Serafín Dengra (born

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 ...

, 21 September 1961) is a former Argentine rugby union footballer and manager. He played as prop and hooker 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 ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, and Wests Bulldogs. He is nicknamed ''Serafo''.

Career

Dengra, coming from a family of sportspeople (which also boasts a participation at 1928 Olympic Games). Dengra started to play rugby at 12 years when he was invited by some friends to see a match of women's field hockey of

San Isidro Club San Isidro Club (mostly known for its acronym SIC) is an Argentine sports club based in the Boulogne Sur Mer district of Greater Buenos Aires. The club has gained recognition due to its rugby union team, being one of the most successful clubs of ...

, he noted on the adjacent field some rugby players in training; he then, entered in the San Martín youth team, in whose main team he later debuted in 1978. When playing with his club, in 1982, Dengra debuted for the Argentina national team 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 ...

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, as left prop, which was the position he played in all of his international career. In 1985, Unión Argentina de Rugby suspended Dengra for six months due to him having moved to the Australian club Wests Bulldogs, which made him play for the Queensland representative team., due to a national regulamentation which sanctioned the players moving abroad, considered a form of masked professionalism in a sport which was still amateur. Returning in the national team in 1986, Dengra took part at the

1987 Rugby World Cup The 1987 Rugby World Cup was the first Rugby World Cup. It was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia – New Zealand hosted 21 matches (17 pool stage matches, two semi-finals, the third-place play-off and the final) while Australia hosted 11 mat ...

, entering into the field in two matches, against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

; he played his international last match in 1989, later, having accepted his move to

Rugby Rovigo Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10 (rugby union), Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. Overview The club was founded in 1935 by medical ...

, being the first Argentinian player to play for Rovigo, the UAR suspended Dengra from the international activity for four years, which meant for Dengra to forsake definitively to the Pumas' jersey. Dengra also played for Bourgouin Jallieu, where he retired from his playing career in 1995. Currently he is the Sports Relations director of the gym chain Sport Club, he coaches an Over-35 team, the Pumas Classic and he occasionally dedicates himself to the practice of Rugby X-treme, a variant of rugby played on a snowy pitch at high altitude. In 2017, Dengra's motivational videos, where he used the catchphrases "Never pony, pura sangre" ("Never pony, thoroughbred") became viral in Argentina.https://www.elpais.com.uy/tvshow/personajes/serafo-el-motivador-de-whatsapp-le-hizo-el-aguante-a-huracan-buceo

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dengra, Serafín 1961 births Living people Argentine rugby union players Argentina international rugby union players Argentine rugby union coaches Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Australia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Rugby union props Rugby union players from Buenos Aires 1987 Rugby World Cup players Wests Rugby players Queensland rugby union team players