Nicolás Sánchez (rugby union)

Federico Nicolás Sánchez (born 26 October 1988) is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Top 14 club Brive and the Argentina national team.[1]

For other people named Nicolás Sánchez, see Nicolás Sánchez (disambiguation).

Nicolás Sánchez
Sánchez representing Argentina during the Rugby World Cup
Full nameFederico Nicolás Sánchez
Date of birth (1988-10-26) 26 October 1988
Place of birthTucumán, Argentina
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight83 kg (183 lb; 13 st 1 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half
Current team Brive
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011 Pampas XV 9 (71)
2011–2014 Bordeaux Bègles 33 (138)
2014–2015 Toulon 13 (84)
2016–2018 Jaguares 40 (392)
2018–2022 Stade Français 53 (353)
2022– Brive 15 (116)
Correct as of 28 August 2023
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007 Argentina U19 6 (35)
2008 Argentina U20 2 (0)
2009–2010 Argentina Jaguars 15 (70)
2010– Argentina 100 (863)
Correct as of 28 August 2023

Club career

Sánchez played for Pampas XV at the 2011 Vodacom Cup (winning this tournament) in South Africa. He moved to Bordeaux in the Top 14 in France, where he played from 2011/12 to 2013/14. He also played for RC Toulonnais from 2014 to 2015.

International career

Sánchez has 100 caps for Argentina, since his debut on 21 May 2010, in a win over Uruguay, in Santiago, Chile. He has scored 11 tries, 99 conversions, 140 penalties and 12 drop goals, 709 points in total.[2] He is the record highest point scorer for the Pumas. He participated at the 2011 Rugby World Cup where he played in one match, without scoring.[3] He has been playing at The Rugby Championship, since the admission of the Pumas in 2012, counting currently 16 games, with 10 conversions and 28 penalties scored, 104 points in aggregate, in four presences at the competition.[4]

Sánchez was the top scorer of the 2014 Rugby Championship with 54 points.[5][6]

Sanchez was picked for the Argentina 2015 Rugby World Cup squad. He was the top point scorer in the competition with 97 points and he had the second highest number of penalties scored, finishing with 20. His display of talent in the tournament helped his team to achieve a fourth-place position.[7]

On 8 September 2018, Sanchez overtook the long-serving former Argentinian captain Felipe Contepomi as the highest-scoring Los Pumas player in history. Sanchez scored 14 points against New Zealand on the day, taking his career points tally to 655 points from 68 tests. Sanchez's 14-point haul did not manage to lead Los Pumas to victory, however, as Los Pumas lost to the All Blacks 24-46.

Sánchez was a starter for the Argentina national team on 14 November 2020 in their first ever win against the All Blacks,[8] scoring all 25 of Argentina's points in that test.

On 14 November 2020, in Argentina's first victory over New Zealand, Sánchez scored all twenty-five of Argentina's points scored (25–15) in the 2020 Tri Nations Series at Western Sydney Stadium, Sydney.[9] He became the third highest-scoring player against New Zealand in a single-match, behind Morné Steyn's 31 points in 2009 and Christophe Lamaison's 28 points in the 1999 Rugby World Cup.[10]

References
  1. "Nicolás Sánchez Player Profile - RWC2015". RWC2015. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015.
  2. "Nicolas Sanchez - ESPN Scrum". ESPNScrum. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  3. "Profile". Official Rugby World Cup Site. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  4. Nicolás Sánchez International Statistics
  5. "The Rugby World Cup in numbers: New Zealand lead the stats". Guardian. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. "Rugby World Cup 2015: Top points scorers". BBC Sport. 1 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. Worthington, Sam; Doran, Christy (2 November 2015). "Rugby World Cup 2015: Fox Sports picks its teams of the tournament". Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  8. "Argentina (16) 25 - 15 (3) New Zealand (FT)". ESPN. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  9. "Argentina down All Blacks for first time in historic Tri-Nations upset". The Guardian Australia. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  10. Campos, Tomás (14 November 2020). "Nico Sánchez, el héroe de los Pumas... que pensó en dejarlo tras el Mundial de Japón" [Nico Sánchez, the hero of the Pumas... who thought about leaving him after the World Cup in Japan]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 November 2020.
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