Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Austin Elite have announced the signing of Chilean scrumhalf Marcelo Torrealba for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. The 22-year-old joins from the Old Boys club in Santiago having impressed as part of the Americas Selects side against the Glendale Raptors in October.
Previously a standout sevens specialist for Chile, Torrealba switched his focus to the XV-a-side game in 2018 and made his full international debut for Los Cóndores against the Māori in November. Despite the heavy defeat the little halfback showed well with his trademark footwork causing the defense problems on the fringes.
Torrealba finds a familiar face at Austin in countryman Sebastián Kalm. The latter has represented Chile at u20 level while there is one further Chilean signed up for MLR in 2019, New Orleans Gold lock Nikola Bursic. Torrealba is one of seven players from the World Rugby combine to sign an MLR contract.
