MADRID, 8 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Argentine coach Pablo Bouza is the candidate chosen by the Royal Spanish Rugby Federation (FERugby) to be the new coach of the Spanish men’s XV, confirmed this Saturday the president of the organization, Juan Carlos Martín ‘Hansen’, during his opening speech of the General Assembly 2023.
As explained by the federation, Bouza, who is currently immersed in preparing for the 2023 World Cup in France with Uruguay, received “a formal proposal” from the FERugby technical management.
The vice president of the sports, planning and strategy area, Gabriel Sáez, has acknowledged that the talks are “very advanced” and highlighted the “suitability of the candidate” to direct a project that aims to lead Spain to the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
According to FERugby, Bouza has listened “with interest and enthusiasm” to the project to convert the ‘Leones’ into a Tier 1 team and could face it once his commitment to the Uruguayan Rugby Union is over.
Bouza is currently an assistant coach for the Uruguayan team, known as ‘Los Teros’, and a High Performance consultant for South America Rugby. He was international with ‘Los Pumas’, nickname of the Argentine team, and played in the 2003 World Cup.
As a coach, in 2016 he directed the Argentina XV, with whom he won the Americas Championship, and later he was assistant coach of ‘Los Pumas’, with whom he achieved fourth place in the 2015 World Cup. He also directed Peñarol Rugby in the SLAR, a competition which he won in 2023.
On the other hand, Sáez also confirmed during the Assembly that Pierre-Henry Broncan, coach of Castres Olympique from December 2020 to February 2023, would also be interested in joining the sports project as an advisor.