Luciano Orquera (born 12 October 1981 in Córdoba) is an

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, s ...

-Italian rugby union player. He plays as a fly-half for

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

, an Italian club in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Born in

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 ...

of Italian descent, he first played at

Club Palermo Bajo Club Palermo Bajo is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Córdoba, which is also the capital of Córdoba Province. The institution is mostly known for its rugby union team, which currently plays in Torneo de Córdoba, the first divisi ...

, in Córdoba. He moved to Mirano Rugby 1957 in 2002–03. He was assigned to Petrarca Padova Rugby in 2003–04, where he would stay the next two seasons. In 2016 he signed for the French amateur club Stade Niçois who play in

Fédérale 2 Fédérale 2 is a rugby union club championship division in France. It is the sixth division of rugby above Fédérale 3. Teams can earn promotion to Fédérale 1, and subsequently, to the National 2 and Nationale leagues, and on to the professio ...

Professional career

Orquera then moved to

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 ...

, playing the 2005–06 season at

Auch Auch (; oc, label= Gascon, Aush ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony. Geography Localization Hydrography The Riv ...

and the next five seasons at

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was 75 ...

. He returned to Italy for the 2011–12 season, signing with Aironi.

International career

After becoming a naturalized Italian citizen, he was first called into the

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 ...

squad that beat

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 ...

by 51-6 at

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...

, on 6 November 2004. The next year he made his debut in the

2005 Six Nations Championship The 2005 Six Nations Championship was the sixth Six Nations Championship played since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the Home Nations and Five Nations Championships, this was the 111th season of the tournament. Wales ...

, playing five matches and scoring one try and one penalty. He would be absent from the National Team from 2005 to 2008, when he was finally called up once again. He played twice in the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

. He returned once more to the Italy squad for the friendly with

, as they lost 16-22, in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

on 13 November 2010. He also played in the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby uni ...

. Orquera had his World Cup debut in the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

, playing in three games and scoring a try. Orquera has 44 caps for Italy, with 3 tries, 18 conversions, 29 penalties and 2 drop goals scored, 144 points in aggregate. He has also played regularly for Italy A, including being their captain. Orquera started for Italy's opening

RBS Six Nations 2013 The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

match against France scoring ten points in an outstanding performance to give Italy a shock win by 23-18. After, he was awarded Man of the Match.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orquera, Luciano 1981 births Living people Aironi players Argentine rugby union players CA Brive players Italian rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Zebre Parma players Italy international rugby union players Sportspeople from Córdoba, Argentina Expatriate rugby union players in France Stade Niçois players