Club de Rugby Santander, known for sponsorship reasons as Bathco Rugby Club or simply as Bathco, was a Spanish rugby team from the city of Santander, founded in 2007. The senior men's first team competed in the top tier of Spanish rugby, the División de Honor de Rugby, and played their matches at the Ruth Beitia Municipal Sports Complex.
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| Full name | Club de Rugby Santander | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 | |
| Location | Santander, Spain | |
| Ground(s) | Complejo Municipal Deportivo Ruth Beitia (Capacity: 800) | |
| League(s) | División de Honor | |
| 2019–20 | 11th | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
History
editSince its formation, the club has focused its efforts on the promotion of sport and rugby in particular among the youngest members of society.[1] It currently has more than 180 players, 17 coaches and plays in a total of 9 categories.
The club signed a sponsorship agreement with bathroom supplier Bathco for the 2016–17 season, the year in which the senior team achieved promotion to Division of Honor B from the AON Norte league.[2] For the 2017/2018 season, the agreement was extended and the club was renamed Bathco Rugby Club.[3]
The club has always maintained a great rivalry with the most successful club in the city of Santander, Independiente RC, a team formerly sponsored by Bathco and one with which they currently share a ground.[4]
On 2 June 2019, the club gained promotion to the División de Honor, Spanish rugby's top tier, after defeating CR La Vila in the promotion playoffs.[5][6][7]
Their first season in the top tier has proved to be a stern test, and as of 29 February 2020, they lie 11th in the table. The club's current predicament has been hampered by its away form: they are yet to win a single game outside of Cantabria. Their home form has seen some bright spots, with handsome wins against CR Cisneros,[8] Hernani CRE,[9] a close victory over Ciencias Sevilla CR[10] and a draw with UBU Colina Clinic[11] from eight games.
Club colours
editThe club's home kit is primarily black, with green accents. The away kit is varying shades of green with black and green socks.
The club's crest depicts a blue outline seal balancing a rugby ball on its nose. The seal is surrounded by a blue circle, which is itself surrounded by a green ring bearing the club's name. The animal gives the club its nickname, "las focas", with foca being the Spanish word for seal.
Stadium
editSantander shares the Complejo Municipal Ruth Beitia with its city rivals Independiente. The site, run by the Santander city council, is a collection of 35 different facilities for various sports.[12] Due to increased local interest, the derby match between Independiente and Batcho on 29 February was played at the El Malecón stadium in nearby Torrelavega.[13] A narrow 27–21 victory for Independiente[14] meant that the side completed a double over Bathco, having defeated them 30–20 in October 2019.[15]
Season-by-season record
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2018–19 Standings
editThe 2018–19 season saw Bathco win Group A of the second-tier División de Honor B, winning 20 of their 22 games and scoring an average of over 40 points a game. The club qualified for the promotion playoffs.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | Tries
for |
Tries
against |
Try
Bonus |
Losing
Bonus |
Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bathco Rugby Club | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 937 | 274 | 663 | 139 | 33 | 18 | 1 | 99 |
| 2 | Getxo R.T. | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 912 | 255 | 657 | 135 | 31 | 16 | 0 | 96 |
| 3 | Campus Universitario Ourense RC | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 723 | 373 | 350 | 110 | 49 | 15 | 4 | 79 |
| 4 | AVK Bera Bera R.T. | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 667 | 455 | 212 | 96 | 63 | 13 | 1 | 78 |
| 5 | CRAT Residencia RIALTA | 22 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 713 | 493 | 220 | 104 | 66 | 14 | 3 | 77 |
| 6 | Babyauto Zarautz RT | 22 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 565 | 668 | −103 | 75 | 92 | 8 | 2 | 48 |
| 7 | Uribealdea RKE | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 406 | 675 | −269 | 53 | 101 | 6 | 2 | 40 |
| 8 | VRAC Quesos Entrepinares S23 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 442 | 598 | −156 | 62 | 86 | 5 | 6 | 39 |
| 9 | AVIA Eibar Rugby | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 504 | 802 | −298 | 70 | 118 | 9 | 4 | 39 |
| 10 | SilverStorm El Salvador Emerging S23 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 418 | 574 | −156 | 57 | 88 | 4 | 3 | 37 |
| 11 | Kaleido Universidade de Vigo R.C. | 22 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 413 | 692 | −279 | 59 | 102 | 5 | 3 | 34 |
| 12 | Durango Nissan-Gaursa R.T. | 22 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 251 | 1092 | −841 | 38 | 169 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Source: http://ferugby.es/clasificacion-division-honor-b-grupo-a
Playoffs
editThe club progressed to the promotion playoffs, playing two-legged games against the best-placed finishing teams from other regions. They won five of the six games, losing the final to Ciencias Sevilla CR despite winning the second leg away from home. This victory earned Ciencias automatic promotion, and meant Bathco had to play the promotion/relegation playoff with the side finishing second-from-bottom in the top tier.
| Quarterfinals | ||
| CAU Valencia | 20–30 | Bathco Rugby Club |
| Bathco Rugby Club | 20–6 | CAU Valencia |
| Semi-finals | ||
| C.R. Liceo Francés | 34–47 | Bathco Rugby Club |
| Bathco Rugby Club | 21–12 | C.R. Liceo Francés |
| Final | ||
| Bathco Rugby Club | 15–22 | Ciencias Cajasol Olavide |
| Ciencias Cajasol Olavide | 18–23 | Bathco Rugby Club |
Source: http://ferugby.es/calendario-promocion-division-de-honor
Promotion/relegation playoff
editPromotion was sealed when Bathco won their two-legged tie against La Vila, the team that had finished 11th in the División de Honor.
| Relegation/promotion playoff | ||||||
| 11th |  La Vila
| 14 | 39 | 53 | ||
| DHB |  Santander
| 30 | 27 | 57 | ||
Current Squad 2019–2020
editThe club has a large foreign contingent, with many players notably coming from the Argentinian union. Lock Juan Cruz Guillemaín has even represented Argentina at international level. Zimbabwean Niels Van de Ven, formerly of Dutch club Castricumse RC, is the club captain.
The club's coach and assistant coach, Agustín Rodríguez and Luciano Marco, are both Argentinian.
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
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References
edit- ^ "COMMENTS BATHCO RUGBY CLUB SANTANDER". Magazine RugbySpain (in Spanish).
- ^ "El CRS gana la Liga Norte y se prepara para buscar el ascenso a División de Honor B". El Faradio | Periodismo que cuenta (in Spanish). 6 May 2017.
- ^ "Bathco se convierte en el patrocinador principal del Club de Rugby Santander". El Faradio (in Spanish). 11 July 2017.
- ^ Noticias 24h, Ifomo (13 September 2019). "Acuerdo con los clubes y la Federación para que El Independiente y Bathco hagan uso del campo de San Román". Ifomo Noticias 24h (in Spanish).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Igual felicita al Bathco Rugby Santander tras el ascenso a División de Honor". 20minutos.es – Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). 3 June 2019.
- ^ "Rugby, a sport with values – Trend & Bath". thebathcollection. 12 July 2019.
- ^ "La Vila Rugby played at Santanders". Costa Blanca News South Edition.
- ^ @noefp8 (6 October 2019). "| DH | J4 | Bathco 33–0 Cisneros | Contundente y trabajada victoria para Las focas". Magazine RugbySpain (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 February 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "El Bathco suma una victoria crucial". El Diario Montañes (in Spanish). 8 December 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Bathco RC 19–10 Ciencias Cajasol: Difícil derrota en Santander". columnacero.com (in Spanish). 26 January 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Al UBU Colina Clinic se le escapa la victoria entre los dedos". BURGOSconecta (in Spanish). 10 November 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Web de Deportes". santanderdeportes.com. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ eldiariocantabria.es (24 February 2020). "El Malecón acoge este sábado el partido de rugby entre Aldro y Bathco". eldiariocantabria.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "El Aldro Independiente se lleva la victoria y se convierte en el señor de los derbis". El Diario Montañes (in Spanish). 29 February 2020.
- ^ "El Aldro Independiente se lleva el derbi". El Diario Montañes (in Spanish). 27 October 2019.