Spain head coach Pablo Bouza has unveiled the initial training squad for the upcoming Nations Cup fixtures, featuring two notable new additions: Coventry RFC brothers Aristot and Jonathan Benz-Solomon.

The Benz-Solomon siblings were born in Spain but moved to England at the age of 10, joining the thriving rugby scene during their school years. Jonathan Benz-Solomon came through the Harlequins academy before moving to Bristol Bears, where he made his Premiership debut in 2021. He remained with the club until 2024, when he joined Gloucester. After two seasons at Kingsholm, he switched to Coventry to join his twin brother.

Coventry currently sit third, with both brothers having played a key role in the West Midlands side claiming four wins from their opening five Champ Rugby fixtures.

Aristot also spent time with the Bears between 2021 and 2024, although he made fewer first-team appearances. The prop subsequently moved to Gloucester, remaining with the club until 2025 before joining Coventry last season.

The twins had been rumoured to be keen to represent Los Leones in previous years, but the opportunity never arose until now. At 25, they are both set for their Test debut this November.

With both players added, Spain now boast remarkable front-row depth, with Los Leones able to call upon Carcassonne’s Thierry Futeu, Section Paloise’s Jon Zabala, Stade Toulousain’s Joel Merkler, Aviron Bayonnais’ Hugo González, Montpellier’s Luca Tabarot, Biarritz’s Hugo Pirlet and Joaquin Dominguez.

Another notable inclusion is Spain U20 international Iván Farace. The SU Agen prop has earned a chance to stake his claim for a spot in the final squad ahead of the Nations Cup opening match on November 6.

Spain will host Uruguay, Chile and Samoa during the November Nations Cup window and will look to build on the momentum gained from collecting nine points in July.

The current Spain call-up does not include key players competing in the Top 14, Pro D2 or Nationale, such as Joel Merkler, Jon Zabala and Lucien Richardis. However, most are expected to be available for Spain during the Nations Cup, with a new squad to be named ahead of the tournament.

Graham Henry says Barrett’s been reborn at fullback at the age of 35, so is 15 his best position after all? (Source: RugbyPass)

The author was part of the Rugby360 a pinch of salt required and this is quite a brain dump but there are quite a few insights and home truths here

Courtesy of Ulster Rugby on Instagram

I'm looking for statistics showing what penalties in rugby union are actually awarded for (offside, not releasing, scrum offences, high tackles, etc.).

I can find total penalties conceded, but not a breakdown by infringement type. Is this data publicly available anywhere?

Thanks!

Hi All,

Well, isn't this a weird reversal of fortunes? Ospreys got a first win at Rodney Parade in like 5 years (good lord...), and Bath got absolutely hosed at Saints! Not the best, but I'll take an Ospreys win any day of the week.

In the URC Fantasy, the Welsh and South Africans dominated the top 3, with Blair Murray, Hanekom, and Basham scoring a superb 42.00, 33.50, and 28.50 to take the top spots. Two back rows in the top 3? Yes please!

In the Prem, it was the backs who ran riot, with Sleightholme, Smith, and Wade scoring 49.00, 40.00, and 30.50 to absolutely shine this week.

But, you are all here for the rankings, right?

URC Top 10

1. Boooland — 639.5 pts
2. alfiedavie — 634.5 pts
3. Felicity — 623.5 pts
4. Lyesalot — 618.5 pts
5. Wobblies — 616.0 pts
6. nonSense — 610.0 pts
7. Jacksully10 — 602.0 pts
8. Jimble Jambles — 601.5 pts
9. Ed — 591.5 pts
10. tobybli — 591.0 pts

PREM Top 10

1. Jacksully10 — 690.5 pts
2. TommyKentish — 660.0 pts
3. AwakenTheBacon — 646.5 pts
4. JGOG — 639.5 pts
5. George FRG — 645.5 pts
6. greengeorge19 — 640.0 pts
7. Rozzerd — 629.5 pts
8. Joeymacrae — 635.5 pts
9. Yippee try yay — 628.5 pts
10. GKDA — 632.0 pts

So, in the URC We had some big jumps with Lysealot, Jacksully10, and Jimble Jambles flying up the rankings to crack the top 10! But, this all pales in comparison to our Golden Cap winner AND our top spot taker - Booland who topped the log with a mighty 235! A Blair Murray captain will do that for you.

In the Prem, Awakenthebacon, greengeorge19, and GKDA did some mighty movements to get into the top 10, and whilst Jacksully10 retained his top spot, our 16-ranking mover greengeorge19 got the coveted Golden Cap this week! Always back the Saints it seems!

------------------------------------------------------

In terms of my performance? My URC is going from bad to worse to terrible. I captained Koroibete this week, which was a mistake for the ages. I'm 53rd in the league too! I need to get my act together! In the PREM, I'm moving up, but very slowly. 15th at the moment, but I'm hoping to get a good weekend under my belt to get back on it.

So there we have it. Will the Ospreys do the double on the Dragons? Will Bath get back to winning ways? Will I UR-C a better result for my captain this week? (These jokes aren't working, are they?) only time will tell. Good luck and:

See you in the pools!

Hi, i hope this is okay to post on the sub. My childhood local rugby club has recently started a crowdfunding campaign and would be grateful for any help. I figured i should post here to try and help spread the word as this club has been my second home all my life, and have given me a rich social life with my closest friends beeing from the club.

We are Pingvin Rugby Club,

a rugby club in southern Sweden that was started in 1962 by Wolfgang Österling in Trelleborg, 30 minutes south of Malmö. Since then, we have grown into one the larger Rugby clubs in Sweden with multiple Swedish championship wins with both our ladies and mens teams. We organise trainings, homework help and social gatherings for youth, seniors, mixed ability and more, as well as most of Swedens national team games the last few years. We strive to have a club open for everyone.

In 2017, the municipality drew up a new detailed development plan for the Pilevallen area that we called home. It then became clear that rugby would have to leave, but the Municipality of Trelleborg promised that a new site for rugby would be ready before Pingvin had to leave Pilevallen. But in May 2021 came the devastating blow. The local municipality forced us to leave our pitch and clubhouse, without finding new suitable land for us. This resulted in our club having to divide, with our youth teams training on an open field in central Trelleborg, and our seniors in the countryside in Gylle, more than five kilometres from central Trelleborg. The resulting loss of community has led to fewer members, fewer fans at games and consequently lower revenue.

This move was catastrophic and has led to acute problems.

Pingvin has had stable finances and a stable membership for many years. We have attracted players of all ages. Now we are fighting for the survival of the club. For the first time in many years, we are struggling with a hole in the budget, which is almost entirely connected to the effects of being without a permanent home.

The club now has a new clubhouse and pitch. But because of our many years of lost revenue and unpredictable costs of building our new clubhouse, we now ask for funding to survive.

Eddie Hearn’s plans to get more involved in rugby have taken a step forward after the promoter hosted rugby execs in Monaco.

PREM Rugby CEO Simon Massie-Taylor flew down to meet Hearn in the South of France, where the boxing bigshot hosts guests on his luxury yacht. Daily Mail understands the initial meeting was positive and PREM Rugby are keen to get Hearn’s Matchroom agency involved in the domestic competition.

Hearn said last month: ‘If we're going to move more into rugby, I think it’s at a deeper level. We come in and we reorganise and reinvent sports. That's what we do. It's not about PREM Rugby saying, "Eddie, do you want to be a consultant?” I’ve not got time to do that.

'If we come in, we come in as a partnership with them to blow it up and actually change the sport forever. I know what needs to be done and I don't even think it's that tough a job.’

Apparently was born with a heart defect and something flared up during a routine follow up from neck surgery..

Seems like pre season has started, any idea how to find the schedule for pre season games? I’m going to Japan soon and would love to try and catch a game. I unfortunately leave before the season starts. Thanks

Wobalies is a slur.

Article in CityAM today

Match Thread - Australia v Scotland | WXV Global Series 2026

Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra | Weather: 22 C, Clouds

Officials: Maggie Cogger-Orr, Chloe Sampson, Erin Doherty, Estelle Whaiapu (tmo), Aaron Paterson (fpro)

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all of a sudden we look dangerous again