Agustín Pichot (born 22 August 1974) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

retired

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) 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 ...

and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997. In 2011, he was inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

. He was Vice-Chairman of

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

between 2016 and 2020.

Playing career

Pichot made his debut for Los Pumas in April 1996 during the Pumas' tour to Australia, scoring a try in the first Test in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Pichot was capped another three times that year for the Pumas; playing in Tests against Romania, Italy and France during October. The following year he was capped another three times for Argentina, playing two Tests against France and one against Uruguay in June, scoring a try in the match against Uruguay. In October/November of the next year, he earned another four Test caps, playing in matches against Italy, France and the Wallabies, scoring a try in the second of two matches against the Wallabies. He moved from CASI to Richmond, and later switched to Bristol. Pichot would be capped six times during the 1998 international season, including playing France three times, as well as playing matches against Italy, Romania and Wales, scoring tries in the games against Wales and Romania. In the lead up to the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

in Wales Pichot played two Tests against the hosts in June, and Tests against Scotland and Ireland that August, scoring a try in the Test against Ireland. He played five matches during the World Cup and helped the Pumas reach the quarter-finals. Argentina played France in their quarter-final, which France won 26–47, Pichot being one of Argentina's try scorers in the match. After the World Cup Pichot captained Argentina for the first time in a Test against Ireland in June 2000, which Argentina won 34 points to 23. He was also capped another four times that year, playing two games against World Champions Australia and then matches against South Africa and England in November. He earned eight Test caps during 2001, and captained Argentina on three more occasions, in matches against Uruguay, the United States and Canada in May. He played six Tests the following year, captaining the Pumas during two of them (June Tests against England and South Africa). Pichot then moved to Paris club Stade Français in 2003. He played two Tests during August 2003, including captaining the Pumas against Uruguay. He was named captain for the opening match of the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

against hosts Australia. The Wallabies won the match 24–8. He also scored tries in the pool matches against Uruguay and Canada. He then captained the team in the last pool game against Ireland, which they lost 16–15. He was named to Argentina's

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

squad, which he captained successfully to a 3rd place showing in the World Cup, after a second win in the

against France in the 3rd/4th place playoff. Pichot was the first foreign captain of a French team that won the French championship in 2007. He spent the 2007–2008 season with Racing Métro, then in Rugby Pro D2, before retiring. Pichot briefly came out of retirement for one last stint with

in 2009. However, an injury suffered in April 2009 that ended his 2008–09 season led Pichot to call time on his playing career. Pichot returned to Argentina for one final match on 27 June at CASI, an informal exhibition divided into three periods that saw nearly 60 players take the pitch, including many of his former CASI teammates and past and present Pumas. He was the only player to remain on the field through the match. Also present were Alex Wyllie, who coached the Pumas to their first World Cup quarterfinal in 1999; Marcelo Loffreda, the Pumas' coach for their 2007 World Cup run; and Pichot's successor as Pumas captain, Felipe Contepomi, who was unable to play as he was recovering from a torn ACL. Every player on the pitch wore #9, the standard number for starting scrum-halves. He narrated the Argentine version of the documentary ''Earth''. On 24 October 2011, at the IRB Awards ceremony in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, Pichot was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame alongside 18 other key figures in the history of the Rugby World Cup.

Rugby administration

Pichot's boardroom career began in 2009 following an overhaul of the

Argentine Rugby Union The Argentine Rugby Union (, abbreviated "UAR") is the governing body for rugby union in Argentina. It is a member of World Rugby, with a seat on that body's Executive Council, and a founding member of Sudamérica Rugby. The UAR organises all the ...

, known as UAR, which changed its long-standing amateur status and moved towards rugby as a professional game in Argentina. He became a member of the UAR Council that year, while still in his final season of rugby in France, and went on to be the driving force behind Argentina's integration into The Rugby Championship and

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. In 2016, less than a year after being elected Vice Chairman of

, Pichot was making waves, calling for the three-year residency rule for eligibility to play for a country to be extended to five years, in the face of the view of other senior members of the WR Executive Committee. A few months later, he was voted most influential figure in world rugby, ahead of England head coach Eddie Jones, in a ranking by '' Rugby World'' magazine. Pichot stood for election as World Rugby chairman in 2020 but, following his loss to incumbent Bill Beaumont by 28 votes to 23, he vacated his seat on the World Rugby council.

Honours

* In 1995 he received the

Olimpia Award The Olimpia Awards () are Argentine sports awards given annually by the ' (Association of Sports Journalists) since 1954. An ' (Silver Olimpia) is awarded to the outstanding performer in 41 sports. Among the ' winners an ' (Golden Olimpia) is a ...

for rugby * In 1998 he received Best Rugby Player * In 1999 he received Sportsman Clarín Award of the year * In 2000 he received the Platinum Konex Award for Rugby * In 2000 he again received the Olimpia Award * In 2001 he received Best Rugby player * In 2000/01 and 2002/03 he was voted Supporter's Player of the Season at Bristol Shoguns * In 2010, once again he received the Platinum Konex Award for rugby *

Class of 2011

Achievements

* 75 tests with the Pumas * Finals of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

2004/05 * Finals of the French Championship 2005 (''Championnat de France de rugby'') * Finals of the English Cup 2001 * Champion of France 2004 and 2007 (captain) * 5th position in

* 3rd position in

* Captain and 3 position in 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens * Argentine Provincial Champion with Buenos Aires 1996 * Argentine National Club Champion with CASI * Sevens National Champion with Buenos Aires 1994/1995 * Most selected Argentine player for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

Trivia

* ''Pichòt'' means "little" in

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

References

External links

* * * *
Stade Français profile

*
BBC short article

Konex Foundation
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pichot, Agustin 1974 births Living people Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Argentine rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Club Atlético San Isidro rugby union players Bristol Bears players Stade Français Paris players Barbarian F.C. players Richmond F.C. players Argentine people of French descent Argentina international rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Argentina international rugby sevens players 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players Argentine expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Argentine expatriate rugby union players in England 20th-century Argentine sportsmen