Héctor Luis Silva (1 July 1945 – 17 May 2021) was an Argentine rugby union footballer and coach, who coached

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 ...

in the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

Biography

Between 14 and 18 years, he played

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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

; he practiced rugby in the youth team of his city, Rugby Club Los Tilos from La Plata, and at 18 years he was in the first team; at 20 years, in 1965, he debuted for

in a test match against the Junior Springboks in South Africa, during a tour which saw 11 wins in 16 matches. Becoming captain for Argentina in 1967, he was excluded from the national team in 1971 due to Silva accepting to appear in a television advertisement; even if he was not formally suspended, he was not called up until 1977. In 1980, he was part of the South America XV which took part in South Africa and ended his international career in August against a

World XV A World XV is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies, often to take part in celebration and testimoni ...

in Buenos Aires. Three years later he took the lead of Tilos and later he was called to coach Argentina national team alongside

Ángel Guastella Ángel Guastella (Buenos Aires, 7 November 1931 - San Miguel de Tucumán, 26 September 2016) was an Argentine rugby union footballer and coach. He played as fly-half. Biography Guastella was a founding member of Club Pueyrredón, of which he ...

; the coaches were sacked after Argentina failed to make the knock-out stage in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. He continued his coaching activity parallel to his role in the public administration, and occasionally he collaborated as sports consultant and commentator for press headlines.

Death

Héctor Silva died on 17 May 2021, aged 75 or 76, from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

at a hospital in La Plata, where he was admitted two weeks prior.Murió Héctor Pochola Silva, el prócer de Los Tilos y los Pumas: un pedazo grande la historia del rugby argentino

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Héctor Argentine rugby union coaches Argentina national rugby union team coaches 1945 births Argentine rugby union players Sportspeople from La Plata Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Province 2021 deaths Argentina international rugby union players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina Rugby union number eights