Spain, 1999
The short-lived 1999 World Cup campaign was Spain’s first and only to date, but robed in a striking combination of red, yellow and royal blue, their distinctive jersey certainly left an impression.
Despite breaking onto the international scene in the 1980s, beating 1987 World Cup invitees Zimbabwe more than once and running England and Scotland sides close, it wasn’t until the fourth iteration of rugby’s greatest competition that Spain would finally make their entrance. Despite hard-fought qualification runs in both 1991 and 1995, topping their initial groups before losing to Romania and Wales respectively, it wasn’t until Los Leones put together a four-game winning streak ahead of the first World Cup of the professional era that they would secure their place.
Westport brought out a fresh jersey design for Spain’s debut, a yellow stripe over the left shoulder and accenting the right sleeve coupled with an adjacent, thinner royal blue band, the colour that would also adorn the collar. Alongside the traditional colours of the flag, this blue had been long worn on the shorts and socks of España in homage to the House of Bourbon (a branch of which became the Spanish royal family), previously featuring across the back of the shoulders in the qualifying stages. With the IRB World Cup logo stitched onto the right chest, the Westport logo was also brought into the sternum, giving it a distinctive 90s feel.
Spain had waited a decade for their World Cup chance, but a group containing South Africa and Scotland was always sure to be a tough ask. Their opening game versus Uruguay, played at the improbable venue of Netherdale, Galashiels, was the best hope of a result for the side captained by the legendary Alberto Malo. However they would fall 15-27 in the Scottish borders before heavy defeats to South Africa (47-3) and Scotland (48-0), both at Murrayfield, ending the tournament try-less.
And despite their best efforts, Spain have yet to return to the competition to rectify their tarnished record. Twice they have come close and twice they have shot themselves in the foot; they were docked points for fielding ineligible players to halt their march to 2019, but in 2023 they looked to have finally booked their place once again with a dramatic 33-28 defeat of Portugal, only to be once again found to have fielded an ineligible player.
Today, they sport a Joma jersey, the design having moved away from the distinctive royal blue towards a far less exciting navy. Perhaps a return to their roots, along with a closer look at their squads passports, will finally see Spain return to the world stage in Australia.
