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WREC Round 3: Spain claim Championship in style
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If there were any doubts surrounding Spain’s chances of winning yet another Women’s Rugby Europe Championship, their 43-19 win over the Netherlands should be enough to quell any supporter concerns.
In his first campaign as head coach, Régis Sonnes has led Las Leonas to their 12th Women’s Rugby Europe Championship title and the side can now head to the WXV Global Series Challenger in high spirits.
As for the battle for third place newcomers, Belgium, were simply ruthless against Portugal, and claimed the bronze medal at the end of a 15-5 affair.
There’s no stopping Peña and Argudo
Dutch hopes of claiming their first Championship trophy came to a screaming halt on Saturday. Not only due to Spain’s spectacular set-piece but also because of Amalia Argudo and Claudia Peña Hidalgo’s bottomless bag of tricks.
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The Stade Toulousain full-back and the Harlequins centre were imperious and created a constant stream of attacking opportunities that set Spain on the path to victory.
When the dust had settled, Argudo had bagged two tries, four conversions and one penalty, while Peña Hidalgo had managed to crack open the Dutch line five times, beat nine defenders and assisted two of Spain’s six tries.
Cristina Blanco Herrera, Eider García and Lourdes Alameda also put out a massive shift, with the forward pack trio fronting up and getting the best of the opposition, emboldening the Spanish forward machine in the game’s last half hour.
The bench made a difference
While Spain was already comfortably in the lead when head coach Régis Sonnes started refreshing his side. The truth is that operators like Bingbing Vergara, Eider García, Cristina Blanco Herrera and Gemma Silva were as vital as Amalia Argudo and Claudia Peña Hidalgo.
Let’s take Vergara, for example. The replacement scrum-half came on when Spain led by 10 points. She helped her side turn up the pressure by creating several passages of quality play that pushed Spain into camp inside the Dutch 22m.
The scrum-half ended up assisting Argudo’s second try of the game by sending a cross-field kick out of nowhere, which was successfully gathered by her full-back, and even secured a score of her own with eight minutes left of the contest.
Trailfinders Women’s Blanco Herrera was vital to solidify the Spanish set-piece dominance, brilliantly led the lineout and scrum. Much to the opposition’s dismay.
Spain’s strengths don’t end with Peña Hidalgo and Argudo or the ability to control the unpredictable. Their bench replacements can act as a tonic to galvanise Las Leonas when they need to.
Belgium end the campaign on a high
Belgium and Portugal faced off at the Sportcomplex Sint-Gillis in Dendermonde. At full-time the hosts, Gaëtan Kabasele’s Lionnes, had earned a 15-5 win to finish third at the 2026 Women’s Rugby Europe Championship.
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In a match plagued by a heavy, muddy pitch, Belgium committed far fewer mistakes and penalties than their opposition, as they made the lineout and breakdown their domain throughout the match.
Skipper, and Player of the Match, Cristina Pecoraro snatched more than three breakdown turnovers, the Lionnes showed that they have the potential of becoming a force to be reckoned with within Rugby Europe competition.
It was remarkable how Belgium dominated Portugal. Kabaselle’s side enacted a cunning plan that deprived their rivals of any space or time to play with the ball.
Despite the harsh weather conditions, the ability to string together several phases of play, while moving the ball confidently forward, was enough to overcome Portugal’s Lobas.
Is Portugal’s growth momentum gone?
With Belgium deservedly taking the win, what can Portugal take from their worst Women’s Rugby Europe Championship campaign since they joined the competition in 2022?
Against Spain there were promising signs of the Lobas fighting to get back to their best. Against Belgium all came crashing down as the Portuguese were not able to counter the opposition’s strengths for most of the match.
With a set-piece that barely worked and an attacking strategy that lacked any speed and pace, the Lobas didn’t have any solutions to counter a Belgium that wanted more.
Not even huge efforts from Ana Fernandes, Sara Moreira and Ana Mata were enough to inject a bit of belief that they could come out as winners from the competition’s closing game.
Despite some promising talent coming through the ranks the Portuguese game plan seemed bereft of energy, fire and life, as their Championship rivals easily pinned them against a proverbial wall.
