Patricio Noriega
Patricio Noriega (born 22 October 1971, Argentina) is a former Argentine
rugby union footballer who played
prop. He started his career in local club Hindu and had his test debut for
Los Pumas in 1991 against
Paraguay. After playing two
Rugby World Cup's (
1991 and
1995) he then migrated to Australia to join
Super 12 team the
ACT Brumbies in 1996. After a couple of seasons, he was offered to play for the
Wallabies and made his debut against
France in 1998. However, he suffered a shoulder injury on the eve of the
1999 Rugby World Cup and was unable to play for his new national team in their victorious campaign. In 2000 he played for French team
Stade Français before joining another Super 12 team, the New South Wales
Waratahs in Sydney the following year. He played his final Wallabies test in 2003 against
South Africa and in March 2004 he retired due to a chronic back injury.
He was
capped 25 times for the Argentine Pumas and 24 times for the Australian Wallabies.
After returning to
Argentina he became head coach of his former club Hindú, leading them to win the National Clubs Championship in 2005.
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