 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | May 2, 1974 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 88 kg (13 st 12 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gonzalo Quesada (born 2 May 1974) is an Argentine rugby former player and current coach, who presently works as head coach for the Italy national rugby union team. [1] [2]
Quesada was born May 2, 1974, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He played for amateur club Hindú alongside the Fernández Miranda brothers Nicolás and Juan. [3]
Quesada won 39 caps playing at fly-half for the Argentine rugby union side between 1996 and 2003. He made his test debut at the age of 22 against the United States on 14 September 1996, winning 29:26. He won his final cap on 26 October 2003 during the 2003 Rugby World Cup against Ireland in Adelaide, Australia. [4] Argentina narrowly lost the match by one point, but Quesada scored 12 of his team's 15 points. [5] Overall, in internationals he scored twenty or more points in individual matches against seven teams: Canada, Samoa, Ireland, the USA, Wales, Japan and France, and a total of four tries, [6] with a 50% winning record. [7]
He was the top points scorer at the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales, achieving 102 points. [8] [ circular reference ] The English media nicknamed him Speedy Gonzalo due to the extraordinary length of time he took preparing to take kicks at goal. [9]
After the 1999 World Cup, he was invited to play for Racing Club de Narbonne Méditerannée in France. [10] He left Narbonne in 2002 to sign for another French club, AS Béziers Hérault. In 2004 he moved to Stade Français, [11] where he played with compatriots Pichot, Corleto and Hernández. [12]
In 2005 he moved on from Stade to join Pau, but the club were relegated and he soon joined Toulon. In 2007 he returned to his former club Hindú. [13]
Since retiring as a player, Quesada has worked in a number of coaching roles. From 2008 to 2011 he was assistant coach for kicking for the French national team. Subsequently, he took on the role of backs coach for Racing 92 in 2011, before advancing to become head coach in 2012 after a troubled season for the team. [14] [15]
Quesada moved to Stade Français in 2013, exceeding expectations by taking the team to the Top 14 title in 2015, in the process knocking out top sides Racing 92, Toulon and ASM Clermont Auvergne. [16] He ended a run of previous failures under the leadership of leading international coaches and players, turning the team around in short order. [17] In 2017 Quesada led Stade Français to a 25:17 win over Gloucester Rugby in the European Rugby Challenge Cup final. [18]
In June of the same year reports indicated that he would take up a new position as sports director at the Basque Country club Biarritz Olympique in the subsequent season. [19] However, following the appointments of a new club president and a director of rugby in 2018, it was announced that Quesada would move on. [20]
In August 2018, the Argentine Super Rugby team Los Jaguares confirmed his appointment as their new head coach in the southern hemisphere's premier club competition. He took charge after Mario Ledesma, who had just taken the team to the play-offs, left to replace Daniel Hourcade as head coach of the Argentine national team, Los Pumas. [21] In his first year in this role in 2019, Quesada brought his side through a busy schedule to achieving their first appearance in a Super Rugby final in Christchurch, New Zealand, finishing as 19:3 losers in a tight contest, which featured about a quarter of the current All Blacks and the majority of the Argentine international squad. [22] [ circular reference ] [23] According to Quesada, the strategy of selecting national team players for the Jaguares side put Argentina in a good position for the forthcoming Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup. [24]
In June 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the Super Rugby season, he returned to Stade Français. [25]
On June 16, 2023 the Italian Rugby Federation officially announced that Gonzalo Quesada had been selected as the new head coach of the Italy national rugby union team, replacing the New-Zealander Kieran Crowley from 1 January 2024. [26] On March 9, 2024, Italy, with Quesada as head coach, beat Scotland 31-29 in the 4th round of the 2024 Six Nations Championship. It was Italy's first home win for 11 years in the Six Nations and their first win home or away in the tournament since beating Wales at the Millennium Stadium in 2022. [27] The following match, Italy beat Wales 24-21 at the Millennium Stadium. Despite finishing the tournament in fifth, this was considered a very successful campaign. It was the first time since 2013 Italy had achieved at least two wins in a Six Nations tournament and the first time since 2015 that they had not finished bottom of the table. [28]
Stade Français Paris is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The original Stade Français was founded in 1883. In its current form, the club was founded in 1995 with the merger of the rugby sections of the Stade Français and Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux (CASG).
Agustín Pichot is an Argentine retired rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997. In 2011, he was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. He was Vice-Chairman of World Rugby between 2016 and 2020.
Felipe Contepomi is an Argentine professional rugby coach who is currently the head coach of the Argentine national side.
Sergio Francesco Parisse is a former Italian rugby union player. He is currently the lineout coach for French club Toulon. He played for the Italy national team from 2002 until the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Parisse is Italy's most-capped player, and currently the fourth most-capped player worldwide. He was the first Italian rugby union player to be nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year, in 2008 and again in 2013. Parisse is widely considered one of the greatest number eights of the modern era, and the greatest Italian rugby player of all time. He also holds the joint record of playing in five Rugby World Cups.
Juan Martín Hernández is an Argentine retired rugby union player. A mainstay of the Argentina national team The Pumas. He played for the club Toulon in the French Top 14 competition. His 2010 move to Racing brought him back to the city where he had begun his professional career in 2003 with Stade Français. He has also played in the South African Currie Cup with the Sharks, and was slated to play with the Sharks in Super Rugby in 2010, but suffered a back injury that knocked him out of the Super Rugby season. Hernández is a "utility back" capable of playing at fly-half, centre, or fullback, though he generally prefers fly-half.
Fabien Galthié is a French rugby union coach and former player, currently the head coach of the France national team.
Guy Novès is a former French rugby union player and most recently coach of the French national team. Born in Toulouse, Novès, who played on the wing, was capped seven times for his country, and played with Stade Toulousain from 1975 to 1987 and was a member of the team that won the Bouclier de Brennus in 1985 and 1986. He later coached the side in a tenure that lasted 22 years, when he won the French championship nine times and the Heineken Cup four times.
Rugby union in Argentina is a hugely popular team sport. The first rugby match played in the country dates back to 1873, as the game was introduced by the British. The Argentina national team, sometimes referred to as the Pumas, have competed at the Rugby World Cup, and are considered a tier one nation by the sport's governing body, World Rugby.
Clément Poitrenaud is a former French rugby union footballer. His usual position is at fullback but he also plays at centre. He most recently played for South African side the Sharks in Super Rugby, having represented Toulouse in the French Top 14 club competition between 2000 and 2016, and France between 2001 and 2012, including at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. He has since transitioned into a role of partner, father and coach.
Juan Manuel Leguizamón is an Argentine rugby union footballer for Rugby United New York (RUNY) of Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays as a flanker or a number eight.
Mario Ledesma Arocena is an Argentine rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played in Argentina's successful 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign and had a professional playing career in France spanning 10 years. Since retiring he has coached at the highest level in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and was most recently the head coach of the Argentine national team.
Simon Raiwalui is a Fijian Australian former rugby union player and coach. He served as the General Manager for his former French club, Racing Métro 92. He has represented Fiji on a number of occasions and most recently coached the team in 2023. He has also been included in the Pacific Islanders touring team for Europe in November 2006. His usual position was lock.
Argentina have competed in all the Rugby World Cup tournaments, starting with the inaugural 1987 tournament.
Racing Club de Narbonne Méditerannée is a French rugby union club that play in the third-level Nationale.
The 2011–12 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 26, 2011. Two new teams from the 2010–11 Rugby Pro D2 season were promoted to Top 14 this year, Lyon and Bordeaux Bègles in place of the two relegated teams, La Rochelle and Bourgoin.
The 2002 Argentina rugby union tour of South Africa and Europe were two series of matches played by the Argentina national rugby union team. The first tour was held in June, the second in November.
The 2003 Argentina rugby union tour of South Africa was a series of two matches played by the Argentina national rugby union team in June 2003 in preparation of the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
Vernon Anthony Cotter is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who was most recently the head coach of the Fiji national team. He started his coaching career at Bay of Plenty including winning the Ranfurly shield for the first time in the union’s history He was part of the coaching staff for the successful Crusaders side between 2005 and 2006 winning 2 titles, before coaching in France with Clermont Auvergne between 2006 and 2014 coaching them to 6 finals and 2 titles including their first ever bouclier du Brennus coached the Scotland national team from 2014, including a quarter final at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and left his role in May 2017 as his contract was not extended by the Scottish Rugby Union. In January 2020 Cotter was appointed coach of Fiji, but resigned in January 2023. He is currently coaching the Blues and coached them to the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific title.
Daniel Hourcade is an Argentine rugby union coach and former player. He has coached at various levels of the game, at both club and international level. He has coached in Argentina, France and Portugal, and was head coach of the Argentine national team having come through the ranks with the sevens national team, Argentina Jaguars and Pampas XV.
The 2008 Argentina rugby union tour of Europe was a series of matches played in November 2008 in Europe by the Argentina national team. Coached by Santiago Phelan, the Argentine national side toured on France, Italy and Ireland playing a total of three matches thereof. Argentina beat Italy and lost to France and Ireland.
