Juan Manuel Leguizamón (born 6 June 1983) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer for

Rugby United New York Rugby New York, originally known as Rugby United New York and officially nicknamed the Ironworkers, was a professional rugby union team based in New York City that was a member of Major League Rugby (MLR). The team played an exhibition season in s ...

(RUNY) of

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR). He plays as a flanker or a number eight. Leguizamón previously played for the Jaguares, the Argentine side which made its debut in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

for the 2016 season. He first played for Santiago Lawn Tennis Club, playing for

San Isidro Club San Isidro Club (mostly known for its acronym SIC) is an Argentine sports club based in the Boulogne Sur Mer district of Greater Buenos Aires. The club has gained recognition due to its rugby union team, being one of the most successful clubs of ...

in 2003–04, where he won two URBA championships. He also played for the

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

(2005–06, 2007–08) in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and for

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) 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 ...

(2008–09, 2010–11) as well as

Lyon OU Lyon Olympique Universitaire Rugby or LOU is a French professional rugby union team based in Lyon that currently competes in the Top 14, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 20 ...

(2011–15) in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

and

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

leagues of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Leguizamón played 87 tests for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

from 2005 to 2019, including four Rugby World Cups and also captaining the team three times in his career.

International career

Leguizamón made his debut with ''

Los Pumas The Argentina national rugby union team (Spanish: ''Selección de rugby de Argentina'') represents Argentina in men's international competitions, The Argentine Rugby Union (). Officially nicknamed ''Los Pumas'', they play in sky blue and white j ...

'' in April 2005 in a match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, won 68 to 36 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. On his debut, he also scored his first try for Argentina. He earned another two caps in July in a Test series against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and then went on to play in three tests matches during November; against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and coming on as a replacement during the

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and Italy fixtures. The following year he played in two tests during the June fixtures at home to

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 the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

. He also played in games during Argentina's

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

and before the quarter-finals, Leguizamón dominated the World Cup group stage. This was emphasised with his monstrous work rate during the first game of the tournament against the hosts

. His yellow boots make him easy to spot.Juan Manuel Leguizamon International Statistics
/ref> Leguizamón went on to be part of the Argentine squad for three more World Cups, 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 World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

in New Zealand,

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

in England and

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

in Japan. Having been supplanted from the starting lineup, by

Javier Ortega Desio Javier Ortega Desio (born 14 June 1990) is an Argentine rugby union player who plays as a loose forward for the Argentine Super Rugby side , and the Argentina national rugby union team. Career Ortega Desio started out his professional career ...

, during the

2018 Rugby Championship The 2018 Rugby Championship was the seventh edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere The Rugby Championship, Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, So ...

, Leguizamón announced that he would retire from all forms of rugby following the 2019 World Cup. On October 9, 2019, he played his last test for the Argentina national team, a 47–17 win over the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Leguizamón finished his career under Head Coach,

Mario Ledesma Mario Ledesma Arocena (born 17 May 1973 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played in Argentina's 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign, when they reached the semi-finals, and had a professional ...

, a former teammate, and finished as the joint second-to-most capped Argentinian player of all time, tied with

Felipe Contepomi Felipe Contepomi (born 20 August 1977) is an Argentine professional rugby coach who is currently the head coach of the Argentine national side. He was a rugby union footballer who played fly-half or centre; his last club was Club Newman, in ...

and second to Agustin Creevy. In May 2021, Leguizamón signed with

(RUNY) of

in America for the rest of the 2021 season.

References

External links

London Irish profileUAR profile
on Londonirish.org

on sarugby.com
Juan Manuel Leguizamón
on ercrugby.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Leguizamon, Juan Manuel 1983 births Sportspeople from Santiago del Estero Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine rugby union players Jaguares (Super Rugby) players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Living people Lyon OU Rugby players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights San Isidro Club rugby union players Stade Français Paris players Barbarian F.C. players London Irish players Argentina international rugby union players Argentine expatriate rugby union players in England Argentine expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby New York players Sportspeople from Santiago del Estero Province 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Argentine expatriate rugby union players in the United States