Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Argentina’s Rugby Championship preparations have run into trouble. The UK-based Enrique Pieretto (Glasgow Warriors) and Joaquín Díaz Bonilla (Leicester Tigers) are out of the tournament. They miss out due to problems with UK documentation.
The outcome for others is a gain. There have been Rugby Championship call-ups for Francisco Gómez Kodela and Lucas Mensa. The French-based duo replace Pieretto and Bonilla.
Gómez Kodela was last capped in 2013 against Georgia. He was overlooked by Daniel Hourcade and, until now, by Mario Ledesma. Now aged 35, he has been playing in the Top 14 since 2011. He is regarded by ARN as the leading Argentine prop in France during the RWC 2015-2019 cycle.
Pieretto played at RWC 2019. The Córdoba tight head was a second half replacement against the USA. He came on for Santiago Medrano who was the understudy to Juan Figallo in the there prior matches. Figallo has since retired. Medrano, Lucio Sordoni, and Juan Pablo Zeiss will now be joined by Gómez Kodela for the Rugby Championship.
Mensa debuted for Argentina in 2019. He did so without any experience in Super Rugby. The Pucará center had impressed for the Argentina XV. He took his chance against South Africa, earning selection for RWC 2019. He captained Los Ceibos in the 2020 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby.
The 24-year-old’s call-up is not as a direct replacement. Bonilla is a specialist fly half. Mensa can play in the position, though has ben an inside center for Los Pumas, Ceibos and the Argentina XV. He joins Santiago Chocobares, Jerónimo de la Fuente and Juan Cruz Mallía as options at inside center.
