Felipe Contepomi: How A Doctor Became A Los Pumas Legend And Head Coach
Felipe Contepomi: How A Doctor Became A Los Pumas Legend And Head Coach
From hall-of-fame fly-half to medical doctor and now Pumas head coach, Felipe Contepomi’s story blends brilliance, resilience and Argentine passion.
Felipe Contepomi never was just a rugby player. He never was just a doctor either.
He was both at once, a rare hybrid who balanced the brutal collisions of international rugby with the precision of medical study, all while carrying the hopes of Argentine rugby on his shoulders.
Today, as head coach of Los Pumas, Contepomi embodies the depth, discipline and flair that made him one of the sport’s most fascinating figures.
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Born on Aug. 20, 1977, in Buenos Aires, Felipe grew up in a bustling Catholic household that eventually counted 12 siblings and several adopted cousins and friends.
Rugby was in the bloodline.
His father, Carlos, had been capped for Argentina in the 1960s, and Felipe and his identical twin brother, Manuel, followed in his footsteps.
The brothers first made their names at Colegio Cardenal Newman and later at Club Newman, and soon both would wear the famous sky-blue and white jersey of Argentina.
“Manuel was the better player when we were young,” Felipe has often said, though their careers became intertwined, most memorably when they played side-by-side in the midfield at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, helping Argentina claim a historic third place.
Felipe’s rugby journey, however, was anything but conventional.
In 2001, while most young players were choosing between a career in sport or study, Contepomi signed with Bristol in England and simultaneously pursued his dream of becoming a doctor.
When Bristol was relegated, he moved to Leinster, and Dublin became his second home.
By day, he studied medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons; by night, he controlled games for Leinster with his vision, versatility and nerves of steel.
In 2006, he led Leinster to a famous Heineken Cup quarterfinal victory over Toulouse, scoring 21 points and being named man of the match.
That same year he topped the scoring charts in both the Heineken Cup and Celtic League, even playing one match just hours after the birth of his daughter Catalina.
What set Contepomi apart was not only his skill, his sharp passing, accurate boot and instinctive reading of defenses, but also his resilience.
In 2009, he tore his ACL during a Heineken Cup semifinal against Munster, ending his Leinster career on a stretcher. True to form, he was back within six months, debuting for Toulon in France.
Later, at Stade Français, he rounded out a European odyssey that had seen him leave an indelible mark on club rugby before returning to finish his playing days at home with Club Newman.
But it was on the international stage where Contepomi’s legend truly grew.
He debuted for the Pumas in 1998, and across 15 years, he earned 87 caps, scoring 651 points, both national records at the time of his retirement.
He was central to Argentina’s coming-of-age in world rugby: a full house against Wales in 2001, a landmark win over England at Twickenham in 2006 and then the unforgettable 2007 World Cup run.
Contepomi scored in every knockout match, finishing as the tournament’s second-highest scorer, and he was shortlisted for World Player of the Year.
A year later, he inherited the Pumas captaincy from Agustín Pichot.
And all the while, he was becoming “Dr. Contepomi.”
In 2007, he graduated with medical degrees from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, later working at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, and eventually alongside his father in Buenos Aires.
His dual career became part of his mystique. He could command a back line on Saturday and assist in surgeries on Monday.
“The discipline of medicine and rugby complement each other,” he has said. “Both demand focus under pressure, both require teamwork.”
After hanging up his boots in 2013, Contepomi naturally gravitated back to rugby.
Coaching stints with the Jaguares and Argentina XV were followed by a return to Leinster in 2018 as backs coach, where he helped guide the Irish province to three straight Pro14 titles and multiple European finals.
In 2022 he rejoined the Pumas as attack coach under Michael Cheika, helping engineer famous wins over Australia, New Zealand and England. A year later, he took the top job.
As head coach, Contepomi has fused Argentina’s traditional grit with the tactical polish he absorbed in Europe.
His 2024 Rugby Championship campaign was the Pumas’ best yet, beating every opponent at least once and proving they could compete with rugby’s giants on equal footing.
For Felipe, though, the mission is bigger than results. It’s about building a culture of relentless improvement, of marrying Argentine flair with modern professionalism.
Through it all, the presence of Manuel has been constant, sometimes on the field beside him, sometimes in the stands, always in his story. It's two brothers from Buenos Aires who dreamed big, one of them balancing rugby’s demands with a scalpel’s precision, together helping lift Argentine rugby into a new era.
Felipe Contepomi is more than a hall of famer, more than a record scorer, more than a doctor. He is a symbol of balance: between brains and brawn, family and ambition, passion and discipline.
And, as he now leads Los Pumas into another chapter, his legacy already is secure as Argentina’s ultimate rugby renaissance man.
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