History
Rugby league started in Catalonia in autumn 2007, with the advice of people from the French Catalan region, where this sport has been played since the 1930s.
The number of clubs has been growing since 3 clubs participated in the first competition in southern Catalonia in 2008 (FC Barcelona, Aligots Girona and Nord-Català), to reach 9 teams in the first Catalonia Championships in April 2009: CR Tarragona, CR Valls, CR Sant Cugat, INEF Lleida, GEiEG, Poble Nou Enginyers, BUC, RC Garrotxa and Vic Crancs. Also, the first Rugby League Catalan University Championship was played in February 2009, with 9 teams in competition.
Catalonia is an unranked member of the Rugby League European Federation, however, though their participation in some international rugby league competitions, such as the Rugby League World Cup, is open to question, since Catalonia is not a sovereign nation, but an autonomous community of Spain. There is, however, a history of non-sovereign nations taking part: the teams from the British Isles in previous world cups have either been a joint Great Britain and Ireland team, or separate teams representing England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and a New Zealand Māori team has also participated in a World Cup.
First matches of Catalonia were in January 2008, when they participated in the French Interleague Championship held near Perpignan, in France. In June of the same year, Morocco beat Catalonia in a match played in Perpignan, 62-12.
In June 2009, Catalonia beat the Czech Republic in a match played prior to the Catalans Dragons vs Warrington Wolves Super League game. This match was an international warm-up ahead of the Euro Med Challenge contested by Catalonia, Morocco and Belgium. They lost 6-29 at home to Morocco, and 28-22 at Belgium.
In 2010 Catalonia played only friendlies, with a win over Czech Republic 16-66 in Prague.
Read more about this topic: Catalonia National Rugby League Team
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