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‘This is our future’: WXV 3 champions Spain and Samoa heading to World Cup
After helping Spain lift the WXV 3 title and secure their place at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, Las Leonas flanker Alba Capell warned the planet’s best teams to “be ready for us” in England next year.
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Player of the Match Capell scored Spain’s only try during the dramatic, and for long periods nervy, 10-8 victory against Fiji at The Sevens Stadium on Saturday that ensured they finished top of the third level standings.
Indeed, had Fijiana full-back Luisa Tisolo not sliced a conversion attempt with the final kick, it would have been Samoa who were crowned WXV 3 champions.
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But that mattered little to Capell, whose lung-busting performance put her side on course for victory and made good a promise she made herself following the agonising 15-13 defeat to Ireland that robbed Spain of the inaugural WXV 3 title last year.
“It’s everything,” an emotional Capell said moments after the final whistle in the United Arab Emirates. “These tears are tears of joy.
“Last year it was my birthday, the day we played against Ireland and my heart really broke, and I made a promise that next year if we’d be here, we’d be heading [back to] Spain with a trophy and that’s what we did.
“I mean, I got a tattoo that stands for trust in Spanish and that, that’s the museum of the future and now I think everything gets done together.
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“This is our future. Spain will be at England ’25 and I’m so proud of this team.”
Asked what the difference had been for Spain over the last three weeks, Capell added: “As a team, we’ve changed a lot.
“Our confidence in the field is just 200 times the way we did it last year and also thinking about this World Cup, it means everything to us and now we did it.
“It was our dream, it was our objective so be ready for us!”
Samoa did all they could to stop Spain lifting the trophy, running in seven tries to beat Madagascar 46-15 on Friday despite having four players sent to the sin bin and twice being reduced to 13 players.
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Manusina can at least console themselves with the fact that they have secured the second ticket to next year’s World Cup in England, recovering from a draw against the Netherlands to beat Fiji and Madagascar to finish second.
“I’m just so proud of our girls and proud that we’ve achieved the goal,” Samoa head coach Ramsey Tomokino said.
“Me and Sui [Pauaraisa] have been together, coach and captain since 2018 and we’ve done it. We’ve final put Samoa back where we need to be, at a World Cup.
“We’re good enough to be there. I’m not even going to talk about this game to our girls. Just enjoy the moment, enjoy that this group’s done something special.”
Pauaraisa added: “I am proud of the girls but I’m also proud of Madagascar with how they came out. They came out firing, they gave it to us.
“But the goal is there and we’re going. We’re going to the World Cup!”
In Saturday’s first match, the Netherlands ended their debut tournament on a high by securing a bonus-point 33-3 victory against Hong Kong China that lifted them up to third in the final standings.
Linneke Gevers (twice), Gaya van Nifterik, Anouk Veerkamp and Lieve Stallmann all crossed the whitewash for the Dutch. Full-back Stallmann added a further eight points with the boot.
The sole points for Hong Kong China, who lost hooker Fion Got to an early red card, came from a Zoe Smith penalty late in the first half.
