Spain’s skyrocket was about to launch. If their surging national team could beat Belgium in Brussels in their final match of the Rugby Europe Championship (effectively, the Six Nations Division 2) they would qualify for the 2019 World Cup and would play Japan, the hosts, in the Tokyo stadium in the opening game, immediately after the opening ceremony, with the world watching. For one day at least, they would be bigger than the All Blacks, Barcelona and Real MadridSpain was already the fastest-rising rugby country on the planet. They had 35,000 for their cup final last season; their sevens teams in both sexes have won places in the HSBC World Sevens Series; rugby has a major presence in national newspapers, not least when they…

Source: The Times March 31, 2018 23:48 UTC