The inaugural Espana rugby league national 9s tournament has been successfully completed, with Irreductibles CREM crowned champions.

The competition was divided into two parts, a regular season followed by the finals and comprised a total of 18 games, involving five teams participating in three provinces; Alicante, Madrid and Valencia.

It toured six cities - Muro de Alcoy, Madrid, Torrent, Valencia, Beniparrell and Moncada - in an exciting, Grand Prix style circuit.

The regular season ended with Valencian clubs prominent, Torrent Tigers ranked in first position and Valencian Warriors along with Irreductibles CREM the others to make the playoffs, leaving Alcoià Comtat (Alicante) and Griffons Madrid to miss out.

Javier Modrego, vice president of Irreductibles, said: “We must thank the efforts of our rivals. Tigres Torrent is an impressive team with new players that has shown tremendous development in only five months. Valencian Warriors are a very experienced team with a clear pattern of play. It was a real honour to play against these two great sides in this series.”

Salome Sansano, president of AERL, commented: “Rugby league in Spain is growing strongly and further evidence is this tournament, played in winter, with five teams that have travelled throughout the country. We have now completed one of our goals for this season, Spanish players can play rugby league throughout the year and not only in summer.”