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

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

Five/Six Nations Championship Women's Six Nations Championship recordYearPosition2000 Women's Five Nations420253882001 Women's Five Nations420231472002 Women's Six Nations4th5203561002003 Women's Six Nations6th5005142042004 Women's Six Nations5302291142005 Women's Six Nations4th5113321612006 Women's Six Nations6th500525175Total3rd (best result)3310122240889

Rugby Europe Women's Championship Rugby Europe Women's Championship recordYearPosition 1988 European CupWithdrew 1995 European Championship2200276 1996 European Championship32018215 1997 European Championship32016219 1999 European Championship32013030 2000 European Championship32017157 2001 European Championship32015226 2002 European Nations CupWithdrew 2003 European Championship22004515 2004 European Championship6th31024849 2005 European ChampionshipWithdrew 2006 European Nations Cup 2007 European Championship430112831 2008 European Championship6th31025268 2009 European Trophy32019218 2010 European Trophy440014533 2011 European Trophy430115219 2012 European Championship4th30036175 2013 European Championship33001717 2014 European TrophyWithdrew 2015 European Trophy 2016 European Championship33002087 2018 European Championship2200847 2019 European Championship2200950 2020 European Championship22001437 2022 European Championship2200960 2023 European Championship22001605 2024 European Championship3300995 2025 European Championship330011524Total12 titles65500152,163623

Overall

(Full internationals only, updated to 18 April 2026) + Spain Internationals From 1989 Opponent First Match Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Win % 1998 1 0 0 1 15 17 0.00% 2010 3 3 0 0 181 0 100.00% 2025 1 1 0 0 41 12 100.00% 1991 3 0 0 3 9 129 0.00% 2016 1 1 0 0 97 0 100.00% 1991 19 2 2 15 145 806 10.53% 2023 2 2 0 0 36 27 100.00% 2011 1 1 0 0 119 0 100.00% 1989 20 6 0 14 154 442 30.00% 1996 3 3 0 0 171 0 100.00% 2015 4 4 0 0 189 30 100.00% 1997 11 6 0 5 154 154 54.55% 1991 16 10 0 6 297 235 62.50% 1991 5 2 0 3 151 89 40.00% 1998 3 3 0 0 64 20 100.00% 2023 1 1 0 0 32 0 100.00% 2024 1 1 0 0 83 0 100.00% 1991 16 16 0 0 673 72 100.00% 1998 1 0 0 1 3 46 0.00% 2024 3 3 0 0 88 12 100.00% 2007 4 4 0 0 178 10 100.00% 2006 3 3 0 0 65 22 100.00% 1997 23 8 0 15 275 442 34.78% 2014 9 3 0 6 179 232 33.33% 2004 8 7 0 1 342 24 87.50% 1998 4 0 0 4 35 124 0.00% 1998 12 7 1 4 177 190 58.33% Summary 1989 178 97 3 78 4010 3261 54.49%

Players Recent squad On 11 August 2025, Spain named their final 32-player squad to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England.

Note: The age and number of caps listed for each player is as of 22 August 2025, the first day of the tournament.

World Cup squads

Most capped Players

#PlayerPositionCareerCaps 1. Aroa González Hooker 1997–2017 742. 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 536. 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 4510. 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

External links Federación Española de Rugby – Official Site Federación Asturiana de Rugby – Official Site