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| Birth name | Marcos Ivan Ayerza | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1983-01-12)January 12, 1983 (age 42) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires,Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 115 kg (18 st 2 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Colegio Cardenal Newman, (Buenos Aires) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Marcos Ayerza (born January 12, 1983, inBuenos Aires) is anArgentine retiredrugby union player who played loose-head prop for theLeicester Tigers and hisnational team. His passion and aggression on the field earned him the nickname "El Toro" (The Bull).
He joined Leicester in 2006, having previously played rugby for his schoolColegio Cardenal Newman and then forClub Newman inBuenos Aires. His Tigers debut came as a late call-up whenAlex Moreno was injured in the warm-up, againstBath Rugby in September 2006.
In January 2008, he signed a three-year contract extension with Tigers along with fellow propMartin Castrogiovanni.[2]
He started in the 2007Premiership final victory againstGloucester and the back-to-backPremiership titles in2009[3] and2010.[4] The 2009 final was againstLondon Irish, and the 2010 final was againstSaracens. He started in losingHeineken Cup finals in2007 and2009 and the losing Premiership finals of 2011 and 2012.
In December 2014 Ayerza made his 200th appearance for Leicester against Northampton[5][6] and in January 2015 it was announced Tigers would play Argentina as part of a testimonial year in Ayerza's honour.[7]
In September 2016 he made his 200th start againstWasps[8] becoming only the 86th player in the club's history to make 200 starts.[9]
In April 2017, following medical advice regarding a back injury sustained in November 2016, Ayerza retired from professional rugby.[10] This followed 11 seasons at Welford Road, totalling 246 games as part of a squad that won 4 Premiership titles.
Ayerza has representedArgentina at under-19 and under-21 level, playing in both the 2003 and 2004 under-21 World Championships.
His international debut for the full Argentina side was in December 2004 against theSpringboks. His only international try was scored againstJapan in April 2005.[11]He competed in qualifying matches for the 2007Rugby World Cup and was capped twice during that competition, collecting a bronze medal as Argentina came third.[11] He has played on both sides of the scrum internationally.
Ayerza is fromBuenos Aires and is one of ten children. He is completing a degree in business studies.[12]
Outside of rugby, Ayerza's hobbies include playing the piano andpolo. His family has a long tradition in horse racing, which he attributed to hisIrish ancestors, and run astud farm.[13] An accomplished polo player, he named one of the horses Welford Road after theLeicester Tigers' home groundWelford Road Stadium.[14]