Spain announce squad for USA and Canada matches

The  Spanish men's rugby union team  will travel to Madrid on July 3rd and then tour the United States and Canada from July 6th to 20th. On Sunday, July 13th at 2:00 a.m. CEST, Spain will play the Eagles at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and on Saturday, July 19th at 4:00 a.m. CEST, they will play the Cannucks at Clarke Stadium in Edmonton.

The national team coach has called up 30 players  for this double-header, which will be  Pablo Bouza's Los Leones' first official matches since qualifying for the World Cup . The pre-tour training camp, held in Valladolid and at the Bonalba Resort , has helped the Rosario-born coach define the squad that will ultimately board the plane on Sunday, July 6.

Yago Fernández, from Silicius Alcobendas Rugby ,  and  Egoitz García, from Ampo Ordizia , are the only two players who have not yet won a cap with the XV del León .  Bouza proposes a solid block for the North American tour where the inclusion of up to 12 players who played for French teams last season stands out: Jon Zabala, Asier Usárraga, Ekain Imaz, Kerman Aurrekoetxea, Álvaro García, Lucas Santamaría, Ignacio Piñeiro, Gauthier Minguillon, Gonzalo López, Matheo Triki, 'Titi' Futeu and Raphael Nieto .

Vicente Boronat, Bernardo Vázquez, ' Tani ' Bay, Iñaki Mateu, Martiniano Cian, Marc Sánchez, Pablo Miejmolle, Pepe Borraz, Gonzalo Vinuesa, Alvar Gimeno, Vicente del Hoyo, Joaquín Domínguez, John Wessel Bell and Imanol Urraza complete the list of 30.

The Eagles are ranked 15th in the world, while Canada currently sits at 24th. The Americans have participated in every edition of the World Cup except South Africa 1995 and France 2023, while the Canucks only missed the last edition.

The United States will be a very high-level opponent for the Spanish team.  In their five matches, Los Leones have never managed to win against the American powerhouse , although in their last matchup, Pablo Bouza's team fell just three points short of achieving that feat. The match against Canada, meanwhile, will be the fifth meeting between the two teams, with Canada losing the first two matches and Spain losing the last two.

HISTORY OF CONFRONTATIONS

April 12, 1998 Spain 3-49 United States, El Puerto de Santa María (Friendly)
April 12, 2003 Spain 13-62 United States, Madrid (2003 World Championship Qualifier)
April 27, 2003 United States 58-13 Spain, Florida (2003 World Championship Qualifier)
November 18, 2023 Spain 12-42 United States, Villajoyosa (November Test Match)
November 23, 2024 Spain 23-26 United States, Madrid (November Test Match)

HISTORIC MATCHES AGAINST CANADA

November 13, 2010 Spain 22-60 Canada, Madrid (Friendly)
November 18, 2017 Spain 27-37 Canada, Madrid (Test Match)
July 10, 2022 Canada 34-57 Spain, Ottawa (Test Match)
November 11, 2023 Spain 42-20 Canada, La Vila (Test Match)