Inverleith Rugby Club sent a group of 23 players and supporters to Spain where they played a friendly match against Club Rugby Malaga.
The tour, the first by Inverleith for a number of years, was the brainchild of new committee member Mark Fahy prompted by club president, Jamie Tocher while Sergio Jiminez, the Inverleith coach, hails from Malaga and was a point of contact.
The roots of Inverleith’s connection with Spain, and Andalucia in particular, can be traced back to 1991 when the Rugby World Cup was partly held in Scotland.
Spain did not qualify but sent ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads to train in Edinburgh and soak up the atmosphere of the tournament with Inverleith’s Arboretum Road ground selected as their base.
One of the players in these squads was Adrian Fernandez Buffuna who decided to make Scotland his home, playing for Inverleith for around 12 years until injury prematurely ended his playing career.
Today, Adrian runs the ‘Lovely Paella’ street market food stalls that regularly set up in the Grassmarket and Stockbridge markets and other festivals.
Over subsequent years there have been a steady stream of Spanish players representing Inverleith.
In unusually wet conditions the tour match saw the hosts defeat an Inverleith side who fielded Richard Noble as their oldest player and George Tekei the youngest. Former players Paul Sullivan and Mark Freedman were persuaded to don the jersey one more time.
The tour committee also comprised club captain, Joel Copeland, Jamie Robertson, Matthew Anderson, Chris Davidson and Colm McConnell.
Hopes are high that a reciprocal fixture will take place very soon.
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