Agustín Creevy
Agustín Creevy (born 15 March 1985 in La Plata) is an Argentine rugby union player.[1][2] He currently plays for the national Argentina team The Pumas and for London Irish in Premiership Rugby. Creevy is the most-capped Argentinian rugby player of all-time, having played 89 tests, including 49 as captain, from 2014-2018.
 Creevy vs England at 2011 Rugby World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Agustín Creevy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | March 15, 1985 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | La Plata, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (17 st 5 lb; 243 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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He plays as a hooker, but has also played flanker and was selected for the 2010 June tests against Scotland. His test debut for Argentina was in 2005 when he played against Japan in Buenos Aires.
Career
Agustín started his rugby career in the San Luis rugby club, in La Plata, Buenos Aires. He made his Argentina debut aged 20 against Japan in 2005,[3] playing as a flanker, two years later he signed his first professional contract with French Top 14 side Biarritz [4] in 2007. However he played very little in his first season in Biarritz and had gone out of international selection contention soon after his debut for Argentina.
In his second season at Biarritz he played just 20 minutes and suffered a lot from a shoulder injury. During his time injured Argentina coach Santiago Phelan suggested he switched position from flanker to hooker, Creevy requested and was granted an early release from his contract with Biarritz in January 2009 to return to Argentina to adapt to playing his new position.
Remarkably, within months Creevy was selected to play for the Argentina Jaguars a few months later in May 2009 to tour Namibia, and was retained for the 2009 Churchill Cup. He was then selected for the senior Argentina side for the 2009 November tests and replaced Alberto Vernet Basualdo as the Pumas understudy to Mario Ledesma, all in less than a year of playing hooker.
After cementing his status as Argentina's number 2 hooker throughout 2010, Creevy was signed by Clermont[1][4] as a medical joker for the injured Willie Wepener in October 2010 on recommendation from Mario Ledesma. However he only played 2 minutes during his three-month stay at Clermont, and returned to the Pampas XV in 2011. After the Pampas XV's undefeated campaign he was signed by his third Top 14 side Montpellier.[4]
Creevy captained Argentina for the Pumas second warm up match against the French Barbarians however it didn't go well for him as Argentina struggled massively at the lineout and lost 21-18. He also captained the Pumas against Worcester. Creevy was selected by Argentina for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and played in all matches off the bench.
Creevy is known as a mobile hooker with some very good ball handling skills for a hooker, his good offloading skills have led him to become called "Sonny Bill" Creevy (after the All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams whose trademark is offloading) by some Montpellier fans.[5]
Agustín is part of the Argentina squad that competes in the Rugby Championship, being captain since the 2014 Rugby Championship and until the 2018 Rugby Championship.
He was part of the national team that competed at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and 2019 Rugby World Cup.
In August 2020, he signed for Premiership Rugby side London Irish ahead of the 2020–21 season.[6]
References
- "FICHA JUGADOR - UAR - UNIÓN ARGENTINA DE RUGBY". Archived from the original on 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- "Official RWC 2011 Site - Argentina - Agustín Creevy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-30.
- "ESPN Scrum - Agustin Creevy".
- "The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Agustín Creevy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
- "The "Sonny Bill" Creevy offload". 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2011.
- "Agustin Creevy signs with Exiles | 11th August 2020 | News". London Irish. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-08-11.