Juan Manuel Leguizamón is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer. He used to play for the London Irish

London Irish

London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...

 club in the English league Guinness Premiership

Guinness Premiership

The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership...

. In the summer of 2008 he signed for Stade Français due to a perceived lack of game time. He has also played for the Argentina national team, Los Pumas

Argentina national rugby union team

The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...

. His usual position is in the back row.

Leguizamón has so far earned 20 caps playing for Argentina. He made his debut in April 2005 in a match against Japan

Japan national rugby union team

The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...

, which Argentina won 68 to 36 in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. On debut, he also scored his first try

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

 for Argentina. He earned another two caps in July in a Test series against Italy

Italy national rugby union team

The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

, and then went onto play in three tests matches during November; against South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

, and coming on as a replacement during the Scotland

Scotland national rugby union team

The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

 and Italy fixtures. The following year he played in two tests during the June fixtures at home to Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

 and the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

. He also played in games during Argentina's qualification for the 2007 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

 and before the quarter finals, Leguizamón dominated the World Cup group stage. This was emphasised with his monstrous work rate during the first game of the tournament against France. His yellow boots make him easy to spot.

External links

• London Irish profile
• UAR profile
• Juan Manuel Leguizamón on Londonirish.org
• Juan Manuel Leguizamón on sarugby.com
• Juan Manuel Leguizamón on ercrugby.com