Fabio Ongaro (born 23 September 1977 in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

) is an Italian

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 its m ...

footballer. Although he now plays as a hooker, he played in the Italian youth teams as a flanker.

Career

Ongaro first played for Rugby Casale (1994/95-1997/98), spending the most prolific time of his career at Benetton Treviso (1998/99-2005/06), where he won 5 Italian Championships (1998/99, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2005/06), a Cup of Italy (2004/05) and a Supercup (2006). He moved to

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where he played from 2006/07 to 2009/10. He has played for

Aironi Aironi Rugby (, "herons") was an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup, representing the Italian regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It lost its status as a regional side at the end of the 2011–12 ...

since 2010/11. Ongaro won his first cap in 2000 when the Azzurri played against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

, in a 17–22 loss. Ongaro played every match for Italy in the 2003 World Cup. He scored the crucial try that helped beat

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

20–14 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the

2004 Six Nations Championship The 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Overall, this was the 110th series of the international championship. Match wi ...

. His rise to the top peaked in November 2004 when he was named as Italy captain in place of the injured

Marco Bortolami Marco Bortolami (; born 12 June 1980) is a rugby union coach and retired Italian international player, whose career includes experience playing in the national top-level Italian (Petrarca Padova), French (RC Narbonne), and English (Gloucester Rug ...

. He played 2 matches at the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. He has been a regular player at the Six Nations since 2003. He played his last international match for Italy against Scotland on 17 March 2012.

Coaching career

Ongaro became Assistant Coach at Benetton Treviso from the start of the 2016/17 season.

Doping allegations

In 2003 Ongaro, alongside fellow international

Gianluca Faliva Gianluca Faliva (born 26 December 1973) is a retired Italian rugby union player. He played as a loosehead prop forward. Early career Gianluca Faliva was born in Camposampiero, Padua, Italy, and did not start playing rugby until he was 20, when ...

, had been accused of having made use of

Epoetin beta Epoetin beta (rINN) is a synthetic, recombinant form of erythropoietin, a protein that promotes the production of red blood cells. It is an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) that is used to treat anemia, commonly associated with chronic ki ...

(NeoRecormon) for doping purposes. In 2009 the trial was concluded with a sentence of absolution for Faliva and Ongaro, as no proof of either of them using or detaining the doping substance could be presented.

References

External links

RBS 6 Nations profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongaro, Fabio 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Venice Italian rugby union players Rugby union hookers Benetton Rugby players Saracens F.C. players Aironi players Italy international rugby union players Drugs in sport in Italy Italian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England