EXCLUSIVEInside Spain's grand plans to storm rugby: Hosting 2035 World Cup, a club in Europe's elite and turning Six Nations into the Eight Nations

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Over in Madrid, Spanish rugby officials are plotting to wake up one of the sport’s ‘sleeping giants’.

Hosting the 2035 World Cup is at the heart of the plan but it is just one element of their long-term strategy to open a new market of millions.

Later this year, Spain will host England’s A team in a fixture that will most likely be staged in Madrid or Valladolid. It will be an early litmus test of their new high-performance programme, centrally contracting 30 players with the goal of breaking into the top 10 within 10 years.

‘If World Rugby give Spain the responsibility to organise the 2035 and 2037 World Cup for men and women, we are certain we will deliver with passion an incredible World Cup,’ vice-president of Spain Rugby Gabriel Saez told Rugby Confidential.

‘We are trying to think outside of the box. Our union is 100 years old so how can we change the history of Spanish rugby? We consider Spain a sleeping giant of rugby and now we are waking up the sleeping giant. The Spanish population is 48million. There is a lot of potential.

‘Right now, we are ranked 16th in the world but we are not far away from 12th or 13th. Spain did not have a high performance structure in 2022, everything was broken, so we have full potential. We have the population, we have sporting tradition, we have ability. By 2035, we want to be around the top 10 in the world.

Spain have already qualified for the 2027 World Cup, which will mark 28 years since their last appearance at the tournament

Spain are targeting top 10 in the world by the time the 2035 Rugby World Cup comes around

Spain's only previous World Cup appearance was in 1999, when they ran Uruguay close before being thrashed by South Africa and Scotland

‘But the message our Spanish Rugby Union wants to send is that we are not just looking at the value for our country. We think we can help the game to grow. Spanish is spoken by almost 500million people in the world and I think it’s an incredible window into a different market.’

The union are working with the Spanish government and La Liga to turbo-charge their bid for the 2035 World Cup. They met with World Rugby officials in Hong Kong last week, doubling down on their proposals to showcase rugby at the likes of the Nou Camp and the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

‘People still talk about the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona,’ added Saez. ‘The whole country buys into these events and makes it special. Our country is set up for events like this.

‘We need eight or nine stadiums to host the World Cup and we can choose from 40. We have enough stadiums to organise two World Cups. Spain will host the football World Cup in 2030 so we don’t need to build new stadiums. Our football stadiums are multipurpose, the proper size for rugby. We have stadiums spread all around the country: Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, La Coruna, Basque Country, Valladolid, Valencia.

‘Spain is a very modern country and has all the infrastructure. Airports, bullet trains, highways, police, health support, weather, food, beer, people.

'We hosted the final of the Top 14 in the Nou Camp and sold out with almost 100,000 fans. We played a game against an All Blacks veterans team – the oldies! – and 40,000 people came to watch.

'We sold out the stadium for our Kings Cup – between two Spanish teams – and people were trying to sell tickets outside for four times the value. There is plenty of interest here.’

Spain have already qualified for the 24-team 2027 World Cup in Australia – only their second World Cup after 1999 – and they are determined to make a statement on the pitch.

Bilbao's San Mames Stadium hosted the Champions Cup final in 2018 when Leinster beat France's Racing 92

Dan Carter of Racing 92 kicks at goal during the Top 14 final at the Nou Camp in 2016

The Nou Camp has been lined up as one of the potential venues for the 2035 World Cup

Portugal received a hero’s welcome at Lisbon airport following their campaign at the most recent World Cup, where they beat Fiji and drew with Georgia. Now Spain are hoping to deliver equally stirring performances.

‘We know we are a tier two nation but we plan to win games at the World Cup in Australia,’ said Saez. ‘We can be a good news story, believe me. We are not going there for the tourism.

‘We will centralise our players over the next six to eight weeks. Hopefully in the next two or three years, we will have a Spanish team in the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) competitions. Maybe the United Rugby Championship (URC), too.

'England's A team have just agreed to play a game against us in in November and the new Nations Cup will help us grow. The Nations Cup is a brilliant idea for tier two nations. The game needs to grow. If the game stays like this, we will be dying slowly. 

'The world is changing so fast and rugby needs to have a quick evolution. I think World Rugby is doing quite well in this.’

The potential is huge. If things go to plan, Spain will no doubt force their way into the conversations about the future of the Six Nations. Spanish rugby’s board is made up of shrewd, experienced businessmen who believe they can add long-term value by expanding the sport’s footprint.

‘The Six Nations is a private company,’ said Saez. ‘It has a private equity firm behind it. What happens with the Six Nations is not our decision, it is their decision. 

'We are realistic that we not ready for it yet but in a few years we will have a lot to offer. We are neighbours so it would be a natural next step. Georgia deserve to be there, too. Rugby needs to grow but the decision is with the Six Nations.

Portugal showed what's possible by beating Fiji and drawing with Georgia in the last World Cup

Spain have a burgeoning Sevens set-up and are targeting getting a 15-a-side team into the EPCR competitions

'The six countries will not want to lose their place so maybe it grows to eight teams. Maybe there is a space for a challenger. The competition was once four countries, then five, then six. Why not eight?’

Bath line up Lawrence replacements 

Northampton's Burger Odendaal and Gloucester's Chris Harris are on a shortlist of candidates if Bath decide to use their injury dispensation allowance to sign cover for Ollie Lawrence.

Bath lost their star centre to an achilles injury during the Six Nations and he is not expected to return until next season.

Injuries have hampered Odendaal’s impact at Northampton, while Harris could be squeezed out of the Gloucester set-up after they signed Will Joseph and Ben Redshaw.

As things stand, Bath are hoping to find cover from within their existing squad.

That won't fly over here 

The parachute stunt that delayed Toulouse’s Champions Cup match against Sale is not expected to be repeated around the Premiership any time soon.

Rugby Confidential understands one English club aborted plans to showcase a similar pre-match performance after a paratrooper broke his ankle in the rehearsal.

Sale's Champions Cup last 16 match against Toulouse was delayed by 40 minutes when a parachutist was caught on the roof while trying to land on the pitch 

Lozowski blow for Saracens 

Saracens centre Alex Lozowski could miss the bulk of the run-in after injuring his achilles.

The 31-year-old suffered the injury in the defeat by Harlequins and did not travel with the squad to France last weekend. Lozowski’s future at the club is uncertain, having not yet agreed a new contract beyond the end of the season.

Could Cheika stay with Leicester? 

Leicester Tigers are exploring the option of keeping Michael Cheika on a long-distance consultancy role.

Leicester Tigers are exploring the option of keeping Michael Cheika on a long-distance consultancy role

The Australian head coach is returning home at the end of the season but the club have not yet been able to find a successor.

If Leicester opt for a less experienced option, Cheika could perform a similar advisory role as Chris Boyd did from New Zealand for Northampton.

Quins lock in Launchbury 

Former England lock Joe Launchbury is set to sign a new contract at Harlequins.

The veteran is understood to have held talks with Worcester, as the West Midlands club prepare to make their return to the Championship next season.