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Spain have been disqualified from competing at Rugby World Cup 2023. The winners of the Europe 2 qualification slot have been found guilty of breaching player eligibility laws by selecting South African prop Gavin van den Berg as a replacement in two Rugby Europe Championship matches against the Netherlands. Spain won the matches 43-0 and 52-7 to claim maximum competition points.
It was revealed that van den Berg was not eligible to play for Spain having not completed the requirements of three years consecutive residency, having returned to his home country in between domestic seasons for longer than is allowed under Regulation 8. Guidelines stipulate that players must remain in the country for 10 months a year to qualify on consecutive residency. Spain had hastily included van den Berg in order to qualify him under the three-year regulation which then changed to five years on January 1 of this year.
Complicating matters was that van den Berg had been incorrectly cleared to play for Spain by both the national federation (FER) and World Rugby. Those clearances were made based on false documentation provided by the player and his club Alcobendas. van den Berg’s social media presence alerted other unions of the breach and an appeal was made to World Rugby to investigate the matter, with an independent panel confirming his ineligibility.
The FER proposed to World Rugby that the player and club should be sanctioned instead. They would no longer support van den Berg’s visa and force his return to South Africa, with Alcobendas relegated to the second division. World Rugby, however, considers breaches of Regulation 8 a strict liability offense; “a failure by a Union to fulfill its obligations and to comply with the eligibility Regulations will be regarded as a serious breach of the Regulations, howsoever such breach may have occurred.”
As a result of the breach, the 10 points earned from Spain’s victories over the Netherlands have been removed from the Rugby Europe Championship table. Romania, who had initially been set to compete in the Repechage competition, will now take Spain’s place as Europe 2 in Pool B. Portugal will take Romania’s place in the Repechage.
Remarkably, this is the second time Spain have effectively been dumped from World Cup Qualification. Four years ago they were also sanctioned for the same offense, along with Belgium and Romania. On that occasion the players in question had represented France u20 and are, ironically, now eligible to play for Spain following World Rugby’s decision to allow ‘Union Transfers‘ based on birthright.
