Opposition analysis: Ireland prepare to take on 'ferocious' Las Leonas

In case you – somehow – missed the memo: in England, the summer of 2025 was the summer of the Lioness.

Of Chloe Kelly and victory parades – of Michelle Agyemang and Lucy Bronze’s tibia – and of the nowadays expected watch parties and the entirely unexpected duet between Sarina Wiegman and Burna Boy.

At the epicentre of the nation’s sporting universe were athletic, fearless women – in search of history and better places in which to leave their shirts – before packed stands and sky-rocketing viewerships.

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe receives Women’s Top 50 award

New Zealand Women’s superstar Portia Woodman-Wickliffe spoke to RugbyPass after receiving the prestigious, inaugural RugbyPass Women’s Top 50 award this week.

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Portia Woodman-Wickliffe receives Women’s Top 50 award

New Zealand Women’s superstar Portia Woodman-Wickliffe spoke to RugbyPass after receiving the prestigious, inaugural RugbyPass Women’s Top 50 award this week.

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It was glorious, and – fortunately – as any good bit of signage at the Stadium of Light last Friday would have told you: ‘this energy never stops’. Rugby, it’s been confirmed, has taken on the torch with gusto.

For the above can be said of all 16 teams at this World Cup – whether victorious or in defeat at the weekend – and few shone brighter at the wrong tip of a scoreline than our latest Lioness obsession.

Las Leonas were never going to upset the Black Ferns – but they made the reigning champions huff and puff for 40 minutes, forced Allan Bunting to call in reinforcements at the interval, and then continued to tackle their hearts out: scrapping for everything, and playing until their lactic-sodden legs cramped themselves skyward.

Spain won themselves more than a few fans and have cranked up the anticipation for Sunday, when they’ll face a high-flying, already record-breaking Ireland at Franklin’s Gardens.

World Cup history: Las Leonas have featured at six of the nine previous World Cups – always finishing top ten, but yet to equal their performance in the inaugural event – when Canada pipped them to the plate. They were quarter finalists in 1998 and then again in 2002 – when England eschewed all party etiquette and dumped the hosts from the draw.

Sweden denied them a space in 2010, they were 9th in 2014 before 10th at the next and they had much too much to do against Six Nations mainstays Italy, Scotland and Ireland in 2021 to even reach the final qualification tournament.

This time? They punched their ticket back in October courtesy of a supreme WXV3 campaign, sealed with a tense, two-point victory over Fiji.

It feels pertinent to remind ourselves that, for seven years, Spain were worthy combatants in the Five, and then Six, Nations, only to be replaced by Italy in 2007. There’s a universe in which they retained their spot in this hemisphere’s premier competition and you can’t help but wonder just how dangerous those battle-hardened Leonas are…

Last cycle: A pair of WXV3 tilts – clattering a clover-adorned final hurdle in 2023, before the aforementioned win against Fiji 11 months ago saw red jerseys effervescing beneath Dubai skies and that sculptural trophy hoisted aloft.

A trio of Rugby Europe titles. To precisely no one’s surprise. Spain dominate this competition – it’s an annual cake walk for them – and have won all eight fixtures since the last World Cup, with an average score line of 47-4.

 

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In search of the sort of competition which weaves talented fibres into dangerous tapestries they’ve been ambitious with their opponents elsewhere, and massively increased the amount of rugby they play. Las Leonas have averaged nine Test matches a year since the 2022 tournament. As many as they played in their entire 2017 build-up.

Unfortunately results haven’t matched intent. The USA, South Africa, Japan, Italy, Scotland, and Wales can all claim to have out-apexed these predatoresses of late, and the Red Roses’ 97-7 warmup win had become a training run within minutes.

Spain haven’t beaten a nation ranked higher than them in all this time – despite the exposure with as much resource as they’ve ever had – and there’ve even been murmurs from within camp that they’ve not progressed.

Just a fortnight ago, Lourdes Alameda – Las Leonas’ most experienced player – admitted concerns that they weren’t up to the challenges of Pool C, saying: “we’ve taken some steps forward, but I don’t feel we’re better prepared than ever. If we faced the national team from four years ago, I wouldn’t be sure [who’d win].”

Head coach: Sevilla-born Juan González Marruecos won three caps at hooker, before coaching a handful of men’s club outfits in Spain. After the 2017 World Cup he was brought in by José Antonio Barrio to work with the forwards, where he had an immediate impact. Barrio moved on after the group’s non-qualification for the last tournament, and recommended Marruecos as his successor.

He’s spoken this month about Spain’s return to rugby’s ‘elite’, and the team’s character, but – however gutsy they were against New Zealand – it’s hard to see where an actual result might come, unless they can shock Japan – a nation they’ve lost four out of four against in the past two years.

Squad overview: Marruecos selected 28 World Cup debutants, three athletes off to their second, and one – Alameda – who competed in both Ireland and France. Six arrived in England with more than 30 caps, and twelve with single figures. Since you asked – 20 play their club rugby in Spain, eight compete in France’s Élite 1 or 2, and there’s a quartet from Premiership Women’s Rugby.

The big absentee is versatile forward Carmen Castellucci, who’s spending her September continuing to rehabilitate an ACL rupture. Rangy but fiercely powerful, and with a skillset to die for, she’s the sort of player who could trouble any side. And quite literally irreplaceable.

Hooker Cristina Blanco Herrera is pinpoint from the touchline and seriously dynamic in-field, Nerea Garcia is her favourite target – breathtakingly acrobatic in the air – and Claudia Peña and Amalia Argudo are in the competition’s top ten for, pound-for-pound, entertainment value.

Fun fact: Ask anyone – the staff at her former home Gloucester-Hartpury, her new teammates at Harlequins, or Peña – who she recruited to TW2 in one of the jinkiest bits of business the PWR has ever seen: Laura Delgado is squad culture ambrosia. She has (and this is very on-brand) the heart of a lioness, an infectious smile and an innate ability to lift those around her.

The prop converted to rugby as a sidelined 21-year-old hammer throwing sensation, and has travelled the world with the game. Clubs in Spain, France, the USA, New Zealand, and England have all benefited from her charisma off-pitch, and her ballistic presence on it.

‘Bimba’ – a Spanish onomatopoeia for a huge hit or crush – might have left the hammer behind, but she’s just as capable of demolition jobs in 2025.