Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)BRITON Matthew Cook is among the 22 foreigners enlisted by the Spanish national rugby union team to help raise its game.
The Jersey-born flanker is eligible to play for Los Leones having emigrated to Spain five years ago.
His international début came in February in a World Cup qualifier against Russia.
After spells at Jersey RFC and Bedford he now plays for the La Villa club in Alicante.
Surprisingly, most of his companions in the Spanish team are French.
The current squad includes 16 players from the French league and 13 of them were born there.
Spain will certainly need all the foreign talent it can get to leave a mark on the international stage.
The national team failed to qualify for the last three world cups, including the upcoming one in New Zealand.
In Europe, it won only two out of the last 10 games, both against rugby weakling Germany.
