‘Despicable’ Spain are slammed by World Rugby

WORLD Rugby has disclosed the “quite despicable” details of how Spain were ejected from next year’s World Cup in France.

The Spanish were found guilty last month of fielding an illegible player whose passport was forged so he could be selected on residency grounds.

South Africa-born prop Gavin van den Berg, who was unaware his passport had been forged, made two appearances against the Netherlands during the World Cup qualifying campaign.

Spain finished as runners-up in the Rugby Europe Championship – which was enough to seal their place at a first first World Cup in 24 years. However, World Rugby’s investigation found Van den Berg had not been a Spanish resident for the 36-month period required.

As such, Spain were hit with a 10-point deduction, a £25,000 fine and removal from next year’s World Cup – with Portugal taking their place. Now, World Rugby have released a full written decision which criticised Spain’s attitude to the sport’s eligibility laws.

The written decision states: “Representatives from the player’s club had apparently, without either Spain’s or the player’s knowledge, tampered with travel stamps in the player’s passport to make it seem that the player had not been out of Spain for more than two months in that first year to facilitate the player’s reclassification as a domestic player.

“However, notwithstanding the amended stamps, the player had been out of Spain for longer than the permitted period. The machinations revealed over the apparent tampering are quite despicable and reflect very badly on those that may have played a part in such events.

“All three allegedly complicit club officials declined to give evidence. The committee further expressed concerns the union did not appear to have an appropriate process in place to review the movements of players that were relying on residence for eligibility.

“The committee noted the union had been sanctioned in the past for selection of non-eligible players and in those circumstances expected the union to have stringent processes in place to ensure the circumstances of each player had been carefully considered prior to being selected. The committee further noted its dissatisfaction with the union not seeking confirmation of the player’s eligibility in advance of selecting the player to represent the union.”

Wales Women have confirmed they will travel to Canada in August to complete a training camp and play a Test match in Halifax against Canada on Saturday, August 27.

Head coach Ioan Cunningham said, “We are looking at every way to best prepare the squad for the Rugby World Cup. We feel a training camp away from home, adapting to time zones and a different training environment will help us adjust to New Zealand when we arrive in September.”