 Sánchez in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Federico Nicolás Sánchez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1988-10-26)26 October 1988 (age 37) Tucumán, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb; 13 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Federico Nicolás Sánchez (born 26 October 1988) is a former Argentina nationalrugby union player who currently plays as afly-half forJapan Rugby League One clubTokyo Sungoliath.[1]
Sánchez played forPampas XV at the2011 Vodacom Cup (winning this tournament) inSouth Africa. He moved toBordeaux in theTop 14 inFrance, where he played from 2011/12 to 2013/14. He also played forRC Toulonnais from 2014 to 2015.
Sánchez has 100 caps forArgentina, since his debut on 21 May 2010, in a win overUruguay, inSantiago,Chile. He has scored 11 tries, 99 conversions, 140 penalties and 12 drop goals, 709 points in total.[2] He is the record highest point scorer for the Pumas.He participated at the2011 Rugby World Cup where he played in one match, without scoring.[3] He has been playing atThe Rugby Championship, since the admission of thePumas in 2012, counting currently 16 games, with 10 conversions and 28 penalties scored, 104 points in aggregate, in four presences at the competition.[4]
Sánchez was the top scorer of the2014 Rugby Championship with 54 points.[5][6]
Sanchez was picked for the Argentina2015 Rugby World Cup squad. He was the top point scorer in the competition with 97 points and he had the second highest number of penalties scored, finishing with 20. His display of talent in the tournament helped his team to achieve a fourth-place position.[7]
On 8 September 2018, Sanchez overtook the long-serving former Argentinian captainFelipe Contepomi as the highest-scoring Los Pumas player in history. Sanchez scored 14 points against New Zealand on the day, taking his career points tally to 655 points from 68 tests. Sanchez's 14-point haul did not manage to lead Los Pumas to victory, however, as Los Pumas lost to the All Blacks 24-46.[citation needed]
Sánchez was a starter for theArgentina national team on 14 November 2020 in their first ever win against theAll Blacks,[8] scoring all 25 of Argentina's points in that test.[citation needed]
On14 November 2020, in Argentina's first victory overNew Zealand, Sánchez scored all twenty-five of Argentina's points scored (25–15) in the2020 Tri Nations Series atWestern Sydney Stadium,Sydney.[9] He became the third highest-scoring player against New Zealand in a single-match, behindMorné Steyn's31 points in 2009 andChristophe Lamaison's28 points in the1999 Rugby World Cup.[10]
