Hugo Porta (born 11 September 1951) is a former Argentine Rugby Union footballer, an inductee of both the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

and

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 other ...

, and one of the best fly-halves the sport has seen. During the 1970s and 1980s, he played 58 times for ''Los Pumas'', captaining them on 34 occasions, including leading them during the first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 1987. Porta made his international debut in 1971. His best performances came in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with 1977 draw with

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 ...

, the Pumas' 1979 24–13 win against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and a 21–21 tie with the

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 ...

on 2 November 1985. In December 2018, Porta was elected as president of Argentine

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

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, where he spent his entire career as player.

Career

Porta was born 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 ...

. He played

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and almost signed for

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

but then changed to rugby union, joining

. Porta made his debut for Argentina on 10 October 1971 against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in the starting line up. He earned another three caps that year in games against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and

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 ...

. The following year Argentina played two games against the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

. Porta played seven times for the national team the following season, including matches against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

as well as Ireland and Scotland XVs (non-

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

). During the 1974 and 75 seasons, Argentina played four

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

against

. In 1976 games were also played against Welsh and New Zealand XVs (non-cap). Porta became the national captain in 1977, and in his first game in charge, led the Pumas against France. Argentina lost 3–26, with Porta getting Argentina's only points through a penalty goal. However, in the following match, the nations drew 18-all, Hugo providing all of Argentina's points through six penalties, as, for France, did

Jean-Michel Aguirre Jean-Michel Aguirre (born Tostat, 2 November 1951) is a former French rugby union player. He played as a Scrum-half and Fullback. Aguirre played for Stade Bagnérais. He started his career as a Scrum-half but his usual positions became Ful ...

, who also kicked six penalties. Hugo Porta and Sean Fitzpatrick

Porta led Argentina in two matches during October 1978; against an England XV (non-cap) and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The following season he led the Pumas against a New Zealand XV (non-cap) in a two match series. On 27 October 1979 Porta led Argentina to a victory over Australia in Buenos Aires, winning 24–13. Porta kicked two conversions, one penalty and three drop goals to contribute 18 points during the match. Although the following leg was lost 12–17, the win became a landmark for Argentina. Porta captained the

South American Jaguars The South American XV (sometimes known as CONSUR XV and formerly as South American Jaguars) is a rugby union team made up from the national rugby sides in the Sudamérica Rugby (formerly CONSUR) rugby federation. The squad was first formed in ...

on three tours of South Africa between 1980 and 1984. Following the 1980 South America tour, Porta led Argentina to two victories over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, and drew with England in 1981. During the second South America tour in 1982 South America won the second of the two internationals in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, with Porta scoring all of the 21 points in the victory. Argentina also defeated Australia 18-3 in

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at Ballymore in 1983. Another South American tour took place in 1984. Argentina also defeated France 24-16 in June 1985. Following a 20–33 loss to the All Blacks that October, the famous 21–21 draw happened on 2 November, with Porta kicking four penalties and three drop goals for 21 points. Porta is the only Argentinian player to have represented the

South African Barbarians South African Barbarians is an invitational rugby union club styled along the lines of Barbarian F.C. It was formed in 1960 by Frank Mellish, the former 1951–52 Springbok selector and manager, together with former Natal Rugby Union President, ...

Club. Porta led Argentina to the 1987 World Cup, at the age of 36 and retired after the tournament. In their first pool match they lost to Fiji 28–9. The following game saw Argentina win, defeating Italy 25–16. They were defeated 46–15 by the All Blacks in the last game. He came out of retirement briefly in 1990 to play games against Ireland, England and Scotland. In 1991 he was appointed Argentine Ambassador to South Africa by President

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

, and in 1994 became Argentina's Minister for Sport. In 2000 his car was

carjacked Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...

by thieves in Buenos Aires, but they returned his vehicle after reading whose car they had stolen in the newspapers. In September 2007 Will Carling, the renowned English Rugby Union captain included Porta among his list of top ten rugby players af all time. Former Australian

flyhalf 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– ...

Mark Ella Mark Gordon Ella, AM (born 5 June 1959) is an indigenous Australian former rugby union footballer. Ella played at flyhalf/five-eighth and was capped by the Wallabies 25 times, captaining Australia on 10 occasions. Ella made his debut tour wit ...

wrote of Porta that, "I've never played against a better five-eighth."Ella, Mark, Smith, Terry, ''Path to Victory: Wallaby Power in the 1980s'' (Sydney: ABC Enterprises, 1987), p 69. ."

Honours and awards

Club

;

Torneo de la URBA The URBA Top 13 (formerly "Torneo de la URBA", named "Top 13" since the 2022 season)"La exitosa carrera deportiva del gran Hugo Porta", Mendoza Online, 2007-11-24
/ref> * Sevens championship (4): 1974, 1984, 1987, 1988

Individual Honors

* Olimpia de Oro Award (for "sportsman of the year" in Argentina): 1985 *Olimpia de Plata Award (for "rugby union player of the year" in Argentina): 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982 *Midi Olimpique Magazine: "Best rugby union player of the world" (1985) *Rothmans Yearbook Magazine: "Best

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– ...

of the 1980s" (1989). *Member of the Rugby hall of fame of New Zealand. *All-time top scorer of Argentina primera división: 301 points *All-time 2nd. scorer of Argentina national team: 590 points (1970–90) "Contepomi superó a Porta y es el goleador récord"
''Clarín'', 9 June 2012"Contempomi, goleador histórico Puma"
''ESPN'', 9 June 2012 *Enter to the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

due to having scored seven penalties and a conversion in the same match (in 1982 versus the

References

External links