Early history and amateur era The exact starting point of
rugby union in Spain is unknown; Catalan student
Baldiri Aleu introduced the game from France to a mainstream Spanish audience in 1921, but the game might have been played on Spanish soil earlier. Through the 1920s, the game gradually gained popularity through universities in the country. The first
Copa del Rey de Rugby was organized in 1926, and won by
Barcelona. An unofficial Spanish XV played
France, including
Yves du Manoir, in 1927, but it was organised by a rebel governing body. Spain played their first international match in 1929 in
Barcelona, winning 9–0 over the - debutant as well -
Italian national team at the
Montjuïc Olympic Stadium. During the 1930s the Spanish rugby team played sporadically in the 1930s, playing against the national teams of
Italy,
Morocco,
Germany, and
Portugal. Due to the outbreak of
World War II, rugby in much of Europe was suspended, and this included Spain. Rugby operations throughout Europe were continued in the 1950s; through this decade the Spanish struggled to the likes of West Germany, Italy and Romania. This pattern of consistency continued somewhat in the 1960s and 1970s; Spain traditionally struggled versus more established opponents such as Romania and Italy, but beat other neighboring sides such as Portugal and Morocco. However, while no official games were played between Spain and the Home Nations or the SANZAR, some Spanish sides traveled to play against various foreign sides. The 1980s proved to be somewhat of a golden age for Spanish rugby; for the first time Spain played against non-FIRA competition, playing a test against both the
Māori All Blacks as well as South American giants
Argentina in November 1982, in
Madrid. The Spanish were thrashed 66–3 to the Māori, but came close to upsetting Argentina, losing only 28 to 19. The Spanish also received
Zimbabwe through various tests in the 80s. The Spanish recorded upsets, defeating Zimbabwe in
Harare in 1984, winning 30–18.
World Cup begins (1987–2009) Even more impressive, the Spanish swept a two-game tour in Zimbabwe, a team that had appeared in the
1987 Rugby World Cup, winning 28–16 and 14–9 in Bulawayo and Harare. Other notable results in this period included beating
Uruguay 18–6, as well as giving scares to the sides of
England and
Scotland, and coming within 10 points of beating the Māori in 1988. By the end of the 80s, Spain was considered one of the best non-5 Nations teams in Europe, just barely behind Romania, Italy, and the Soviet Union. Spain officially joined
the IRB in 1987, after not being invited for the 1987 Rugby World Cup, despite the USSR declining an invitation. in 2007. The 1990s provided a mixed fortune of both near misses and eventual success. In the
1991 qualifying rounds, Spain easily toppled its first group consisting of the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium, all games being played at home. However, Spain very narrowly missed on qualifying for the Rugby World Cup, losing 19–6 against Romania, finishing third behind Italy and Romania. In 1992, Spain finally beat Romania for the first time in 1992, winning 6–0. Spain again nearly beat Argentina that same year, only losing 43–34 in a shootout in Madrid. 1995 began in similar fashion to the 1991 campaign, easily toppling the first group. However, Spain were unfortunately placed in a group with Wales, losing the key fixture 54–0, and again coming close, yet not close enough. Spain began their quest for 1999 Rugby World Cup qualification in Pool 3 of Round B of the
European qualification. They won all four of their games in the round, finishing first in the group above Portugal. They, along with Portugal advanced to the next pool round with Scotland. They finished second and qualified for their first Rugby World Cup. For the
1999 Rugby World Cup, Spain were in Pool A, along with Scotland, South Africa and Uruguay. Their first ever World Cup game was played against Uruguay, with Spain losing 27–15. They lost their subsequent pool games to Scotland and the Springboks by 40 points, both of which were played at
Murrayfield. They failed to score a try in the tournament, the only team in the World to have qualified but not scored a try in the World cup. Spain began
2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying games in May 2002. Spain advanced to Round 3 after defeating Portugal. However, they lost to both Italy and Romania, and moved through to face Russia for a place in the repechage competition. Despite losing the first game in Madrid 3–36, and looking dead in the water, Spain pulled off a very unlikely victory, winning 38–22. Despite losing on aggregate, Spain went through the repechage due to Russia being disqualified for fielding ineligible players. They defeated Tunisia and moved on to face the United States. Spain lost 62–13 and 58–13, again missing out on the World Cup. in 2013. For the
2007 Rugby World Cup, Spain finished at the top of Pool A or Round 2 of the
European qualification and advanced to Round 3 where they went into Pool A. Here they won all four fixtures to finish at the top and advance to the play-off. There they faced Germany, and although they lost the first game, they won the second and went through on a 42–28 aggregate and went into Round 4 where they defeated the Czech Republic to enter Round 5. However they lost out to Romania and Georgia in Pool B, ending their hopes of reaching the World Cup in France.
2010–present at
Metropolitano Stadium in 2022. Spain missed the qualification for the
2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, this time struggling through their fixtures. They lost 8 of their 10 fixtures, beating only Germany those two times, and missed out on advancing to the next round of qualifying. Spain entered the top 20 in the IRB ranking in February 2013 for the first time following a 25–18 win over the higher ranked Georgia making headlines with semi-pro back Jack Rowland making a surprising call up, due to both fly-half and first team inside center pulling out with injury moments before the squad was announces. Rowland a last moment replacement scoring 12 out of the 25 points on his international debut. Surprising ranked Georgia first time in 29 years with a victory. Spain remained in the top 20 throughout the year, ending 2013 ranked 19th. Despite this, the 2015 campaign was similarly disastrous, winning only two of their games as well as two draws. This led to a restructure of the makeup and strategies of the FER. Spain has recently participated in the
World Rugby Nations Cup and the
2014 IRB Tbilisi Cup. The 2019 qualifying saw the team markedly improve; in 2017 they beat Germany, Russia and Belgium, and lost narrowly to Romania away from home. The Spaniards started 2018 with great fortune, as they defeated Russia on their home soil for the first time since 2002, and defeated Romania for the first time since 2012. With both of these victories, Spain led their qualifying group and looked set for a possible qualification at the
2019 Rugby World Cup, but a defeat at Belgium in the last round, and a heavy deduction of points because of fielding of ineligible players, ended their hopes. A similar outcome occurred in 2022 when the team initially qualified for the
2023 Rugby World Cup after wins over direct rivals Romania and Portugal, but was later disqualified due to fielding a player who didn't meet the selection criteria. This second expulsion resulted in many veteran players abandoning the national team and the Spanish side struggled to get good results in the 2023 rugby championship campaign. With heavy defeats against Georgia and Portugal and a narrow home defeat to Romania. After a win over
Switzerland on 9 February 2025 in the
Rugby Europe championship, Spain qualified for the
2027 Men's Rugby World Cup. ==Kits==