Gonzalo Quesada (born 2 May 1974) is a retired

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player who presently works as a coach for

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () 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 ...

in France's

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

Biography

Quesada was born May 2, 1974, 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 ...

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. He played for amateur club Hindú alongside the Fernández Miranda brothers Nicolas and

Juan ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

. Quesada won 39

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

playing at

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– ...

for the Argentine rugby union side between 1996 and 2003. He made his test debut at the age of 22 against

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on the 14th of September 1996, winning 29:26. He won his final cap on the 26th of October 2003 during 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 ...

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Adelaide, Australia Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The demo ...

. Argentina narrowly lost the match by one point, but Quesada scored 12 of his team's 15 points. Overall, in internationals he scored twenty or more points in individual matches against seven teams:

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 ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

the USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and a total of four tries, with a 50% winning record. He was the top points scorer at the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

, achieving 102 points. The English media nicknamed him '' Speedy Gonzalo'' due to the extraordinary length of time he took preparing to take kicks at goal. After the 1999 World Cup, he was invited to play for Racing Club de Narbonne Méditerannée in France. He left Narbonne in 2002 to sign for another French club,

AS Béziers Hérault Association Sportive Béziers Hérault ( oc, Associacion Esportiva de Besièrs Erau), often referred to by rugby media simply by its location of Béziers, is a French rugby union club currently playing in the second level of the country's profess ...

. In 2004 he moved to

, where he played with compatriots

Pichot Pichot is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Agustín Pichot (born 1974), Argentine rugby union player * Alan Pichot (born 1998), Argentine chess grandmaster *Alexandre Pichot (born 1983), French cyclist *Amédée Pichot (1795–1 ...

, Corleto and

Hernández Hernández is a widespread Spanish surname that became common around the 15th century. Originally a patronymic, it means son of Hernán, Hernando or Fernando—the Spanish version of Germanic Ferdinand. Fernández is a very common variant of the n ...

. In 2005 he moved on from Stade to join Pau, but the club were relegated and he soon joined

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. In 2007 he returned to his former club Hindú. 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 Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to ...

in 2011, before advancing to become head coach in 2012 after a troubled season for the team. Quesada moved to

in 2013, exceeding expectations by taking the team to the Top 14 title in 2015, in the process knocking out top sides Racing 92,

and

ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French ...

. He ended a run of previous failures under the leadership of leading international coaches and players, turning the team around in short order. In 2017 Quesada led Stade Français to a 25:17 win over

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

in the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

final. 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 Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

in the subsequent season. However, following the appointments of a new club president and a director of rugby in 2018, it was announced that Quesada would move on. In August 2018, the Argentinean

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 previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

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 Mario Ledesma Arocena (born 17 May 1973 in Buenos Aires) 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 s ...

, who had just taken the team to the play-offs, left to replace Daniel Hourcade as head coach of the Argentinean national team, Los Pumas. 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 Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, finishing as 19:3 losers in a tight contest, which featured about a quarter of the current

All Blacks 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 ...

and the majority of the Argentinean international squad. 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 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 ...

. In June 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the Super Rugby season, he returned to

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quesada, Gonzalo 1974 births Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Argentine rugby union players Living people Rugby union centres Hindú Club players Stade Français players Argentina international rugby union players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine rugby union coaches Argentine expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Stade Français coaches RC Narbonne players RC Toulonnais players Section Paloise players AS Béziers Hérault players