Iberian Rugby Cup cancelled

The Spanish Rugby Federation today announced that the Iberian Rugby Cup had been cancelled after the withdrawal first Spanish and then of Portuguese sides.

It was to have been a eight-team competition with four Portuguese and four Spanish clubs taking part to kick off with a quarterfinal.

Then two top Spanish clubs withdrew – CRC Madrid, the Spanish champions and Cetransa El Salvador of Valladolid who were former champions. That left just two Spanish clubs – VRAC Quesos Entrepinares of Valladolid and Cajasol Rugby Ciencias of Seville. That left two Portuguese clubs, AEIS Agronomia and Direito without opponents in the first round so that they would go straight into the semifinals.

Three Portuguese clubs – Belenenses, CDUL and Direito – then withdrew because they could not meet their commitments without help from the Portuguese Rugby Federation.

Eight had =become three. Then the remaining Spanish clubs, VRAC Quesos Entrepinares and Cajasol Rugby Ciencias, contacted the Asociación de Clubes de Rugby and withdrew from the competition because there were simply too few taking part.

The Spanish Federation called the whole thing off.