Delgado's delight as Spain triumph

By Harry-Scott Munro
27/2/21

Laura Delgado earned the bragging rights over team-mate Linde Van der Velden, as she helped her Spanish side to their fifth consecutive Rugby Europe Championship and with it, a European qualification World Cup play-off place against Ireland, as they overwhelmed a Netherlands side 87-0 in Guadalajara.

Against a Netherlands side featuring a large number of debutants and several players who had not played competitive rugby for the best part of a year, the Spaniards were on the offensive from the off, opening the scoring after just three minutes through Maria Losada.

They secured a bonus-point after just fifteen minutes, as full-back Amalia Argudo darted over.

Delgado herself got on in on the act, with her side’s eighth try, right on half-time, to open up a 46-0 advantage at the break.

Worryingly for both the Netherlands and Exeter Chiefs though, Van der Velden departed the action just before the interval with a shoulder injury. Head Coach Susie Appleby will be hoping that it is nothing too serious and that she can return to club action as soon as possible with a string of key Premier 15s fixtures coming up for the Chiefs.

Spain continued to dominate though and scored another 41 unanswered points after the restart, with winger Alba Vinuesa scoring four tries in all in a resounding victory for José Antonio Barrio’s side.

Speaking at full-time, the Spanish Head Coach admitted that it had “been tough to concentrate,” for his side after having to work under Covid restrictions for the last month.

He was however, pleased with where it left his side in regards to the aim of qualifying for the World Cup in New Zealand, saying:

“Mentally we are prepared and look forward to the European Qualifiers in order to reach our final goal of getting to the World Cup."

For the Netherlands, they finish bottom of the 2020 Rugby Europe Championship table, having lost to Russia in March last year. For a young squad though, with many players representing their country for the first time, this would’ve been a match that they would’ve learnt a huge amount from, as they look to grow and improve on the international stage.