Santiago Santos: “World Rugby’s decision on Russia is the most logical”
MADRID, 10 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The captain of the Spanish rugby team, Fernando Santos, appealed to the team’s ability to “get up” to insist that they continue to depend on themselves, although they know they cannot “fail any more”, at the same time as the coach, Santiago Santos stressed that the goal is “direct qualification” for the World Cup, “but going to the playoffs would not be a failure.”
“When we fall, we either stay on the ground or get up stronger. We fell many times and now we are alive, depending on ourselves, we know that we cannot fail anymore. We are facing the final stretch, which is the most important thing,” he said. López at a press conference to analyze the duel against Portugal next Sunday.
A victory would put Spain directly in the World Cup and the atmosphere in the Central Stadium of the Complutense will be key again. “We wait for the fans as always, they give us extra strength. Let them come to live the match, they played their match against Romania in the stands”, explained Fernando López.
A support that Santos also requested. “Communion with the public and the stands is essential. The support is very important, it helps the players. I’m happy that people identify with the team. We want them to fill the stands with red and shout a lot, that also helps win the game,” he added.
Asked about World Rugby’s decision to keep all the points of the qualifier and give a victory to those who still had to play against Russia, sidelined from the competition due to the conflict in Ukraine, Santos believes that it is the “most logical” decision. “It’s a decision that he expected. Having played more than half of the championship, it’s normal to keep the games going. But you have to win on the pitch, you have to beat Portugal. The business remains the same”, he assessed.
“IT WOULD NOT BE A FAILURE TO GO TO THE PLAY-UP”
And it is that this decision is the one that most favors Spain, which continues to depend on itself to be in the next World Cup. “We haven’t done the math yet (if Romania loses on Saturday), every game is different. To say that we are going to draw a game is very complicated. This is not the last bullet, we have two chances left, and I see the team capable of winning against Georgia. We want to qualify directly, but it would not be a failure to go to the playoffs. The goal is to go to the World Cup, if we have to go to the playoffs, we will go,” he said.
Opposite will be Portugal this Sunday, the last hurdle to achieve that coveted classification and for which the Spanish team will maintain its style. “We will remain faithful to our style, there will be no special changes. We have shown that we play with quality, the challenge is to endure it for the 80 minutes. I wanted to play like the first 40 minutes against Romania for the entire match”, he confessed.
“There aren’t many secrets, Portugal has a very good team. Despite the casualties they have a very good team, there won’t be any surprises. I think they have a game system that works for them and it won’t change much, there may be some small not big ones, because they are working well,” analyzed Santos.
The coach, who did not want to give clues about the call, highlighted the “closet depth” of the Spanish team. “A team is not 15 players. The level is sometimes given by the third player in the position. You need 40 good players to be competitive, you need that wardrobe. We have arrived well at this moment,” he explained about the squad .
“There is a group of very good young players behind us. We have veteran people of a high level as well. In the ‘nine’ and ‘ten’ we have people for the next 10-15 years. If we think about the 2031 World Cup, they will surely be there. This is good news for Spanish rugby,” said Santos, who, together with López, had a special memory for Kawa Leauma, a player who died in December, to whom they promised to “give everything to go to the World Cup.”