Felipe Contepomi
Encyclopedia
Felipe Contepomi is an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer. A fly-half and centre, he currently plays for Stade Francais of the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Top 14; he made his debut for the club in November 2009 after recovering from a torn ACL
Anterior cruciate ligament injury
An injury to the anterior cruciate ligament can be a debilitating musculoskeletal injury to the knee, seen most often in athletes. Non-contact tears and ruptures are the most common causes of ACL injury....

 suffered in a 2008–09 Heineken Cup match with his previous club, Magners League side Leinster
Leinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...

. Contepomi has played more than 70 games for Argentina
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

, was an occasional captain of the side early in his career, and is now the full-time captain after the international retirement of Agustín Pichot
Agustín Pichot
Agustín Pichot is a retired Argentine rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997...

. His twin brother Manuel
Manuel Contepomi
Manuel Contepomi is an Argentine rugby union footballer. He currently plays for Newman in the Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires competition. He has also made numerous appearances for the Argentina national team...

 is also a Puma.

Career

Contepomi started playing rugby for Newman
Newman Club (rugby)
Club Newman is a sports club, located in the city of Benavídez, Tigre Partido, Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina. The club is mostly known for its rugby union team, which currently plays in the first division of the URBA championship...

 in Buenos Aires. In 2003 he joined Leinster from Bristol
Bristol Rugby
Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...

 on a four-year contract following Bristol's relegation from the Zurich Premiership.

He played a major role in Leinster's run in the 2006 Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

, helping Leinster to a 41–35 win over Cup holders Toulouse
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...

, scoring 21 points in the process and winning the man of the match award. That year he was top scorer in both the Celtic League and Heineken Cup.

In late January 2006, Contepomi's girlfriend, Paula, gave birth to their daughter, Catalina. Only hours later, Contepomi played for Leinster the Magners League match against Border Reivers
Border Reivers
Border Reivers were raiders along the Anglo–Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality...

, a game in which he went on to score 22 points.

In November of that year, Agustín Pichot
Agustín Pichot
Agustín Pichot is a retired Argentine rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997...

 said that Contepomi was a better player than All Black fly-half, Dan Carter, the winner of the 2005 IRB Player of the Year award.

On 31 May 2007, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland , is a Dublin-based medical institution, situated on St. Stephen's Green. The college is one of the five Recognised Colleges of the National University of Ireland...

 in Dublin conferred him with the medical degrees of MB BCh BAO (NUI
NUI
NUI as an acronym may refer to:*National University of Ireland*Natural User Interface*Normally unmanned installation*No User Interface*New User Interface*Novell Users International*Novell Users International - France*Network Users Institute...

) LRCP&SI. He subsequently worked in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.

Contepomi was one of the stars of the Argentina national rugby union team
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

 during the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

. He was the second highest points scorer in the tournament, trailing only Percy Montgomery
Percy Montgomery
Percival Colin "Percy" Montgomery is a retired South African rugby union player...

.

Contepomi was nominated by the IRB
International Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 as one of five candidates for the 2007 International Player of the Year
IRB International Player of the Year
IRB Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by the International Rugby Board. It is awarded to the player who is adjudged to have been the best performer in rugby union internationals in the preceding season IRB Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by the International...

 award, won by Bryan Habana
Bryan Habana
Bryan Gary Habana is a South African rugby union player who plays as a wing for the Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super 14, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup champions Springboks...

. Contepomi won the 2007 Rugby Writers of Ireland Player of the Year award.

On 12 March 2009, it was announced that Contepomi would be leaving Leinster at the end of the season, and that he had signed a 4 year deal to join French side Toulon
RC Toulonnais
RC Toulonnais is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...

 from the 2009/10 season.

Contepomi played a role in the Leinster win over Munster in the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

 semifinal on 2 May 2009. After scoring a drop goal 15 minutes in, he was helped off the pitch after suffering a knee injury half an hour in. An MRI scan confirmed he tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was expected to be out of action for 6 months post-op. Almost exactly on schedule, he made his Toulon debut on November 21 against Brive
CA Brive
Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin is a French rugby union team founded in 1910 and based in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the département of Corrèze of the Limousin région . They wear black and white and play in the Stade Amédée-Domenech .- History :The club was created on 15 March 1910 established on...

, coming off the bench and scoring a penalty in Toulon's 19–10 win.

Comtepomi won both the Magners (Celtic) League and the Heineken (European) Cup with Leinster.

External links




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