Rodrigo Roncero, also known as "RoRo" (born 16 February 1977, 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 ...

), is a retired

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 ...

former

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. The last team in which he played was

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 ...

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 ...

. 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. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

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, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

from 2002 to 2004. Roncero also played 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 ...

, usually as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen 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. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. Like his teammate

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 ...

, Rodrigo is a qualified doctor. Roncero made his first appearance for Argentina on 15 September 1998 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 ...

. He made three appearances in 2002 as well. Roncero was included in a mid-week Pumas side to play South Africa A, that

Marcelo Loffreda Marcelo Loffreda (born May 17, 1959, in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine former rugby union footballer and coach. Loffreda won 44 caps with one as captain, playing at centre for the Argentine rugby union side (''los Pumas''). He played mu ...

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 and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

. He was included in the Pumas'

squad, playing in matches against

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and

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

. 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, 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 ...

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

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. 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 organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

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 ''Rugby World'' is a monthly rugby union magazine running since October 1960. It is published monthly by Future plc and edited by Joe Robinson. Long-standing editor Paul Morgan left in January 2012. Morgan was long considered a leader in the in ...

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 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 ...

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 during

The Rugby Championship The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ran ...

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 sportspeople of Spanish descent Argentine physicians Living people Argentine rugby union players Rugby union props Stade Français Paris players Gloucester Rugby players Argentina international rugby union players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players Argentine expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Argentine expatriate rugby union players in England