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Argentine international loosehead prop Bruno Postiglioni has agreed to terms to join Italian side Zebre to play in the Guinness Pro 12 and European Challenge Cup. He will join the team on August 17 unless he is selected by Daniel Hourcade for Argentina’s Rugby World Cup squad.
Zebre’s announcement of the signing caught the Argentine rugby community off guard. Earlier in 2015 Postiglioni had signed a deal with the UAR to remain contracted to the union throughout 2015 and 2016. The arrangement meant he would be available at all times for not only international duty but also to play for the Super Rugby franchise and any non-capped matches such as fixtures involving Los Jaguares.
Capped 18 times by Argentina, Postiglioni has been a fringe player capable of playing not only at both loosehead and tighthead prop but also at hooker where he started against Chile and France in 2008. Of his six test starts all have been played at times in which the senior squad members have not been available.
2014 was, nonetheless, a very productive year. It saw Postiglioni used as a replacement for Marcos Ayerza in three Rugby Championship matches, one of which was the victory against Australia in Mendoza. He missed out on the subsequent November tour with Lucas Noguera Paz alone in providing support to Ayerza.
His moving to Italy signifies that he will become unavailable for international duty. New UAR selection policies set to come into effect after the World Cup stipulate that in order to be eligible for selection players will need to be based at home.
Postiglioni told Zebre’s official website that “the Celtic League is one of the best leagues in Europe, it is demanding and very competitive. My objective is to play as much as possible; have the confidence of the team and do what the coaches ask of me. I am a player who likes to be at the complete disposal of the team, I love playing at a high tempo featuring multiple phases. Finding teammates such as Coria and Roan is a great joy”.
Both Guillermo Roan and Emiliano Coria signed to play for Zebre next season. The club contracted them in an effort to perform better and have more depth in the front-row. This past season the club had Argentine props Matías Agüero and Luciano Leibson of whom the former is capped by Italy.
