Belgium shock Spain

Final of IV Nations

Belgium beat Spain 18-6, six kicks to two kicks, in the final of the inaugural IV Nations tournament.

The result is a surprise to Spain and a blow to the country's hopes of qualifying for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.  This tournament was to have acted as part of the Spanish preparation for their match against Czech Republic and the Spanish side had something of an experimental look about it.

To get to the final Spain had had a convincing (25-7) victory over the Welsh Amateurs while Belgium had beaten the French Amateurs 15-12.

The match was slow and only kicks scored.  The Belgian fullback Carlos Fiero kicked three penalties in the first 20 minutes to give his side a 9-0 lead.  Experienced Spanish flyhalf Esteban Roqué reduced the deficit to 9-6 but then Foero added a fourth to make the score 12-6 at half-time.

Spain made every effort to score a try in the second half but, despite chances, did not manage a single point while Belgium added two dropped goals.  The Belgium pack denied Spain possession and was the instrument of victory.

In the play-off for third place.  France Amateurs beat Wales 28-17.  The tries each scored a try but seven penalty goals and four yellow cards put paid to Welsh hopes.

Scorers:

For Belgium:
Pens:  Fiero 4
Drops:  Fiero, André

For Spain:
Pens:  Roqué 2

Teams:

Belgium:  15 Carlos Fiero, 14 D Nemesdaze, 13 Thibaut André, 12 Dirk Haghendooren, 11 Simon Marote, 10 Peter Dunman, 9 Olivier Mahieu, 8 Pierre Plasman, 7 Bertrand Billi, 6 Mathieu Molreu, 5 Damien Godefroy, 4 Mathieu Verschelden, 3 Jerome Wey, 2 Norman Wende, 1 Alain Miriallakis
Replacements:  16 Patrice Gautier, 17 Julien Massimi, 18 Cyrille Nana, 19 Geoffroy Mulls, 20 Charlie Fourneau, 21 Daniel Nkwasina, 22 Romain Orban, 23 Aaron Denmati, 24 S.  Gunsl, 25 Noam Dubart, 26 Fabian Renquin.

Spain:  15 Rafael Álvarez, 14 Tomás Salvador, 13 David Mota, 12 Javier Canosa, 11 Juan Cano, 10 Esteban Roqué, 9 Matthieu Lo, 8 Álvaro Lázaro, 7 Juan González (captain), 6 Rafael Camacho, 5 Guillermo Bárcena, 4 Andrew Ebbet, 3 Manuel Serrano, 2 José Maria Bohorquez, 1 Jon Insausti
Replacements:  16 Diego Zarzosa, 17 Javier Salazar, 18 Carlos Souto, 19 Iván Criado, 20 , 21 Antonio Beltrán, 22 César Caballero, 23 César Sempere, 24 Álvar Enciso, 25 Matthieu Cidré

Referee:  Bruno Gaudefrin (France)