25 years after its first participation, Spain will find the World Cup. The Leones validated their ticket for Australia, in 2027 after a success against Switzerland (13-43) last Sunday. The Spaniards can finally forget the nightmare that has been consuming them for 7 years: two consecutive disqualifications when they had qualified for the 2019 and 2023 editions. Spain had aligned foreign players who were not eligible. Before challenging Georgia this Sunday in Madrid (12:45 pm), Gauthier Minguillion, Spanish international of Valence Romans (Pro D2), already wore the yellow and red jersey in 2018. He tells how much these past episodes have marked his career and those of his teammates.
Have you experienced the disqualification of Spain to the last two World Cups, what does the qualification for the next edition in Australia represent in 2027?
GAUTHIER MINGUILLION. It’s a lot of fun. And a relief somewhere, in the sense that there is a story that started with a group of players, some are no longer there but it could not end like that. For those who still play, it’s important and it makes us happy. We had to pay tribute to all his guys who deserved him and who should have participated.
Precisely, how to react those who were 2019 and 2023 campaigns and who hung up?
I think it makes them happy but it remains a sensitive passage of their lives. When you couldn’t taste it and you see others getting there, I understand that it is something complicated, but I know it makes them all happy.
You are 30 years old, will you participate in the World Cup in 2027?
If they want me yes (laughs). This one, I will not miss it voluntarily. The goal is to do the best club performance for two years, to keep me ready. I think it will be an opportunity to end my professional career in apotheosis, it would be incredible.
“I was surprised by the professionalism and maturity of new players”
You are one of the “former” of this very young team. What is your role on the field and outside to prepare the team for these important matches?
After disqualification I did not go back because of an injury first, and then because I had voluntarily chosen to focus on my new club. I did not play with Spain for two years. I was fortunate to be recalled in a completely new team, which I discovered, which was very young indeed, and I was surprised by the professionalism and maturity of all the new players. In no case would I have allowed myself after two years of absence to give advice to everyone, it is not my role. In addition to that, they clearly didn’t need it (…) After of course, with some “old” we exchanged, from time to time we speak, so as not to redo the same mistakes as in the past.
What is the goal of Spain at the World Cup?
We will have time to talk about it, we qualified for the World Cup, we are very happy, it was the first goal. Now our second objective is the European championship, we have a last group match this weekend against Georgia. Even if it has not been clearly announced as a goal, if we are engaged in final stages, we want to win them. Spain does not yet have a title maybe one day it will come.
“I want the player who falsified his passport for purely personal reasons”
After two disqualifications in a blow, who do you want?
I want the principal concerned, to the player who falsified his passport for purely personal reasons, he destroyed the dream and the efforts of guy who had been working for that for a very long time (…) I also want people who took advantage (Editor’s note: the Portuguese Federation, which had denounced the offense with World Rugby), which supported it, which were not able to qualify sportingly, which bet everything on that. There have been negligence on the part of the federation, it was poorly managed, but they are not guilty in the first place. The only culprit is the player in question.
What do you want in Spanish rugby for the coming years?
The World Cup must serve as a springboard and an accelerator with Spanish rugby. The championship in Spain must develop. I do not know how but I hope there will be positive benefits. It is super good that there are Spanish players who are able to evolve in Pro D2, in Top 14, in National, but we also have very good players in the national team who perform in the Spanish championship. It is a championship which is full of good players but which financially has nothing to do with the French championship.
Have the recent various facts in the rugby world have slowed down the celebration?
It is celebrated with sparingly. The guys took advantage of it in the evening but insofar as reasonable, and then the advantage is that when we qualify outside in a country where beer is 20 euros (Editor’s note: in Switzerland), it dissuades of all excesses (laughs). They took advantage but we will taste even more at the end of the European championship. All these stories that we hear about in France are very far from Spanish players, it does not happen in their country, they do not feel concerned. The drifts that there has been in rugby are due to French rugby. In Spain we never had these worries.