Sevens star Trevithick poised for Spain 15s debut at inaugural Nations Cup

Jeremy Trevithick, one of the standout performers on the SVNS circuit this season, is in line to make his Spain 15s debut after head coach Pablo Bouza named him in a 31-man squad for the inaugural World Rugby Nations Cup in North America. The 24-year-old, born to an English father and Lebanese mother but raised in Marbella, was selected for the SVNS Team of the Year and follows fellow sevens convert Alejandro Laforga in making the step up to the full national side.

Fellow sevens regular Jaime Manteca is also included in the squad for the tournament, which runs in July and features 12 Rugby World Cup 2027-qualified nations.

Several notable names are absent. Joel Merkler and Lucien Richardis were unavailable due to Stade Toulousain’s involvement in the Top 14 final this weekend, with Merkler expected to start at prop against Montpellier. Stade Français wing Samuel Ezeala, who made his Spain debut last February, has been rested, while fly-half Gonzalo Vinuesa and No.8 Raphaël Nieto are still recovering from injuries sustained during the club season.

2026 has been a difficult year for Los Leones. Despite three encouraging performances in the group stage of the Men’s Rugby Europe Championship, they were beaten 26-7 by Portugal at Estádio do Restelo, surrendering a chance to qualify for a home final. A 29-23 win over Romania secured third place, but it offered little comfort after the high expectations that had followed a promising 2025 campaign in which Spain reached the REC final.

Spain open their Nations Cup campaign against Canada on 5 July, before facing Tonga on 11 July and the United States on 19 July.