Patricio Noriega (born 22 October 1971, Argentina) is a former Argentine

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 who played

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. He started his career in local club Hindu and had his test debut for Los Pumas in 1991 against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. After playing two

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

's (

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

) he then migrated to Australia to join Super 12 team the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005 to 2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses wh ...

in 1996. After a couple of seasons, he was offered to play for the Wallabies and made his debut against

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 ...

in 1998. However, he suffered a shoulder injury on the eve of the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

and was unable to play for his new national team in their victorious campaign. In 2000 he played for French team

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 ...

before joining another Super 12 team, the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney the following year. He played his final Wallabies test in 2003 against

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and in March 2004 he retired due to a chronic back injury. He was capped 25 times for the Argentine Pumas and 24 times for the Australian Wallabies. After returning to

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 ...

he became head coach of his former club Hindú, leading them to win the National Clubs Championship in 2005.

External links

Noriega to start for WaratahsNoriega out of Wallabies squad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noriega, Patricio 1971 births Argentine rugby union players Australian rugby union players Australia international rugby union players ACT Brumbies players New South Wales Waratahs players Rugby union props Living people Stade Français Paris players Place of birth missing (living people) Argentina international rugby union players Argentine emigrants to Australia Rugby union players from Buenos Aires 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France