Ugly Scenes As Spain Fail To Automatically Qualify For RWC 2019 What could have been a momentous occasion descended into distressing scenes as Spanish rugby players confronted and attempted to grab Romanian referee Vlad Iordăchescu following their 18-10 loss to Belgium in the Rugby Europe Championship. A win for Spain would have seen Los Leones qualify automatically for Rugby World Cup 2019, but in losing that honour falls to Iordăchescu’s compatriots, Romania. In the aftermath of the tight match in which some of the Spaniards felt tight calls went the way of the hosts, Iordăchescu had to be escorted from the pitch as players from the losing side surged towards him. Spain’s scrum-half Guillaume Rouet is clearly seen trying to grab the referee while back-row Pierre Barthere is seen ironically clapping the match official, before the two sides come together in a melee. Some of the worst scenes I've seen on a rugby pitch sadly. Thankfully seems Iordachescu was guarded by security. However bad a referee may have been none ever deserve physical intimidation. https://t.co/gRv3QfK9TH — Tier 2 Rugby (@T2Rugby) March 18, 2018 The loss means that Los Leones must now play Portugal later in the year, in a decider to see who faces Samoa for a place at the World Cup in Japan in 18 months. If Spain win the first tie but lose the second, they will then go into a repechage with Canada, an African side and an Asia/Oceania side. If Spain go on to beat Samoa, they will be in Romania’s group at the World Cup. Following this result, Spain captain Jaime Nava spoke to Radio Marca about any external factors in the result. He went on to say:  “I don’t want to think that rugby (has been pre-arranged) to put us out. When we were assigned Romanian officials, we were shocked. But this is rugby, the values are assumed. “For sure, today rugby has lost.” Related: Rugby was front page news in Spain Nava did confront the ugly scenes, saying that: “I would like to apologise for what happened with the referee. The image at the end of the game does not represent the sport nor the values of this team. It must be understood however, we’ve lost part of our dream.” QUALIFIED! @RugbyRomania have qualified as Europe 1 in Pool A after @ferugby lost out 18-10 to @BelgianRugby in the Rugby Europe Championship pic.twitter.com/eqPa5vyt0a — Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) March 18, 2018 There have been suggestions on social media that Spain had asked for a change in officials ahead of the game: This is getting interesting. It seems Spain might requested a change off ref before today's game. We haven't heard the last of this story…. https://t.co/VCn8WqAc0Z — Brendan gallagher (@gallagherbren) March 18, 2018 The appointment of match officials for this competition are handled by Rugby Europe, rather than World Rugby. It is understood that Rugby Europe will review the match, as is established practice, and only after any findings are made public may World … Continue reading Ugly Scenes As Spain Fail To Automatically Qualify For RWC 2019