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Three Pumas have been named in the Montpellier perfect XV by Mamuka Gorgodze. The former Georgian captain was a mainstay at the club. During a very long period covering 2005-2014 he played 168 matches for Montpellier.
Gorgodze discussed his perfect Monpellier XV with Midi Olympique. He did not include himself but did name three Argentine players. Agustín Creevy, Santiago Fernández and Juan Figallo were named as the best hooker, inside center and tight head prop in the club’s history.
All three players were at Montpellier at the same time, yet they arrived and departed in different years. The first to arrive was Figallo. He did so after having been unused on the Pumas roster in November 2008. He joined Montpellier in 2009 and remained until 2014.
Following his transition from flanker to hooker, Agustín Creevy was back in France and this time for Montpellier. It transformed his career, culminating in him becoming Argentina’s test captain in 2014. A crucial piece in the puzzle was his time at Montpellier where he kicked-on to develop into a world-class hooker.
Creevy arrived for the 2011-2012 season. The club had been beaten finalists in the prior season. Taking part in the final were three Pumas – Martín Bustos Moyano, Juan Figallo, and Santiago Fernández. Gorgodze named Fernández as his top inside center at Montpellier. The Georgian notes Fernández as being a player who read the game like nobody else.
Special mention was also given to Lucas González Amorosino. Gorgodze noted that the fullback did things that were not hard to imagine. He and Creevy were not the only Argentine arrivals to join Bustos Moyano, Fernández and Figallo. The club also signed props Maximilano Bustos, Emiliano Coria and Nahuel Lobo. However, RWC 2007 players Martín Durand and Federico Todeschini were the first Pumas at the club.
Gorgodze’s perfect XV contains five Frenchman and ten imports. The Frenchmen are Geoffrey Doumayrou, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Benoît Paillaugue, Louis Picamoles, François Trinh-Duc. Mikheil Nariashvili is Georgian; Jacques du Plessis, François Steyn and Paul Willemse are South Africans; Timoci Nagusa is Fijian; Alex Tulou was born in American Samoa; and Anthony Tuitavake is from New Zealand.
It should, nonetheless, be pointed out that Paul Willemse has obtained French citizenship. As an adult playing rugby in France for a sufficient period he also qualified for a French passport which was his route to becoming eligible to play for France.
MONTPELLIER ALL-TIME XV
1 Mikheil Nariashvili, 2 Agustín Creevy, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Paul Willemse, 5 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 7 Alex Tulou, 8 Louis Picamoles, 9 Benoît Paillaugue, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 11 Anthony Tuitavake, 12 Santiago Fernández, 13 Geoffrey Doumayrou, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 15 François Steyn
