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Rodrigo Capó Ortega will be honored in France this coming weekened. The Uruguayan defended the colors of Castres for a staggering 18 years before reriring in 2000. His career will be paid tribute to ahead of Castres vs Clermont on Saturday.
Rodrigo Capó Ortega retired from rugby at the age of 39. His career concluded with the suspended Top 14 season in 2019-2020. He had planned on retiring at the end of that season.
Hailing from Montevideo, Capó Ortega played for Carrasco Polo and made his test debut against Chile in November 2000. After three Campeonato Uruguayo titles he signed for Castres in 2002. He played more than 400 games across all competitions. He won two Top 14 titles, first in 2013 and then a second as captain in 2018.
Though primarily a lock, it was at No8 where Capó Ortega would play during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, scoring a try against Samoa. He was a fixture in the back row for Los Teros through the end of the decade when his international career ground to a virtual halt.
Despite being Uruguay’s best player Capó Ortega would not play another test until the Rugby World Cup qualifiers in 2014. He then missed out on both the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, the former for family reasons and the latter due to injury.
He did not compete for Uruguay at those Rugby World Cups, though he was heavily involved in the qualifying campaigns for both. He pulled-on the Uruguayan shirt to help Los Teros past Russia to qualify for RWC 2015 and past Canada to qualify for RWC 2019. His final cap was a win over Canada in 2018.
🎉 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐨 𝐎𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐞 #COASM !
Notre emblématique deuxième ligne, sera honoré lors du match contre l’ASM Clermont Auvergne après la fin de sa carrière en 2020 en pleine crise sanitaire.#TousEnsemble #TeamCO pic.twitter.com/W8SO1eOh1M
— Castres Olympique (@CastresRugby) April 19, 2022
