Diego Ormaechea (born 19 July 1959) is a former

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player and a current coach. He played as a number eight. Ormaechea is considered the greatest Uruguayan rugby player of all time. His contribution to rugby has been significant, not only as a player and coach, but as an inspirational personality that attracts many youngsters to the sport. His profession is

Veterinary Surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/urogenital/ ...

specialised in Racing Horses. He is one of the top veterinary surgeons in South America in his discipline. His son, Agustín Ormaechea, is a current Uruguayan international rugby union player.

Playing career

Ormaechea was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was introduced to rugby as a fifteen-year-old in 1976, and played for over two decades.Richards, Chapter 13, ''Resisting the Inevitable'', p236 He played most of his career at Carrasco Polo Club, winning the national championship thirteen times. He also holds the national record for

, with 73 caps and 16 tries scored, 79 points in aggregate, during 20 years, from 1979 to 1999. Ormaechea, aged 40 years old, was also the oldest player ever at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

finals, in 1999, being the captain in his country first ever presence at the event. He scored a try in the 27-15 win over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He left rugby for a year, but later returned for a final season at Carrasco Polo Club, before putting an end to his long career, in 2001, aged 41.

Coaching

Ormaechea was the coach of the Uruguay national team that qualified and played at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

finals. He managed to win again a game, at the 24-12 defeat of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Ormaechea is currently the coach of Carrasco Polo Club. Together with his friends Washington Amarillo and Eduardo Loedel Soca, he promoted and implemented the changes that allowed Uruguay to participate in all Under 17, 18, 19 and 20, as well as Sevens, international competitions.

Honors

* In 2019, World Rugby inducts Ormaechea to its Hall of Fame, the first Uruguayan rugby player ever, alongside

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...

, Shiggy Konno, Os du Randt, Peter Fatialofa, and

Graham Henry Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup. Henry played rugby union for ...

.Diego Ormaechea en el Salón de la Fama
/ref>

References

* Richards, Huw ''A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union'' (

Mainstream Publishing Mainstream Publishing was a publishing company in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1978, it ceased trading in December 2013.Charlotte WilliamsMainstream to cease publishing 1 March 2013, The Bookseller.com' (Retrieved 30 December 2016) It was ass ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, 2007, )

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormaechea, Diego 1959 births Living people Rugby union players from Montevideo Uruguayan people of Basque descent Uruguayan rugby union players Uruguayan rugby union coaches Uruguayan veterinarians Rugby union number eights World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Uruguay international rugby union players Uruguay national rugby union team coaches