Felipe Contepomi (born 20 August 1977) is an
Argentine rugby coach who is currently the backs coach at
Leinster Rugby. He was a
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 ...
footballer who played
fly-half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
or
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
; his last club was
Club Newman
Club Newman is an Argentine sports club located in the city of Benavídez of Tigre Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its rugby union team, which currently plays in the Top 12, the first division of the Unión de Rugby de ...
, in the first division of the
URBA
Orbe (; la, Urba; older german: Orbach, ; frp, Orba) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois.
History
Orbe is first mentioned about 2 ...
championship. He was also a key player for
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, having played 15 years for the national team. His twin brother
Manuel was also a ''Puma''. In June 2015 he was appointed coach of Argentina XV. Contepomi was inducted into the
World Rugby 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 other ...
in November 2017.
Club career
Born 20 August 1977 in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, Contepomi started playing rugby for his secondary school
Colegio Cardenal Newman
Colegio Cardenal Newman or Cardinal Newman College is Catholic, bilingual, day, primary and secondary school for boys in San Isidro, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, in Greater Buenos Aires.
Values
All its students are expected to complete sev ...
, and then for
Club Newman
Club Newman is an Argentine sports club located in the city of Benavídez of Tigre Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its rugby union team, which currently plays in the Top 12, the first division of the Unión de Rugby de ...
in Buenos Aires. In 2003 he joined
Leinster
Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...
from
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
on a four-year contract following Bristol's relegation in the
2002–03 Zurich Premiership.
He played a major role in Leinster's run in the
2005–06 Heineken Cup, helping Leinster to a 41–35 win over Cup holders
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...
, scoring 21 points in the process and winning the man of the match award. That year he was top scorer in both the
2005–06 Celtic League
The 2005–06 Celtic League was the fifth Celtic League season, and the third following the introduction of regional rugby in Wales. Eleven teams, from three countries participated. The final table was dominated by the Irish, with the top three ...
and the Heineken Cup.
In late January 2006, Contepomi's former girlfriend, Paula, gave birth to their daughter, Catalina. Only hours later, Contepomi played for Leinster the
Celtic League
The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...
match against the
Border Reivers, a game in which he went on to score 22 points.
In November of that year,
Agustín Pichot
Agustín Pichot (born 22 August 1974, in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine 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 ...
said that Contepomi was a better player than
All Black
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...
fly-half,
Dan Carter
Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player.
Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...
, the winner of the 2005
IRB International Player of the Year
The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". Th ...
award.
On 31 May 2007, the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in Dublin conferred him with the medical degrees of MB BCh BAO (
NUI) LRCP&SI. He subsequently worked in
Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
Beaumont Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Beaumont) is a large teaching hospital located in Beaumont, Dublin, Ireland. It is managed by RCSI Hospitals - one of the hospital groups established by the Health Service Executive. Its academic partner is t ...
.
Contepomi won the 2007 Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year award. While playing at Leinster, his nominal 'local club' of origin was County Carlow
Co Carlow Football Club, a provincial side which later got into financial difficulties and is now a minor Junior concern.
On 12 March 2009, it was announced that Contepomi would be leaving Leinster at the end of the season, and that he had signed a 4-year deal to join French side
RC Toulon
R&C, RC, R/C, Rc, or rc may refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* rc, the default Command line interface in Version 10 Unix and Plan 9 from Bell Labs
* .rc (for "run commands"), a filename extension for configuration files in UNIX-like ...
from the
2009–10 Top 14 season.
Contepomi played a role in the Leinster win over Munster in the
Heineken Cup semi-final on 2 May 2009. After scoring a drop goal after 15 minutes in, he was helped off the pitch after suffering a knee injury half an hour in. An MRI scan confirmed he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was expected to be out of action for 6 months post-op. Almost exactly on schedule, he made his Toulon debut on 21 November against
Brive, coming off the bench and scoring a penalty in Toulon's 19–10 win.
Contepomi left RC Toulon to take the fly-half position at Stade Français in time for the 2011–12 season.
International career
Contepomi was one of the stars of world rugby and was also set to lead the
Argentina national team into a new era after being named captain in 2008. The former U19, U21 and Sevens international made his Pumas debut against Chile in 1998 and has been an integral part of Argentinean rugby ever since.
The multi-talented Contepomi made his international break-through at fly-half and while he has played much of his rugby in that position he recently has found his place at inside centre with Juan Martin Hernandez preferred at No.10.
He was named in José Luis Imhoff and Alex Wyllie's squad for the
1999 Rugby World Cup squad, where the Pumas made the quarter-finals for the first time. Marcelo Loffreda took charge of the national side in 2000 and Contepomi retained his place, eventually nailing down a starting berth 2001.
He notably notched a full house on his way to 25 points in the 30–16 victory over Wales in Cardiff on 10 November 2001. He was also part of 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 ...
squad, featuring in three of the Pumas' pool games as they were forced to play four games in a fortnight.
In 2004, Contepomi weighed in with 14 points as Argentina condemned France to their first defeat at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille. He also faced the British & Irish Lions in 2005 and at the end of 2006 he was part of the Pumas side that scored their first ever victory over England at Twickenham.
The Pumas stunned the rugby world with an inspired performance at the
2007 Rugby World Cup in France. Contepomi was a key player throughout the campaign – featuring in all seven matches as the Pumas claimed third place in the sport's global showpiece.
He was the second highest points scorer in the tournament – notably kicking four penalties in the shock opening victory over hosts France and 11 points in both the pool victory over Ireland and the quarter-final against Scotland. Contepomi was nominated by the
IRB as one of five candidates for the 2007
International Player of the Year award, which was won by
Bryan Habana
Bryan Gary Habana OIS (born 12 June 1983) is a South African former professional rugby union player who initially played as an outside centre but later on, he shifted to the wing. He most recently played for Toulon in the French Top 14 compet ...
.
Following the retirement of veteran scrum-half
Agustín Pichot
Agustín Pichot (born 22 August 1974, in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine 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 ...
, Contepomi was handed the captaincy of the Pumas in 2008 by new coach Santiago Phelan ahead of the opening clash of the year against Scotland.
A knee injury suffered in Leinster's
Heineken Cup semi-final victory over
Munster in 2009 ruled him out of action for over a year but he returned to Pumas colours in 2010 and won a 31-point haul in their 41–13 victory over Six Nations champions France.
He was part of the
Argentine squad for the
2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand playing as captain.
Contepomi played his last international game with Argentina on Saturday 5 October 2013 in
Rosario, Santa Fe, against
Australia during
The Rugby Championship. At the time of his retirement, Contepomi achieved the most test matches played for Argentina (87)
[ and the most points scored in international games (651).][ He worked with his father in their medical practice in ]Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
and as assistant coach in the Super XV for new Argentine franchise Jaguares (Super Rugby)
The Jaguares was an Argentine professional rugby union team based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were founded in 2015 and are the first Argentine team to play in SANZAAR's Super Rugby competition, participating from the 2016 Super Rugby season ...
.
Coaching career
Contepomi joined Argentina XV in 2015 as a head coach alongside Ricardo Le Fort. In 2018, he was appointed as new Backs Coach to Leinster, succeeding Girvan Dempsey, who moved to Bath.The Irish province of Leinster announced in May 2022 the departure of their full-backs coach, Felipe Contepomi, at the end of the season. The former Argentinian opener joins the Pumas where he is an assistant role to Michael Cheika.
Honours
Leinster
* Heineken Cup 2008–09
* Celtic League
The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...
2007–08
Individual
* IRB Player of the Year 2007 – Finalist
* Argentina national team all-time top scorer (651 points)[
]
References
External links
*
Bristol Rugby profile
Leinster Rugby profile
Argentine Rugby Union profile
Toulonnaise RC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Contepomi, Felipe
1977 births
Living people
Rugby union players from Buenos Aires
Argentine people of Italian descent
Argentine rugby union coaches
Argentine rugby union players
Argentine physicians
Club Newman rugby union players
Bristol Bears players
Lansdowne Football Club players
Leinster Rugby non-playing staff
Leinster Rugby players
Rugby union centres
Rugby union fly-halves
Argentine twins
Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
RC Toulonnais players
Stade Français players
Expatriate rugby union players in France
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ireland
Argentina international rugby union players
Twin sportspeople
Argentine expatriate rugby union players
Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland
Expatriate rugby union players in England
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England
Argentina international rugby sevens players
Male rugby sevens players
People educated at Colegio Cardenal Newman
World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees