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Argentina’s Benjamín Urdapilleta has signed a new two-year-deal with Castres. He joins teammates Armand Batlle, and Kévin Firmin in remaining at the club until 2021.
The 32-year-old has been playing for Castres since 2015. He joined the club from Oyonnax, whom he helped win promotion to the Top 14 from the Pro D2 and then stared the club into the barrage play-off’s.
Before playing in France he played in England. Urdapilleta departed his native Buenos Aires to join the Harlequins in 2010. After limited opportunities in both the English Premiership and the European Champions Cup he moved to France’s second division in 2012.
For both Oyonnax and Castres Urdapilleta has scored over 750 points. For Castres he currently has 780 points and was the second highest point scorer in the 2017-2018 season.
The season saw Urdapilleta rising to the very top. He was man of the match for Castres in both the Top 14 Semi Final and Final. With it he became a French club champion, an extraordinary feat for a player who was barely used by the Harlequins and departed for the Pro D2.
Castres are not alone in looking to secure Urdapilleta’s playing future. There have been calls for him to play for Argentina, to add to his 10 test caps won from 2007-2013. This includes his name commonly appearing in the frame for RWC 2019.
The current French club season sees the arrival of Nicolás Sánchez from Los Jaguares. He will begin playing for Stade Français in November. Sánchez is officially Argentina’s leading fly half. He has started for both Jaguares and Argentina throughout 2018.
Sánchez joins not only Urdapilleta in the Top 14 but also Patricio Fernández (Clermont) and Ignacio Mieres (Agen). Sánchez, Urdapilleta, and Fernández are the undisputed top three Argentine fly halves today. Places in RWC 2019 are on the line with opportunities before then looming in the November Internationals.
