Place of birth Concordia, Argentina Years Club / team Caps (points) Weight 110 kg | Position Prop/Hooker Club / team Caps Height 1.78 m | |
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Date of birth (1952-06-20) 20 June 1952 (age 64) Books The ART of Scrummaging: A History, a Manual, and a Dissertation on the Rugby Scrum | ||
Enrique Edgardo 'Topo' Rodríguez was an Argentina-born rugby union footballer who played at international level for Argentina and Australia. He represented the Wallabies at the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and was selected for the South American Jaguars in 1980, gaining four Test caps.
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Rodríguez played tighthead prop, loosehead prop and hooker He was known for his hard play and excellent scrummaging technique.
After retiring from rugby in 1987, Rodriguez was diagnosed with manic depression. A play, Topo by Asoc. Prof. Neil Cole (a prolific playwright), was shown at the Seymour Theatre Centre, Sydney in June 2007, describing the "highs and lows of life" including his experiences of living with mental illness.
In August 2012 Rodriguez self-published a book called "The ART of Scrummaging", which presents the opinions of 40 collaborators (ex-international players and coaches) on the subject of scrummaging.
He is nicknamed Topo - the Spanish word for "mole".
Early life
Rodríguez was born in Concordia, Argentina on 20 June 1952. He studied Psychology at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. He started playing rugby for the University team in 1971. Rodríguez initially played wing, centre, and five-eighth, then in the back row before finally moving to the front row. He went on to be selected for the Cordoba Province representative team in 1976.
Career
Rodríguez played his first Test match for Argentina against New Zealand 1979 and his last Test match for the Argentine team was against Australia on 7 August 1983 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In March 1984, he emigrated with his family to Sydney, Australia. Warringah RC organised his settlement in Sydney's Northern Beaches. Rodriguez played his first Test match for the Wallabies against Fiji on 9 June 1984 (barely 10 weeks after arrival) then a three test series against New Zealand in Australia and the 1984 Grand Slam tour of UK and Ireland.
In June 1986 played his first test against Argentina, also took part in the Bledisloe Cup winning team in New Zealand. His last international for Australia, coincidentally was against Argentina on 7 November 1987, Buenos Aires.
He was also capped for Tahiti against France in an invitational match to celebrate Bastille Day in Papetee (14 July 1981). Other three guests also played for Tahiti, they were All Blacks' backs: Brett Codlin, Robert Kururangi and Tim Twigden.