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Prominent Argentine names have been confirmed as the Head Coaches of all Super Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) teams. All six men have noteworthy representative honors. Among them are playing in Rugby World Cups and at the Olympic Games.
ARGENTINA – JAGUARES XV
Argentina’s SLAR entrant in 2020 was Los Ceibos. In 2021 it will be Los Jaguares XV. The head coach of both teams is identical. Ignacio Fernández Lobbe will be in charge of the team this year. The 46-year-old is a highly respected man within Argentine and global rugby circles. He earned 65 caps for Argentina from 1996-2008.
Fernández Lobbe played in three RWCs. He held down a starting spot in the second-row in RWCs 1999, 2003, and 2007. He played in two RWC Quarter Finals, a Semi Final and won the 2007 Bronze Final. His trajectory to the top became at Liceo Naval in Buenos Aires. He went on to play professional rugby in France and England for 2000-2011. He did so for Bordeaux, Castres, Sale Sharks, Northampton Saints, and Bath.
Upon returning to Argentina post retirement, Fernández Lobbe took up coaching. His playing and captaincy experience abroad made him a natural fit. He was head coach of Argentina u20s at the 2016 Junior World Championship and became head coach of the Argentina XV in 2019. Under his coaching, the Argentina XV were undefeated in the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship, the 2019 South American 6 Nations A and the 2020 South American 4 Nations.
BRAZIL – team name tba*
The 44-year-old Emiliano Bergamaschi will be in charge of Brazil’s SLAR entrant in 2021. He replaces Fernando Portugal who was head coach of both Corinthians Rugby and Brazil’s test team in 2020. Bergamaschi has great rugby pedigree both as a player and as a coach.
He played as a professional in England and France beginning in 2002 for the Bristol Bears. He also played for Saracens, and for Rouen. He also was selected for his country and played in one official test match, facing the USA in 2001. His regular position was loose head prop.
In 2008 Bergamaschi turned to coaching. He was an assistant coach to Daniel Hourcade with Los Pumas at RWC 2015. In the 2020 SLAR he was an assistant to Raúl Pérez at the Olímpia Lions. His role with the Brazilian side will be his first opportunity as a head coach of a professional rugby team.
CHILE – SELKNAM
Nicolás Bruzzone will have his first experience of coaching rugby at this level. The 35-year-old takes over in place of Pablo Lemoine who, in 2020, was Head Coach of both Selknam and Chile. Bruzzone enjoyed a long playing career which was followed by coaching.
As a player Bruzzone was a scrum-half. He was a fringe option for Los Pumas, though was never capped. He went on to be a mainstay for Los Pumas 7’s. He broke his country’s all-time appearance record at the 2016 Sydney Sevens. That same year he played for Argentina at the Rio Olympics.
He was a longtime servant of Argentine rugby; beginning with Argentina u21 in 2005. He first played rugby sevens for Argentina in 2007. He first played for the Argentina XV in 2010. His regular position was scrum-half.
COLOMBIA – Cafeteros Pro
Rodolfo Ambrosio has an impressive career in rugby. The 59-year-old is a native of Córdoba. He learned his rugby at Tala RC, the same venue that Los Ceibos used for home matches in the 2020 SLAR. In 1985 he played his final match for Tala and moved to Italy. He was selected to play for Italy at RWC 1987 and made his test debut at fly half in the inaugural RWC match against New Zealand. The last of his 12 caps was against the Soviet Union in Moscow in 1989.
After retirement he turned to coaching, doing so back in Córdoba. In 2000 he returned to Italy. He was head coach of Petrarca and Segni before once again returning to Argentina. He was head of the high performance program (PladAR) in Córdoba form 2008-2011.
He subsequently went on to enjoy national coaching honors. This included the head coach role of Argentina u20s at the 2014 Junior World Championship. In December 2014 he took charge as Head Coach of Brazil, a position he retained until December 2019. Ambrosio left the post as the most successful Brazilian coach in history. Under Ambrosio Brazil defeated the USA in 2016; Canada in 2017, and 2019; Belgium in 2017; Portugal in 2017, and 2019; the Argentina XV in 2018; and the Georgia XV in 2018.
PARAGUAY – OLÍMPIA LIONS
Raúl Pérez will be in charge of the Olímpia Lions. The 55-year-old was both a Pumas player and assistant coach. He earned 21 caps for Argentina from 1992-1999. His regular position was flanker. He was exclusively an amateur player for Duendes.
He turned to coaching after retirement. This was initially fo Duendes in 2001. He subsequently coached Rosario before entering the international stage. He would coach Argentina U21 in 2007-2008 and the Argentina XV in 2009. Daniel Hourcade promoted him to become an assistant coach for Los Pumas in 2013. He was a part of the staff for the team that reached the Semi Finals at RWC 2015.
In 2016 Pérez became the first head coach of Argentina’s first professional team, Los Jaguares. He coached the Argentine franchise in the 2016 and 2017 Super Rugby seasons. In 2018 he was replaced by Maio Ledesma and he went on to become Head Coach of Paraguay. He now holds a duo-role of coaching Paraguay’s test side and SLAR team.
URUGUAY – PENAROL
Peñarol have retained the services of Pablo Bouza. The 47-year-old was a Puma frrom 1996-2007. His regular position was second-row though he also played at N8. He earned 47 test caps, two of which were at RWC 2003. He scored four tries in the tournament, crossing fo double against both Namibia, and Romania. He also had several years as a professional player. He played in England for the Harlequins and Leeds Carnegie from 2005-2008.
Bouza joined Peñarol from Argentina. He took six years of coaching experience in Argentina’s High Performance (PladAR) with him. Bouza was a prominent member of the Daniel Hourcade coaching regime. He was an assistant until 2018. He remains on for the initial period under Mario Ledesma as lineout assistant.
