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Juan Pablo Orlandi has joined Pau, completing a return to the Top 14. A variety of French sources had reported that the 20-time capped 32 year old will be joining Pau as a medical joker and it is now official.
Currently in 12th place in the Top 14 Section Paloise (Pau) require an immediate replacement for tighthead prop Sylvain Charlet who fractured a malleolus playing against the Newport Gwent Dragons in the European Challenge Cup in December.
Although Section Paloise has not yet made any confirmation of the signing it has been confirmed that Orlandi arrived in Pau. His medical testing is said to have been successful thereby freeing up the 118kg front-rower from Mendoza.
Having been a late injury-enforced call-up by Daniel Hourcade, Orlandi went on to play in four of Los Pumas’ matches at the Rugby World Cup. In addition to starting in the win over Namibia in Leicester he came off the bench in the games against Tonga, Ireland and South Africa.
Opportunity struck following the pre-Rugby World Cup losses of Juan Figallo and Matías Díaz. Orlandi was called upon to act as Argentina’s third choice specialist tighthead prop at the World Cup, covering for two former Top 14 players – Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Ramiro Herrera.
Both Tetaz Chaparro and Herrera are in Buenos Aires preparing for the Super Rugby season. Orlandi had been approached but with no firm contract and game time not guaranteed he declared “I have options abroad. What motivates me the most, aside from Los Pumas, is returning to France”.
In joining Pau Orlandi will be playing for his second Top 14 club after previously playing for Racing 92 from 2009-2013. He left France to play in the Aviva Premiership for Bath and the Newcastle Falcons, coming off contract with the latter at last season.
His professional career, however, began in Italy where he played for Rovigo. It saw him becoming eligible to represent Italy but he was selected by the then Pumas Head Coach Santiago Phelan and debuted in the November 2008 European tour.
Also debuting under Phelan was Santiago Fernández who plays for Pau. Orlandi is set to join he and a third player from the Americas, Canadian second-rower Cameron Pierce.
