Former Pumas fly-half Felipe Contepomi was named on Monday to replace Michael Cheika as head coach of World Cup semi-finalists Argentina.
Contepomi, who played 87 times for Argentina and turned out for French clubs Toulon and Stade Français and Irish giants Leinster, where he was also on the coaching staff from 2018 to 2022, moves up from the national staff to the top job at the age of 46.
He was a key performer in some of Los Pumas' greatest World Cup campaigns, such as France 2007, performing at four tournaments.
"The Argentine Rugby Federation (UAR) announces that Felipe Contepomi will be the new head coach of the Pumas, continuing the work begun with Michael Cheika in 2022," the federation said in a statement.
"Felipe Contepomi is now the new head coach of Los Pumas. Welcome Felipe, all the best for this new stage!" the UAR said in a post on social media.
Charismatic Australian Cheika led the Pumas to the last four at this year's World Cup in France, where they lost heavily to New Zealand.
Argentina went on to lose a hard-fought third-place play-off against England.
Cheika had said he was "very disappointed" by Argentina's 26-23 loss, which meant they finished in fourth.
Asked at the time about his future, he said: "I have no idea, I haven't even thought about it."
Contepomi played in four World Cups and was a key figure in the Argentina team that in 2007 finished third after beating France 34-10 in the play-off. He served as assistant coach to Cheika for the last two years.
The rugby union veteran's biggest challenge will be creating a competitive squad for the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
Following his retirement, Contepomi coached the Argentina XV, another national team, between 2017 and 2018.
He is one of the top scorers in the history of Los Pumas with 651 points in 87 matches and was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in November 2017.
– TIMES/AFP
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