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Juan Pablo Socino is moving north to continue his career in Scotland next season. The Argentine mid-fielder will depart the Newcastle Falcons to join Edinburgh, a change from the Aviva Premiership to the Guinness Pro 14 Championship.
Socino’s move north to Scotland is on a two-year-deal. Upon completion it will see his professional career go beyond a decade in Europe. it will also see him playing in five different countries.
Socino left Los Materos club to play in 2009 to play in Spain. He did so to join Santboiana at the age of 21. From there he moved to Wales to play for Tonmawr RFC before moving to England in 2010. In England he played for both Rotherham and Nottingham in the second division from 2010-2012.
Following a brief return to Los Materos, Socino was approached to play for Benton Treviso. The offer included playing for Italy. He turned it down and instead moved to play for Dax in France in 2012. After one season he was back playing for Rotherham before signing for the Newcastle Falcons in 2014.
His path to both the Falcons and Pumas was Rotherham. In 2014 he won the Golden Boot award and was the RFU Championship Player of the Season. Last season he was named in the Aviva Premiership Dream Team and by Americas Rugby News as the 2017 Club Player of the Year. He has 87 appearances for the Falcons.
Socino went to Europe as a fly half and gradually became an inside center. The number 12 shirt was also that which he would wear for Argentina. His move also coincided with him becoming less of a goal-kicker and more of a hard-running center.
Capped four times by Argentina, Socino remains among the top Argentine inside centers playing today. With him playing in Europe he has not been considered for international duty since RWC 2015.
He made his debut against Australia in Mendoza in the 2015 Rugby Championship. His next test was also a start, against South Africa in a warm-up match in Buenos Aires prior to the RWC. He then mad the RWC roster and would go on to play in two matches. He started against Namibia and was a replacement in the Bronze Final against South Africa.
