Rodrigo Roncero, also known as "RoRo", uncle of Mateo Morrone, alias Morronzero, Morroculo o Duketto, (born 16 February 1977, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

), is a retired

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player. The last team in which he played was

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () 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 clubs of the modern era. The ...

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 French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. He has also played for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

in the

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

from 2002 to 2004. Roncero also played for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, usually as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. Whilst at Gloucester he was a replacement in the 2003 Powergen Cup Final in which Gloucester defeated

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

. Like his team mate

Felipe Contepomi Felipe Contepomi (born 20 August 1977) is an Argentine rugby coach who is currently the backs coach at Leinster Rugby. He was a rugby union footballer who played fly-half or centre; his last club was Club Newman, in the first division of the URB ...

, Rodrigo is a qualified doctor. Roncero made his first appearance for Argentina on 15 September 1998 in a match against Japan. He made three appearances in 2002 as well. Roncero was included in a mid-week Pumas side to play

South Africa A The South Africa A cricket team is a national cricket team representing South Africa. It is the second-tier of international South African cricket, below the full South Africa national cricket team. Matches played by South Africa A are not Test ...

, that Marcelo Loffreda was using to determine part of his squad for the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

. He was included in the Pumas'

squad, playing in matches against

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

. He was capped five times for Argentina in 2004, including in a match against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 198 ...

. Roncero played another five times for Argentina in 2005. He also played in Argentina's 2006 mid-year series against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and the All Blacks. In 2007 he was selected to join the Argentina squad for the

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 ...

which succeed in gaining Argentina's highest world cup finish of third place. He played five internationals in 2008 and five in 2009. In the issue of Rugby World magazine published in December 2009 (and dated January 2010), the columnist Stephen Jones ranked Roncero as the ninth best player in the world at the time of his writing. Rodrigo was part of Argentine squad for the 2011

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 ...

in New Zealand. He has developed a reputation as one of the world game's most destructive scrummagers. On 6 October 2012, Roncero played his last game in international rugby against

the Wallabies The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against th ...

during

The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a ...

in his country.

Honours

: 2006–07

References

External links

UAR profileRodrigo Roncero
rwc2003.irb.com
Player profiles: Rodrigo RonceroRodrigo In Midweek Puma Side
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roncero, Rodrigo 1977 births Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine physicians Living people Argentine rugby union players Rugby union props Stade Français players Gloucester Rugby players Argentina international rugby union players