Ignacio Saul ("Nani") Corleto (born June 21, 1978 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 ...

) is a retired Argentine rugby union player. He played as a fullback.

Club career

He began his rugby career in the local

Club Universitario de Buenos Aires Club Universitario de Buenos Aires, commonly known for its acronym CUBA, is an Argentine sports club with headquarters in the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. Universitario hosts the practise of a large variety of sports and activities, includin ...

, known as CUBA, where he played from 1997 to 2000. He moved afterwards into professional rugby signing with French club

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...

, where he played from 2000/01 to 2001/02. He moved to

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 ...

, where he played from 2002/03 to 2007/08. He won three French championships, in 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2006/07. He had a serious injury in 2008 which meant the end of his career, even if it was only officially announced in 2010.

International career

Corleto participated for the Junior teams in a South American Championship and in two Southern Hemisphere Tournaments with the U21 representative team. He had 37 caps 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 ...

, from 1998 to 2007, scoring 14 tries and 1 drop goal, 73 points on aggregate. He has his debut at the 44-29 win over

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 ...

at 15 September 1998, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, in a friendly game, aged only 20 years old and playing as a wing. He played 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 ...

, in three games, without scoring. He was called once again for 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 ...

, playing in two games and scoring a try and a drop goal, 8 points on aggregate. He was a member of the Argentina squad that reached the 3rd place in 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 ...

, their best result ever so far, playing in all the seven games and scoring 3 tries, 15 points on aggregate. Corleto scored the memorable try at the 17-12 historical win over

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 ...

in the opening game of the competition. The historical win over France by 34-10 in the game for the 3rd and 4th place at 19 October 2007, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, was his farewell for the national team. Overall in three Rugby World Cup finals, he played in 12 games, scoring 4 tries and 1 drop goal, 23 points on aggregate. He also participated in the

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...

in 2001 which was played in the city of

Mar Del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

in Argentina.

Honours

* French Rugby Union Championship/Top 14: 2002–03, 2003–04

References

External links

*
Ignacio Corleto
on ercrugby.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Corleto, Ignacio 1978 births Argentine rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Living people Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Stade Français players Argentina international rugby union players Argentina international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Club Universitario de Buenos Aires rugby union players