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

Pablo Bouza speaks to the media prior to the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between France and Uruguay at Stade Pierre Mauroy on September 14, 2023 in Lille, France. (Photo by David Ramos - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

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

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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.

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

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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.

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“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.”

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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.”

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Tom 35 minutes ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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