Spain recall Super Rugby Women's award winner Fernández de Corres for WXV Global Series Challenger

Spain scrum-half Anne Fernández de Corres is set to return to Test rugby for the first time since the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup after being named in the Las Leonas squad for the WXV Global Series Challenger in Hong Kong. Head coach Régis Sonnes also recalled forwards Alba Capell and Carmen Castellucci, both of whom missed the majority of the 2025/26 season through long-term injuries.

Fernández de Corres, 28, spent the intervening period in Canberra with the ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby Women’s, where she was named the club’s Helen Taylor Award winner for Women’s Player of the Year. The experience appears to have left a lasting impression on the scrum-half.

“By leaving my comfort zone, I have experienced some growth and self-development,” she told RugbyPass ahead of her time in Australia. “The way that Australian players work has helped me a lot, as they are far more talkative in training than I had experienced in Spain. They are always giving input and demanding that each one of us be aware of what we are doing at every second and minute.”

The squad also includes África Vílchez and Izar Casado, who could both earn their first Test caps during the tournament in September.

Spain open their WXV Global Series Challenger campaign against Fiji on Sunday 13 September, before facing Samoa and Brazil in the following fortnight. Las Leonas will also meet South Africa in a crossover fixture on Sunday 4 October.