Pascal Ondarts (born 1 April 1956, in Méharin) is a former French Basque rugby union player. He played as a prop and as a hooker. He was considered by

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one of the 10 most frightening French players ever to represent his National Team. Ondarts played all his career at

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 ...

, from 1976/77 to 1992/93. He was runners-up to the French Championship in 1991/92. He had 42 caps for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, scoring 1 try, 4 points in aggregate, from a 16-3 win over

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, at 15 November 1986, in Nantes, in a friendly. It should be noticed that he was already 30 years old when he made his debut for his National Team. He participated in 5 editions of the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

, in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991, being a winner in 1987, with a Grand Slam, 1988, ex-aequo with

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, and 1989. He played at the 1987 Rugby World Cup, where France lost the final to New Zealand by 29-9, but missed the final, and at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

, where he had his last game for his National Team, at 19 October 1991, in the 10-19 loss to

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, at the quarter-finals, aged 35 years old. After ending his player career, he opened a restaurant in his hometown of Biarritz. English prop

Jason Leonard Jason Leonard (born 14 August 1968) is an English former rugby union player. He won a then-record 114 caps for England men’s rugby team during a 14-year international career. A prop, Leonard played club rugby for Barking RFC, Saracens and ...

said that "Pascal Ondarts was the best, the toughest and hardest prop against I ever played".

External links

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Pascal Ondarts at the article The top 10 frightening Frenchmen
1956 births Living people French rugby union players France international rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union hookers Biarritz Olympique players Sportspeople from Pyrénées-Atlantiques People from Lower Navarre {{France-rugbyunion-bio-stub