‘Fight for a place': Olympic medallist and World Cup star’s next chapter

Lautaro Bazán Vélez has spent a career ticking off rugby’s biggest stages. Now, with Ultimate Sevens, a wedding and another Olympic dream ahead, he is chasing the next box on the list.

Youth Olympic Games: tick.

Junior World Rugby Championship U20: tick, tick, tick.

Americas Rugby Championship: tick.

Pumas Sevens: tick, then tick again.

Rugby World Cup Sevens: tick.

Olympic Games: tick. Aiming for a second tick in ‘28.

Rugby X: tick.

Los Pumas: tick.

The Rugby Championship: tick.

Rugby World Cup: tick.

Professional rugby XVs: tick.

Premier Sevens: tick.

Ultimate Sevens: ready to tick.

And finally…marriage: soon to tick

If ticking boxes was a sport, Lautaro Bazán Vélez would probably be up there amongst the best.

From being drafted at the last minute into the Argentina U20 side in 2014 and going on to play in three Junior World Championships, to winning silver at the first-ever rugby tournament at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing that same year; from a bronze Olympic medal in Tokyo to playing in six of Argentina’s seven Rugby World Cup matches in France in 2023, his career has seen him perform at a high level at almost every level of the game.

He has gone from XVs to sevens, back to fifteens and is now back in sevens, where he feels most comfortable. Ready to play a part in the inaugural season of Ultimate Sevens, the thirty-year old sat down with RugbyPass as he prepared to travel to Europe, whilst organizing his upcoming wedding to review the boxes he has ticked and look ahead to those that need ticking.

Another box to tick

First to his last enterprise.

“We heard about Ultimate Sevens from Tom Mitchell in Dubai last December, as he was asking who’d be interested,” Bazán Vélez says, knowing the importance of playing in the new circuit for his chances with Argentina 7s.

After an injury-ridden season, when in his own words “was unable to perform at my best”, an operation corrected his problems. Together with Pumas Sevens head coach Santiago Gómez Cora, they decided that Ultimate Sevens would provide the game time he needs.

“Playing Ultimate 7s will give me a lot of playing time. I need to get reacquainted with the game in full fitness. It will be a great few weeks.”

At Sol Feroz, he will line up alongside marquee player Luciano González, a former World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year nominee and a long-time teammate with Argentina Sevens.

“It will be a great experience to play with players from other countries, understand their culture, live with them for an extended period of time.”

Bazán Vélez had played for Hyrabad in the inaugural Premier Rugby Sevens competition in India, another great experience, which he very much enjoyed.

“Ultimate will be of a higher standard as there are no local players; it will be much more competitive.”

With Los Angeles 2028 clearly in his goal, Sol Feroz will be an important stepping stone.

“It will give me match time, get my rhythm back and be ready to fight back. Also, being coached by Paco Hernández and Gastón Revol will be great.”

Where it all began

The scrumhalf first played sevens for his country in 2014. As an 18-year-old, he spent two weeks in Hong Kong preparing with a team that included current Puma Bautista Delguy and future Italian international Domingo Miotti.

They then travelled to Nanjing for the first Youth Olympic Games. “We had a good team and came short in the final against France. We competed at the start of the Games and stayed until the final ceremony. It was a great trip.”

Some of the stories from those Games, however, will remain untold. He spent three seasons with the U20s – first season coming in as a late replacement, then establishing himself at that level before moving to Argentina XV and the Americas Rugby Championship.

After starring for his club Córdoba Athletic in the Punta del Este 7s, a tournament attended by Gómez Cora, Bazán Vélez was included in the long-list for the Olympic squad for Rio 2016. He soon understood that sevens could be worth exploring and both formats of the game shared the services of ‘Lauti’ until 2019 when sevens took over full-time.

By then, he had starred in San Francisco in a RWC 7s that “should have brought more rewards. The format was strange and we got in the path of Fiji. There were easier roads to the final.”

His rugby calendar was relentless. “It was crazy. From December 2018 to March 2019 I never went back home to Córdoba. Dubai and Cape Town, the Americas RC, Wellington and Sydney, back to the ARC…until I tore a muscle.”

Understandable.

After three attempts, Argentina finally secured a medal in the Lima 2019 Pan American games. By the time the pandemic closed down the world, Pumas 7s were not in the best shape.

“Right before COVID hit, in Vancouver, we had a team meeting in a changing room at BC Place. Words were spoken. It is a changing room that we all remember.”

Roads leading to Tokyo

Things changed as the world was reopening and tournaments were finally won after a long hiatus. Including the one-and-only Rugby X at the O2 in London. “A fun experience,” in his own words.

“By Tokyo – played a year later, in 2021 – we were in our prime, inside a bubble that would not move us an inch from our goals. So much that when Gastón (Revol) was sent-off, no-one panicked.”

Bazán Vélez was sitting in the sin-bin as five Pumas 7s managed to beat the Blitzboks in an unforgettable quarter-final.  Too tired in the semi-final, Argentina were nevertheless highly motivated for the bronze-medal match against Great Britain.

They won.

The bronze medal, which hangs in his recovery room at home, made all of them heroes.

Back to XVs

Rovigo, in Italy, came calling at the end of the 2021-22 season and with no real ambitions of playing for Los Pumas, Bazán Vélez returned to XVs.

Expected to arrive in August, a call from then-head coach Michael Cheika changed everything. He was elevated to the full national side. He only arrived in Northern Italy in late November.

He played in the following two Rugby Championships and in the international windows.

“Readapting took some time, but I felt that by the Rugby World Cup I was playing my best rugby.”

Despite not starting any game, he did play six of seven in France.

Life was sweet.

URC club Benetton was his next destination. It was not a good experience.

“I only played three games in five months, never started for them. The team for the weekend was named on Mondays after a 630am video session. My girlfriend wasn’t able to travel with me. I was lonely; it was cold and dark. I wasn’t enjoying myself.”

Mental health issues were tackled. Mentored by his former Pumita coach Fernando Guatieri, he managed to break free of his contract.

Back where he belongs

“I realized I was happiest with sevens. I spoke with Santi and the door was opened. I also spoke with Felipe (Contepomi, by then the Pumas coach). He understood and supported me.”

His rugby fitness was not ideal for sevens.

An untimely case of athletic pubalgia meant he never reached his peak. According to team GPS monitoring, his best speed was only around 70 per cent of what it had been.

Muscle tears and strains disrupted his season before corrective surgery in December finally provided the solution.

“I was always in contact with Santi. While our top team will play the Odesur Games soon, which qualify for the Pan Am Games, I would only have played a handful of minutes if included.”

“In Ultimate Sevens I will have more action. Then, I should rejoin the squad and fight for a place in any of the three positions I can play.”

Scrumhalf, flyhalf and centre are in his 7s CV.

Watching Paris 2024 from a distance made him crave for more and LA28 is his ultimate dream.

“I remember saying ‘I want to be in the next one.’ For that, I need to have a very good season to stay in the frame. Competition in the squad is huge and it constantly takes the best out of each one of us.”

“This season at the HSBC SVNS will be crucial to secure an Olympic spot. After a reconstruction period, the team is ready again. It will be very competitive.”

After returning from Europe, his wedding will take place. After that, family life and rugby sevens will be the sole focus for Bazán Vélez.

Tick.