Dubai: In a country where a football club can make a mockery of a national economic crisis by paying incredible amounts of money in transfer fees, rugby union in Spain is slowly but surely finding its feet.
There are now in excess of 30,000 Spaniards who are registered rugby union players, with more than 220 clubs across the country. And opportunity is knocking at the doors. With sevens about to become part of the Olympic Games, now is a good time to start shouting about rugby — though the enthusiasts might need to do it loudly in a country where football rules the roost, and basketball is not too far behind.
It is amazing what a little success can do for a sport. For instance, participation rates for rugby union jumped by 20 per cent in the Madrid area during the two years following the national team’s participation in their first ever Rugby World Cup in 1999.
So the same impact from Olympic exposure would be very nice, and though the Rio Games are still two-and-a-half years away, it is fair to say Spain are genuine contenders to qualify out of Europe. There’s little doubting their capabilities in the women’s game, anyway.
Spain’s women will arrive at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens full of confidence after reaching the World Cup semi-finals back in June. In doing so, they established themselves as a ‘core’ team in the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, which kicks off again in Dubai.
Last season, they finished ninth in the final standings in the inaugural series even though they only participated in two of the rounds — and The Sevens stadium in Dubai proved a worthwhile outing. They reached the semi-finals and clinched third place with victory over Australia.
The progress and confidence of their male counterparts may take longer to gather momentum. Having won core status for last season, they immediately signalled their intent by beating England to claim the Plate in Australia, but ended up as the only one of the 15 ever-present sides not to make a Cup quarter-final all season.
They needed to re-qualify their core team status for this year, something they managed to do with relative ease, but have since struggled at the World Cup in Moscow with four defeats from four. Another tough campaign looks on the cards.
The same can also be said of Portugal, who only have a team in the men’s series. They also had to take part in the play-off to secure their place as a core team for this season, and current HSBC Sevens World Series form is not good — they ended last season with 10 defeats in a row.
That said, the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens was good for the Portuguese last season. They reached the quarter-finals and victories over England and South Africa were definitely among the highlights of their season.
Even more memorable in Dubai was a wonderful try scored by Pedro Leal in a pool game against the eventual tournament winners, Samoa. Leal’s try was voted the fans’ ‘Try of the Season’, with 48 per cent of the vote.
He and his teammates always have more than half an eye on the 15-a-side code too, and World Cup qualifying, which can leave them mercilessly stretched at times. But Leal — or ‘Popcorn’ as he is affectionately known — will be back in Dubai next month, hoping no doubt that The Sevens stadium proves a happy hunting ground once again.
— The Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens takes place between November 28 and 30, with 16 nations competing in the HSBC World Series tournament and 12 in the IRB Women’s World Series at The Sevens stadium. For more information, log on to www.dubairugby7s.com
