A Kingston student has spoken of his pride after making his international rugby debut for Spain in an Under-21 European tournament in Germany earlier this month.

No sooner had Joaquin Gaztelu, 19, started his year here in Kingston, when he was whisked off to a training camp in Madrid and the following week was lining up against Russia in Heidelberg, Germany.

“This is a huge moment for me,” he said.  “I have been playing rugby for a long time even though it is not as big in Spain as it is here in the UK. It was a dream come true for me and hopefully I have done enough to earn another call-up.”

Joaquin hails from the southern Spanish city of Cádiz. He is studying Enviromental Science in Kingston this year as part of the Erasmus European exchange programme, but has spent very little time in the lecture theatre.

“I arrived here in the middle of September and the classes started at the end of the month,” he said. “But I had to go and train with the team in Madrid for a week and then the next week I had to go and play in the tournament in Germany, so really I have only had a couple of classes”, he added.

Joaquin, who plays on the wing or at full-back, started playing rugby when he was eight for his local team Club de Rugby Atlético Portuense and three years ago he was called up to the Andalucía regional team. It was only during a sevens tournament this summer that he was spotted by the national team selectors and invited to a training camp and from there was called up to the tournament squad. He is hoping that this tournament is just the beginning of his international career.

“I hope that, before too long, I will be able to make it into the senior squad,” he said. “But right now I know that’s not really possible. I need to play here this year to keep fit and I think that the university team here is good so I’m hoping that I will be able to play for them. The standard of rugby in England is higher than in Spain so I am hoping to learn and improve this year.”

Unfortunately for Joaquin his international duties are now on hold until March and so studying will have to take over.

“I didn’t come here to play rugby, although it has been fantastic. I came here to study. Luckily, there are no matches for a few months so I can get my head down.”