's men's side from 2010, helping them qualify as a core team in 2012.

Player records

Most tries: #

Pol Pla Pol Pla Vegué (born 18 February 1993) is a Spanish rugby sevens player. He competed for the Spain national rugby sevens team, Spanish national rugby sevens team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was also part of the squad that won the last 2016 Men ...

(69) # Manuel Sainz-Trapaga (37) #

Pablo Fontes Pablo Fontes (born 27 December 1995) is a Spanish rugby union player. He competed for the Spain national rugby sevens team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He started his career playing in Club de Rugby Majadahonda and has played in Alcobendas Rugby ...

(37)

2008 Hannover Sevens

Group A matches

References

* McLaren, Bill ''A Visit to Hong Kong'' in Starmer-Smith, Nigel & Robertson, Ian (eds) ''The Whitbread Rugby World '90'' (Lennard Books, 1989)

External links

Official websiteWorldRugby profile
{{National sports teams of Spain Sevenz National rugby sevens teams