Santiago Phelan (born March 31, 1974, in

San Isidro, Buenos Aires San Isidro is a city in Greater Buenos Aires. It is located 27.9 km from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA). It ranks as the province's most affluent neighborhood. History In 2007, San Isidro celebrated its 300 years of existence wit ...

) is an

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 ...

retired

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. His usual position was flanker. Phelan played for Argentine club

Club Atlético San Isidro The Club Atlético de San Isidro (mostly known for its acronym CASI) is an Argentina, Argentine sports club based in the city of San Isidro, Buenos Aires, San Isidro in Greater Buenos Aires. Originally established as a association football, footb ...

and represented the

Argentina national rugby union team The Argentina national rugby union team ( Spanish: ''Selección de rugby de Argentina'') represents Argentina in men's international competitions, The Argentine Rugby Union (). Officially nicknamed ''Los Pumas'', they play in sky blue and white ...

on 44 occasions, captaining the team twice. He represented Argentina at the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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. Phelan retired due to injury in 2003 at the age of 29, he has since taken up coaching. On March 13, 2008, Phelan was named as the coach of the Argentine rugby union team, filling the vacancy left by

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 ...

. On October 21, 2013, Phelan stepped down from his post as Los Pumas head coach with immediate effect, one year early from the end of his contract. Over the 45 matches that he coached, he earned 13 wins, 31 defeats and 1 draw in his 5-year tenure. Since talking over in 2008, he has rarely earned successes. Argentina failed to get a test series victory under Phelan, with a draw against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, before losing 2–0 to Scotland in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. In 2012, Argentina again drew a test series against

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, then losing 2–0 to England in

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including a record 32–3 defeat in the opening test, the biggest losing margin Argentina has had against England on home soil. He did lead Argentina to the occasional "upset", including a 9–6 win over Scotland at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The stadium is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) who has its headquarters based at the stadium, and is the national stadium of the Scotla ...

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and a 26–12 win over Wales, who at the time where the Six Nations Grand Slam Champions, at the

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. He led the Pumas to the

2011 Rugby World Cup knockout stage The knockout stage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup began on 8 October with a quarter-final between Ireland and Wales and concluded on 23 October with the final at Eden Park in Auckland. New Zealand were the first team to qualify for the knockout st ...

, but lost to hosts

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in the Quarter Finals. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Phelan led Argentina into their debut year in

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 ...

, and proved hard to beat when home. He led Argentina to a 16–16 draw against

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at home in round 2, but failed to improve on that draw, ending bottom of the table with just 4 points and no wins. In

the pumas had record defeats, starting with the 73–13 defeat to South Africa in the opening round - which was South Africa's biggest winning margin over Argentina. Like in 2012, they came close to beating South Africa at home, but their discipline proved costly with 5 penalties against them, South Africa won 22–17. In Round 4, they came close to beating

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after losing the match 14–13, but in the corresponding home fixture, Argentina lost 54–17 to Australia, a record losing margin against Australia at home. In October 2013, Phelan resigned as Argentina head coach after five and a half years in charge. Under Phelan, Argentina won 13, drew one and lost 31 of the 45 matches. Phelan has paternal Irish ancestry.

External links

RWC 2003 profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelan, Santiago 1974 births Living people Argentine rugby union coaches Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Argentine rugby union players Rugby union flankers Argentine people of Irish descent Argentina national rugby union team coaches Argentina international rugby union players Club Atlético San Isidro rugby union players Argentina international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Sportspeople from San Isidro, Buenos Aires Rugby union players from Buenos Aires Province 1999 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen 20th-century Argentine sportsmen