Santiago Phelan (born March 31, 1974 in

San Isidro, Buenos Aires San Isidro is a city in Greater Buenos Aires. It is located 27.9 km from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA). It ranks as the province's most affluent neighborhood. History In 2007, San Isidro celebrated its 300 years of existence wi ...

) is a retired Argentine

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer. His usual position was flanker. Phelan played for Argentine club

Club Atlético San Isidro The Club Atlético de San Isidro (mostly known for its acronym CASI) is an Argentine sports club based in the city of San Isidro in Greater Buenos Aires. Originally established as a football club, San Isidro has gained recognition for its rug ...

and represented the Argentina national rugby union team on 44 occasions, captaining the team twice. He represented Argentina at the

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and 2003

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

s. Phelan retired due to injury in 2003 at the age of 29, he has since taken up coaching. On March 13, 2008, Phelan was named as the coach of the Argentine rugby union team, filling the vacancy left by

Marcelo Loffreda Marcelo Loffreda (born May 17, 1959, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine former rugby union footballer and coach. Loffreda won 44 caps with one as captain, playing at centre for the Argentine rugby union side (''los Pumas''). He played muc ...

. On October 21, 2013, Phelan stepped down from his post as Los Pumas head coach with immediate effect, one year early from the end of his contract. Over the 45 matches that he coached, he earned 13 wins, 31 defeats and 1 draw in his 5-year tenure. Since talking over in 2008, he has rarely earned successes. Argentina failed to get a test series victory under Phelan, with a draw against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

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and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2009, before losing 2-0 to Scotland in 2010. In 2012, Argentina again drew a test series against

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 ...

, then losing 2-0 to England in

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including a record 32-3 defeat in the opening test, the biggest losing margin Argentina has had against England on home soil. He did lead Argentina to the occasional "upset", including a 9-6 win over Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium in

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and a 26-12 win over Wales, who at the time where the Six Nations Grand Slam Champions, at the Millennium Stadium in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. He led the Pumas to the 2011 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, but lost to hosts

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 ...

in the Quarter Finals. In

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, Phelan led Argentina into their debut year in The Rugby Championship, and proved hard to beat when home. He led Argentina to a 16-16 draw against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

at home in round 2, but failed to improve on that draw, ending bottom of the table with just 4 points and no wins. In

the pumas had record defeats, starting with the 73-13 defeat to South Africa in the opening round - which was South Africa's biggest winning margin over Argentina. Like in 2012, they came close to beating South Africa at home, but their discipline proved costly with 5 penalties against them, South Africa won 22-17. In Round 4, they came close to beating Australia in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

after losing the match 14-13, but in the corresponding home fixture, Argentina lost 54-17 to Australia, a record losing margin against Australia at home. In October 2013, Phelan resigned as Argentina head coach after five and a half years in charge. Under Phelan, Argentina won 13, drew one and lost 31 of the 45 matches. Phelan has paternal Irish ancestry.

External links

RWC 2003 profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Santiago 1974 births Living people Argentine rugby union coaches Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Argentine rugby union players Rugby union flankers Argentine people of Irish descent Argentina national rugby union team coaches Argentina international rugby union players Club Atlético San Isidro rugby union players Argentina international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players