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The dreaded worst case scenario following Juan Figallo’s knee injury suffered in training last week has been confirmed by his Aviva Premiership club, Saracens . The 27 year old tighthead prop will play no part in this year’s Rugby World Cup. Instead he will undergo surgery to repair ligament damage to his left knee.
The Salta front-rower is to be operated on and require a recovery period of between three and four months, thereby ending any chance of his participation in the not only the upcoming Rugby Championship but also the Rugby World Cup. He joins backs Manuel Montero and Gonzalo Tiesi in having been ruled out of the global event.
The injury occurred in a regulation training environment last Wednesday in which he turned to secure a fumbled ball in a tackle. Following the incident he left the Argentine training camp in Sydney, Australia to return to England via Argentina.
The option existed for him to undergo a rehabilitation regime without surgery but with there being no guarantee over the potential success of the operation Figallo will undergo a regulation recovery beginning with surgery.
No player has been called up in place of Figallo. Instead Hourcade continues to have five props with Marcos Ayerza the certain starter at loosehead and Lucas Noguera Paz being his deputy. At tighthead the two starters from the 2014 Rugby Championship, Ramiro Herrera and Francisco Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro are joined by former Highlander Matías Díaz.
The five are favorites to go on to represent their country at the Rugby World Cup. The return of Figallo remains very unclear due to the UAR having a soon to be enforced policy of only selecting players based in Argentina. The policy is to begin in January but speculation from within Argentina has alluded to the likelihood of it being relaxed to enable the likes of Juan Imhoff, Manuel Carizza and others to play for Los Pumas in 2016.
