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The Austin Herd have confirmed the return of South American duo Marcelo Torrealba and Rodrigo Silva for the 2020 Major League Rugby season. Four of scrumhalf Torrealba’s six starts in 2019 came with Silva partnering him at flyhalf.
Both have turned down opportunities to join the new Super Liga Americana de Rugby, with Torrealba saying no to Selknam’s inaugural season and Silva that of Peñarol. They have seen two South American clubmates depart in the meantime, with Andrés Vilaseca returning to Montevideo and JP Aguirre moving to New York.
Torrealba trained with the Chilean national team during the off-season but did not make an appearance in their recent test against Portugal. The 23-year-old played in a dozen matches in his first MLR season, missing out on others due to injury. He is the first specialist halfback unveiled by Austin for 2020.
Used almost exclusively at No10 last season, the 27-year-old Silva remains an option there but could also switch to his preferred fullback spot with the arrival of Enele Malele from the Fijian Drua. Silva also played 12 matches for Austin last year before joining Uruguay for the World Cup where he played all four matches for Los Teros.
