Fabio Ongaro

Fabio Ongaro (born 23 September 1977 in Venice) is an Italian rugby union footballer. Although he now plays as a hooker, he played in the Italian youth teams as a flanker.

Career

Ongaro first played for Rugby Casale (1994/95-1997/98), spending the most prolific time of his career at Benetton Rugby Treviso (1998/99-2005/06), where he won 5 Italian Championships (1998/99, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2005/06), a Cup of Italy (2004/05) and a Supercup (2006). He moved to Saracens, in England, where he played from 2006/07 to 2009/10. He has played for Aironi since 2010/11.

Ongaro won his first cap in 2000 when the Azzurri played against Canada in Rovigo, in a 17–22 loss. Ongaro played every match for Italy in the 2003 World Cup. He scored the crucial try that helped beat Scotland 20–14 in Rome in the 2004 Six Nations Championship. His rise to the top peaked in November 2004 when he was named as Italy captain in place of the injured Marco Bortolami. He played 2 matches at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He has been a regular player at the Six Nations since 2003.

He played his last international match for Italy against Scotland on 17 March 2012.

Doping allegations

In 2003 Ongaro, alongside fellow international Gianluca Faliva, had been accused of having made use of Epoetin beta (NeoRecormon) for doping purposes. In 2009 the trial was concluded with a sentence of absolution for Faliva and Ongaro, as no proof of either of them using or detaining the doping substance could be presented.