He was an avid rugby player despite an asthma handicap and earned himself the nickname Fuser — a combination of El Furibundo (The Raging) and his mother's surname (Serna) — for his aggressive style of play.
He also founded a rugby magazine, called Tackle. He wrote the entire contents under either his own name or a code name, Chang-Cho, which is apparently a play on one of his nicknames, the Pig.
This question was asked at a quiz I went for a few weeks ago. I knew Albert Camus had played football, Hemingway had a passion for bullfighting and that Conan Doyle and Wodehouse had a yen for cricket. But this was unfamiliar trivia. It had to be somebody with a Spanish language connection but Spain or Latin American countries had no rugby tradition to boast of. Our tame guess was legendary Argentine footballer Alfredo Di Stefano.
The answer turned out to be another Argentine, none other than Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. And 40 years after his death, there is a rugby footnote too to the myth of Che the revolutionary icon. The Telegraph has an evocative piece with a photo of Che the rugby player, who's now emerged as an unexpected icon of the Argentine rugby side.
And it's fitting that the 40th anniversary of Che's death coincides with the Pumas' (Argentine rugby squad) surprise entry into the ongoing Rugby World Cup semifinals. A year the outsider breached the inner circle.
He also founded a rugby magazine, called Tackle. He wrote the entire contents under either his own name or a code name, Chang-Cho, which is apparently a play on one of his nicknames, the Pig.
This question was asked at a quiz I went for a few weeks ago. I knew Albert Camus had played football, Hemingway had a passion for bullfighting and that Conan Doyle and Wodehouse had a yen for cricket. But this was unfamiliar trivia. It had to be somebody with a Spanish language connection but Spain or Latin American countries had no rugby tradition to boast of. Our tame guess was legendary Argentine footballer Alfredo Di Stefano.
The answer turned out to be another Argentine, none other than Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. And 40 years after his death, there is a rugby footnote too to the myth of Che the revolutionary icon. The Telegraph has an evocative piece with a photo of Che the rugby player, who's now emerged as an unexpected icon of the Argentine rugby side.
And it's fitting that the 40th anniversary of Che's death coincides with the Pumas' (Argentine rugby squad) surprise entry into the ongoing Rugby World Cup semifinals. A year the outsider breached the inner circle.
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