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Laura Delgado’s WXV 3 Diary: 'The most important trophy of them all'

Laura Delgado after winning the WXV 3 trophy with Spain in Dubai. Credit: Laura Delgado

As promised in the second entry of the diary, Laura Delgado and the Leonas fulfilled their promise: a World Cup qualification. Not only did they book a ticket to England 2025, but they were also able to lift the WXV 3 trophy for the first time ever.

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Already on home soil, Laura sat down to write the final page of her team’s WXV 3 adventure, starting with a newfound feeling.

“It is/was definitely a different kind of Sunday, and when I say different, I mean positively different. Going back a few hours, I couldn’t believe what we were able to achieve when the game ended. Those last few minutes were insane and crazy, making everything even more special. We worked tirelessly to get to this level, but I would be lying if it didn’t feel like a dream when that last kick wasn’t converted.”

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‘This Energy Never Stops’ – One year to go until the Women’s Rugby World Cup

With exactly one year to go until Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 kicks off
in Sunderland, excitement is sweeping across the host nation in anticipation of what
will be the biggest and most accessible celebration of women’s rugby ever.

Register now for the ticket presale

With no time left on the clock, Fiji managed to find the try area, shortening the score to a two-point margin with a conversion still to come. If it went through the poles, it would mean Samoa was the new WXV 3 champion. If it didn’t, Spain would reign supreme. So, the important question: did Laura keep her eyes open while the conversion was taking place?

“Oh, I went back and forth thinking ‘Do I watch it or not? Do I watch it or not?’. I didn’t want to but ultimately, I didn’t close my eyes. I fully believed that my teammates would pressure the conversion and make the kicker slightly tremble and miss it. And… that’s what happened! I just remember jumping and hugging everyone, starting with my co-captain Alba Vinuesa, and then Lucía Diniz. A moment that I will never forget.”

And what was the first thing she wanted to do after the final whistle?

“I kept just asking ‘Where is my phone? I want to call my mother!’. But to be honest, it was a weird feeling. All that commotion and I just wanted to be left alone on the pitch and wander it by myself to have a breather and reflect on what we had achieved. At the same time, I also wanted to just jump around with everyone and celebrate. Happiness can come in all forms and shapes and can be displayed also in different forms and shapes.”

As in all the past diary entries, Laura provides another revelation.

“We were already informed we had qualified for the World Cup before our game started. In a previous team meeting, we decided to not keep the Hong Kong China vs Netherlands final score a secret. So, when the decisive match ended, the staff asked us to meet them on the pitch, and they announced our World Cup qualification.

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“I didn’t believe in it or, better, I didn’t want to believe in it. My goal was to beat Fiji and earn our qualification. The Netherlands vs Hong Kong China didn’t change anything, to be honest. We all processed differently, as there were some who were relieved and more at peace, those who were even more nervous, but all of us shared the same goal: win and qualify with our own merits.”

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WXV 3
Fiji Womens
8 - 10
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Spain Women
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But let’s backtrack for a moment. After that bone-clashing match against the Netherlands, only one hurdle remained, with one final week to process their emotions and expectations. With so much at stake, how did those final seven days go for Laura and Spain?

“The past week was dipped in emotions. We had been working and living together for the past five weeks with just one goal in our sights: to qualify for the World Cup. So those final six days were always going to pack a Godzilla-level emotional punch. I think it was important for me to talk with our mental health coach and go through those emotions and fears.

“The staff was amazing in how they scheduled our agenda, as they sought to simmer down the pressure and help us get ready for the Fiji game without any negative feelings. For example, on Wednesday we went to Hard Rock Café to have a meal and when we came back to the hotel, they had set up a type of obstacle course.

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“We had to dress in costumes and go through it with the finish line being the swimming pool. When we got there, they were waiting with water pistols. It was messy, slippery and great fun. It helped us to keep our spirits high.”

Mental health has become one of the main priorities of the Spanish staff since 2018, a game-changing factor for success in Laura’s opinion,

“Those small details can make the difference. Yes, it isn’t all just fun and games, but sometimes it is good to take the pressure off, even if it is momentarily. We understood the assignment, we knew what our goals were, and what we had to do, and staff made sure to give us the right tools to fight for our dream. We practice hard, and then have our off time, like that lunch in Hard Rock Café or watching Inside Out.”

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A meaningless question, but who’s your favourite emotion from Inside Out?

“Of course, it has to be Joy! It’s who I am! I like that movie so much, as the girl is trying to find who she is and goes through that challenging journey. We all dressed up in the colours representing the Emotions in the movie.”

Now going back to the game, Fiji, already qualified for the World Cup, had nothing to win or lose, resulting in a nerve-wracking encounter that went until the last play. What were your thoughts about the game?

“It was a tough game as we expected. Fiji wasn’t going to just make things easy for us and let us celebrate. They wanted revenge for last year’s defeat in WXV 3 and made things hard for us, especially in the set-piece. Our front row was heavily pressured from the get-go, adding another layer of difficulty, but we tried to counter their power with our quick backline and kicking prowess.

“Something that was astonishing for me was how we didn’t crumble or self-doubt when we made mistakes, maintaining our focus and belief. Our defence was also unreal and the backbone of our victory.”

And who was the MVP?

“Yeah, Alba [Capell] is great, isn’t she? She is just tough as nails, doesn’t fall when tackled, and works non-stop. It was inspiring to see the whole team working as one and showing their best in those critical moments like Alba did.”

For the Harlequins prop, the WXV 3 trophy-lifting surpassed all other titles won before,

“I won a couple of Premiership Women’s Rugby and Allianz Cups, as well the Women’s Rugby Europe Championship, but WXV 3 was the most important trophy of them all. All the work, sacrifice and effort that I’ve poured into my career was with the goal of helping Spain achieve great things, and I feel we have done it in WXV 3.”

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With the game finished and the celebrations ensued, a casualty occurred… the WXV3 trophy was broken into two pieces.

“Yeah, it has become a bit of a tradition to break something when we win a trophy! We previously had broken a Women’s Rugby Europe Championship plate. But it was just the beginning of our celebrations. We stayed in the stadium, where we had dinner and partied, all set up by our incredible team manager. We danced, did a push-up contest, a player and a member of the staff placed a glass on their heads and had to dance without letting it fall, sang different tunes, etc.”

The 12th of October wasn’t special just because it could mean a title victory and a World Cup qualification, as it was also Laura’s final WXV campaign. Did she make any changes to her day-game formula?

“I woke up early and did my routine. Along the day I received a lot of letters, messages and calls from teammates and former colleagues wishing me good luck or giving me love. Then I sat down and wrote what could’ve been my last speech as a Spanish international, but immediately thought to myself ‘No, it won’t be the last. It can’t be the last.’. I lived that Saturday like it was a movie, with music in the background and all. And like any good movie, it ended with joy and a happy ending.”

There was no dish or food worth mentioning, but there was a novelty on the music front,

“I won a new nickname this week which is: Bimbolas. It was all thanks to a specific music from Tiago PZK, an Argentinian singer. I was already known as Bisa (which means bisabuela, the Spanish word for great grandmother) and Bimba. One morning, Monica Castelo called me ‘Hey Bimbolas, how are you today?’, and it stuck. They kept singing the tune “Bombona, Bimbolas” all the time. It became my WXV 3 theme, and I listened to it the whole week. Thank you, Monica!”

And for those wondering, the Deborah Cartas had another update.

“We got a lot of great letters, but there were a couple that caught our attention: a series of poems. They were so well-written, full of passion and encouragement, but we don’t know who wrote them. We are trying to find the author… and, no, it wasn’t me! So, if you are reading this, please contact us, as those letters were deeply special.”

With a WXV promotion and qualification for England 2025 on the bag, is it now the perfect moment for Spain to go all in in the women’s game?

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“I hope people understand this isn’t the end of our journey, but the beginning. It was never going to stop with the World Cup qualification. The team wants more, especially the youngest players, who dream that women’s rugby in Spain can be professionalized. The board already told us that they want to support and invest in us even more, pushing Spain to the next level.”

And after all those weeks, practices, team meetings, interviews, and games, does Laura think women’s rugby is growing?

“Oh, it is, it is. You could see it by the reaction of our fans at home, and the thousands of messages we received since before the first game. There’s more joy, support, help, ideas, news, coverage and hands on deck. It isn’t just a marriage or an illusion anymore, it is real, and it is a global growth.”

So, was WXV a good idea?

“As I’ve already said, yes, especially for nations like Spain, Netherlands, Madagascar, Samoa, etc. We used to play so few Test matches in the past, but with WXV our agenda has greatly expanded, providing a chance for most teams to show what they can do. It was a bullseye bet from World Rugby.”

As she writes down her last words in the WXV Diary, Laura ‘Bimba’ Delgado bids not a farewell, but a see you soon to the rugby world public.

“There’s a World Cup on the horizon. I will see you all there and remember… Vamos, Leonas!”

Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 tickets application phase is now open! Apply now.

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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