Spanish Rugby at home in CD Leganés
Spanish Rugby President Juan Carlos Martín ‘Hansen’ has boldly stated Spain´s intention to reach the summit of Rugby Union after a landmark deal was signed between the Federation and CD Leganés to give the sport a long term base for international matches in Madrid.
This deal includes hosting the Rugby Europe Championship finals , where potentially Spain will compete to win their first ever Rugby Europe Championship and break Georgia´s eight year dominance.
On the deal, Hansen was quick to stress “the environment here (at Leganés) is excellent and we´ve been very well welcomed.” As well as giving Spain a base to enhance their commercial operation at international games, the press conference to announce the strategic agreement was attended by the Mayor of Leganés, a growing sign of Spanish Rugby´s increasing pull for councils and regions.
“I think all the Mayors of Spain want to get ‘married’ with Spanish Rugby” – Hansen
As well as the upcoming Rugby Europe Championship and coming off the back of successful autumn internationals in Madrid and Malaga, Hansen emphasised the progress being made to make Rugby Union an atrractive product across Spain for regions and sponsors. “We have the Bilbao (Champions Cup and Rugby Union Challenge Cup) events this year, we have events in Catalonia, I don´t think we have any reputation problem now. Now, we can ensure that to those towns that want to host Rugby they can have a good return on investment.
Rugby Europe Finals Day
Despite some interesting results in group B of the Rugby Europe Championship, it is the usual suspects of Georgia, Spain , Portugal and Romania competing in the Semi-Finals this weekend. Regardless of the result, all will be making an appearance at Leganés on Sunday 15th March. Away from the upper echelon of teams, surprise package Germany and the remaining three teams will also be making an appearance in Madrid on the same day at the historic Estadio Nacional Complutense.
Whatever the results in the next two weeks, this deal shows that Spanish Rugby continues to move forward both on and off the field.
Tickets to Rugby Europe Champioship Finals Day are available here
The full interview can be listened to below