Ex Argentina lock sets sights on 2027 World Cup after being named Spain boss

Spain have confirmed that former Argentina lock Pablo Bouza will become their national coach following weeks of speculation linking him to the job.

The 37-cap Argentina forward is fresh from the World Cup where he worked as Uruguay’s forwards coach, guiding them to their fourth ever win in the tournament’s history against Namibia. He also worked as defence coach for Argentina at the 2015 World Cup.

After being confirmed as Spain’s new coach, the 50-year-old said the goal is to make the next World Cup in Australia in 2027, which will have 24 teams for the first time instead of 20. Spain had qualified for the recent World Cup, but were disqualified earlier this year for fielding a ineligible player during qualifying.

Jacques Nienaber and Siya Kolisi speak about the Malmesbury Missile and his Man of the Match performance in the World Cup Final

Jacques Nienaber and Siya Kolisi speak about the Malmesbury Missile and his Man of the Match performance in the World Cup Final

After being confirmed as the new head coach, the former Harlequins lock/ No8 said it was “a pleasure” to be with Spain.

“It was a difficult decision to make because I’m going to be a long way from home,” he said on Spain’s website.

“But it’s going to be a very nice adventure. The goal is to be in Australia 2027, but first there are a lot of things to do on and off the field. We need the players to be clear about what they need to do and being at Australia 2027 is going to be a dream for all of Spanish rugby.

“Spain has a huge number of players, which is important. And they have very good players, we’re not going to look for players outside of Spain, the ones here are enough. The Spanish player is very similar to the Uruguayan or the Argentinean. Now it’s time to put it in order, for the players to have a projection and put together a plan to be able to arrive with a large crop of players in Australia.”

President of the Royal Spanish Rugby Federation Juan Carlos Martín ‘Hansen’ added: “All good things come to be a long time coming and today I have the honour to announce that Pablo Bouza joins as the new men’s national coach of rugby XV. It’s not an easy position, we need you to transmit confidence, and I think he’s going to do it. Pablo Bouza is the ideal person. He knows us quite well and I think we’re going to have excellent progress and development to get to Australia 2027. This would not have been carried out without the support of allies such as the CSD, World Rugby, Generali, Joma, Iberdrola…”

Vice-president of the RFER Gabriel Sáez said: “Our dear Gerard Murillo said recently that “Spain will rise” and will rise. We have done a job of plumbing and transformation work of Spanish rugby. I have to underline the confidence of the Spanish government in everything we are doing and I also wanted to mention World Rugby. In the last 14 months, this body has transformed reports that did not look very good to us being a country in which they want to invest. World Rugby now sees Spain as a key country in the growth of international rugby.

“Spain will be in Australia 2027, and will win some games. Pablo Bouza, after the World Cup that Uruguay has done, probably had many places to go, and he has chosen Spain. He is one of ours and, in fact, his Spanish passport is already being processed. It’s a joy to have a top-level coach in Spain.”