Julio Cesar Giraldo Giraldo (born 19 August 1995), is a Colombian professional

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 ...

player who last played 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 ...

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 ...

and Old Blue R.F.C. in the American Rugby Premiership at amateur level. He was the second Colombian to ever play rugby professionally, and the first to play in Major League Rugby.

Early life

Giraldo was born in Medellin, Colombia. He began playing and developed as a rugby player at the Caporos Rugby club in Monteria-

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. He joined the club in 2011 and quickly earned a spot on the first team. He had several outstanding performances, and continued playing for his hometown club throughout 2014.

Career

Giraldo moved to the United States on February 9, 2015, at the age of 19, joining Old Blue RFC. Despite having several performances in the D2 side, he was only selected once for the first team. In the summer of 2015, he played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for the New York Knights of the USARL, where he suffered his first major injury. In September 2017, after two years in the United States, Giraldo traveled to France and joined Tec Electrogaz Rugby in Promotion Honneur (the seventh division of France). He earned a trial at Clamart 92, where he was selected for the team and played in Federal 2 until May 2018. In 2018, Giraldo went back to the United States due to his new immigration status and rejoined his two former clubs. He did not compete consistently during the rest of 2018. In 2019, he gained a lot of first-team action. The fall season of 2019 was one of Giraldo's best seasons. Despite several injuries (pulled hamstring, bruised shoulder, clavicle fissure, bruised finger tendon) and not being recovered 100%, he managed to perform at a high level.

Major League Rugby

Giraldo was offered a one-month trial in December 2019 by coach Greg McWilliams at

. In January, he was asked to remain with the training squad for a month. After 60 days of training and two preseason games, he was offered his first professional contract, becoming the first Colombian player to make it to MLR and the second player to play professionally in Colombian rugby history, as well as joining players such as

Ben Foden Benjamin James Foden (born 22 July 1985) is an English rugby union player who plays for Rugby United New York (RUNY) in Major League Rugby (MLR). A fullback or scrum-half, he won 34 caps for England between 2009 and 2013. He also plays as a W ...

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, Dylan Fawsitt, Cathal Marsh,

Nate Brakeley Nate Brakeley (born August 31, 1989) is an American former professional rugby union player who played lock and flanker for Rugby New York (Ironworkers) of Major League Rugby (MLR) and for the United States men's national team. Brakeley also pl ...

, Connor Wallace-Sims, and

Paddy Ryan Patrick Ryan (15 March 1851 – 14 December 1900) was an Irish American boxer, and became the bare-knuckle American heavyweight champion on 30 May 1880, after he won the title from Joe Goss. He retained the title until losing it to the excep ...

. Giraldo made his professional rugby debut for

on February 9, 2020, in the first week of the MLR against the

New England Free Jacks The New England Free Jacks are an American professional rugby union team based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). They were announced in September 2018 and began to compete professionally in October 2018. They co ...

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in Las Vegas. He came in from the bench in the first half, replacing an injured Trevor Cassidy. He played 43 minutes, attempting eight tackles with a 100% finishing rate, and also got two turnovers.

National team

Giraldo represented the "

Los Tucanes LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

" Colombia under-18 side from 2011-2013, gaining several caps, including a match against Brazil where he scored a try. He was also, at the time, the first and only player from a club from the Caribbean coast to make it to the squad. He was selected for

, the Colombian national under-18 side, where he played from 2011 to 2013.

References

External links

ESPN article about Julio

Colombia national team announcement about Julio

Radio program with Julio as guest

Colombia news papers La lengua article about Julio

Doug Coil article about Julio

Portal do rugby article

El Columbano News paper article about Julio

El nuevo siglo mentioning Julio

Ultimate rugby Julio's player profile

Rugby united New York Julio's player profile

Americas rugby news article about Julio

Rugby United New York signing announcement
__FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Giraldo, Julio Cesar 1995 births Living people Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Colombian rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in the United States South American rugby union players Rugby New York players Sportspeople from Medellín