Pascal Ondarts (born 1 April 1956) 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 Iparralde, Basque city of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine ...

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

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

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, at 15 November 1986, in

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, 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 Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament contes ...

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

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and 1989. He played at the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...

, 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 Six Nations Championship, Five Na ...

, 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 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 20th-century French sportsmen France international rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union hookers Biarritz Olympique players Rugby union players from Pyrénées-Atlantiques People from Lower Navarre 1987 Rugby World Cup players 1991 Rugby World Cup players {{France-rugbyunion-bio-1950s-stub Basque sportspeople