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As the La Vila Rugby boys gear up for their away game versus Ordizia on Sunday, it might be a good moment to step back and review what is happening in the league so far.

As some might remember, last season was La Vila’s first in the Honour Division of the Spanish Premiership League.  This league is comprised of the top ten clubs in Spain, with the winning team invited to take part in the prestigious European Cup.

While La Vila spent the first half of last season fighting valiantly not to be relegated, eventually managing to squeak in at eighth place, this season has been exceedingly different.  As the log stands after eighteen games, the team is now positioned at number two (37 points), five tantalising points behind log leaders El Salvador (42 points). 

So how has a team, emerging from a small, coastal town on the laidback, tourist-haven that is the Costa Blanca managed to arrive where it is today?  Well, as with any story of success, achievement arises from a combination of factors.  The starting point, perhaps, would be to look at the foundation of the club.  The Villajoyosa Rugby Club was started on the 13^th of February 1982, by none other than its present-day president, Ignacio Davila.  Ignacio and his wife Mayka have put years of effort into nurturing and growing what started out as a small social club.  As the years passed, and the club’s first team progressed higher and higher up the Spanish Federation’s rugby eating chain, the profile, as well as facilities, of the club grew alongside.  Today, home games are hosted in a pristine, international-standard rugby stadium to a crowd of loyal supporters.  The club is sponsored by various corporations, including major hotel groups, and is supported by the local town hall, and the wider administration of the Generalitat Valenciana. 

Besides strong roots and a not entirely un-Irish knack for being lucky, the club’s President, Ignacio, has seen the wisdom of employing external resources in managing his club.  Top quality coaches have become mainstay, with New Zealander Bryce Bevin handing over the reigns at the end of last season to English-born Mark Hewitt.  Mark has developed his team carefully this season, as he says, by concentrating on “improving fitness, and individual skills training, with a view to enhancing performance on a game by game basis”.  Another tactic has been the club’s use of professional players.  La Vila currently employs 13 full-time professional players, as well as contracting semi-professionals.  Players are hand-picked from around the globe, including countries such as England, Argentina, France, and of course the three major rugby-playing nations of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.  Two qualified fitness coaches are employed to oversee the physical condition of the players, and a club physio is ever on standby. 

Good management, coaching and support, as well as the incorporation of top-class international players, is surely a strong combination in sharpening a team’s competitive edge.  The rest of the season remains to see if La Vila will be able to really give El Salvador a run for its money.  Old rivals, C.R.C. Madrid, are not too far behind either, coming in at number three with 32 points.  The log line-up follows with Bizkaia Gernika at forth with 31 points, Cajasol Seville at fifth with 27 points, and Valladolid VRAC (26 points).  Bringing up the rear are Ordizia (22 points), Santboiana (22 points), Bera Bera (9 points) and Les Abelles (7 points).

For more information about La Vila Rugby Club, please contact Ignacio Davila 608 068 208 or Jo le Roux at the Rugby La Vila offices 965 890 376.

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