The most lackluster season of Spanish rugby concludes with hope. With the fans resigned to not seeing the XV del León in the World Cup in France, with senior teams in transition and whose results -in general- have raised doubts, the men's sub20 conquered the qualifying Trophy with authority and will play in the World Cup in 2024. your category.
He won by knocking down topics. physical inferiority. The Spanish striker almost always outplayed their rivals and the team maintained a high pace in the decisive minutes. lack of confidence. The U20 Lions began by losing (15-0) in the final against Uruguay, but at the break they had already come back (15-24) and in the second half they maintained the lead (32-39).. Faced with an absolute team that for a decade has used professionals trained abroad, the vast majority of these young people have grown up in our country. A success of the quarry and many challenges for the future.
“Follow a common game system, everyone go for the same thing, the first ten minutes are to look for a gap in the rival and attack it”. This is how Ignacio Piñeiro summarizes some of the keys to these victories. The third row (1.98 and 103 kilos), a youth player from Rugby Club Valencia, had already made his debut with the senior team. “I have sacrificed many matches with my club, exams and above all vacations, I haven't had a summer vacation for three years”. He will only rest a few days. On August 11, he joined the 'promises' team of Oyonnax, recently promoted to the French first division.
The U20 team in the Trophy final against Uruguay
The conjunction that Piñeiro praises took time. About three months of work, between concentrations and preparatory games, have matured the team. Later, Raúl Pérez Aspirina has greased and developed it to win the World Cup qualification. The latter is responsible for High Performance of the Spanish Federation. “We didn't expect it now. Although we knew that we could be close, we believed that next year we could have results”, he assures. “It's a very good start to bet on this project.”
With the inspiration of his native Argentina and the financing of the International Federation, Aspirina works to launch several academies distributed throughout Spain that can guide the elite to the boys and girls who already stand out in the clubs. They train them in individual skills, collective concepts, physical preparation, nutrition and medical care.. “Everything focused on the player, assisting him, monitoring and testing him, accompanying his growth, that is going to make more and more competitive players appear,” he explains.. Of the young values, “courage, passion for the game and the desire to improve” stand out.
Marc Ventura coordinates the sports area of the UE Santboiana, the dean club of Spanish rugby. An institution that defines as “family” but that has more than 500 athletes. “The player today has many more skills, more individual technique, much more decision-making, because the coaches are also being trained, the big difference is the individual work”. Emphasizes both physical preparation and the difficulty of raising awareness about it. “Rugby is very demanding, it is important so that there are no injuries. As a school we are trying to show that there is an individual job and it has to be done.”
The U20 team in the Trophy final against Uruguay
But rugby suffers a flight of players in the move to the senior category. A jump in which, according to Marc Ventura, “patience” is needed with the player and he must receive “a reward” that stimulates him. He proposes better competitions, holding rallies and tours to give them “quality matches and training”. A function that, he points out, could be carried out by the regional federations but which, he assumes, depends on another factor: money.
The few who glimpse the elite try to make the most of that stage in which others abandon. Adding field, video and gym, Ignacio Piñeiro -20 years old- has dedicated to rugby “about six or seven hours a day” in his clubs in France. “You learn a lot, they specialize, they create players; in Spain we are more articulate to create teams to win titles.”
In the professional clubs of France -and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom-, especially in their 'promising' teams, no less than fifty players born in our country are enrolled. They develop in a much more professional environment but they also find obstacles to attend the calls of the Spanish teams.
“The best thing would be for the players who are trained in the clubs and who are in the academies to stay in Spain”. Raúl Pérez Aspirina sets talent retention as his ultimate goal. “That Spain can attend to those boys and girls who appear with a great profile at 14 years of age, who want to stay because they know that they are cared for and we can carry out their evolution.”
Seven of the 28 players called up for the U20 team were already abroad. Someone else, like Captain Álvaro García, is now starting his adventure. To this is added, recalls Marc Ventura, sports coordinator of the Santboiana, a competition that is a hotbed of future professionals. Something out of the reach of any Spanish club. “If we cannot offer a contract in the first team, because the ones we have are few, we must offer an environment where he is very comfortable and make the club love him,” concludes Ventura, who insists on the option of, at least, giving scholarships.
The U20 team in the Trophy final against Uruguay
He appreciates positive steps and calls for others that should have been started earlier.. “You have to work more with the clubs and the autonomic ones to get more volume of level players. The academies have their function, but much more must be covered”. He believes that the arrival at the U20 World Cup means an opportunity. “Make it a point to close ranks and start working together, make players stay and give importance to the Spanish player,” says Marc Ventura. A reform approved a few weeks ago has increased the number of formation players that each Division of Honor team has to present in official matches. A wider door for a quarry that generates illusion.
“Since 2001, the generations are rising exponentially, it's a reality”, stresses the player Ignacio Piñeiro. He aspires to dedicate himself professionally to rugby. “Hopefully, it is very difficult, very few arrive, you have to have a plan b, not to say that plan a is the studies”