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Super Rugby’s Jaguares are not the only professional Argentine rugby team to experience a player exodus. Los Ceibos have too. Argentina’s Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) competitor had a 34-man roster for the 2020 season. 16 of those players will play their rugby in 2021 outside of Argentina.
There has been an entire front-row departing. Loose head prop Rodrigo Martínez and tight head Lucas Favre will play SLAR for the Olímpia Lions. Hookers Pablo Dimheff, and José Luiz González left for Pro D2 teams Charente and Mont de Marsan.
Second-rower Carlos Repetto also departed Ceibos for the Olímpia Lions. So too did flanker Lucas Santa Cruz. Another flanker to have departed is Conrado Roura. He will play Major League Rugby (MLR) for the Dallas Jackals.
Both N8’s from the 2020 roster will be abroad in 2021. Tucumán’s Santiago Portillo was recruited by Chilean SLAR side Selknam. Santiago Montagner left for France in August to join Mont de Marsan in the Pro D2.
All there scrum-halves have departed. The starting player in the position in 2020, Gonzalo García will play for Los Cafeteros Pro in SLAR. Ignacio Inchauspe and Joaquín Pellandini both joined the Olímpia Lions.
The team was captained by Lucas Mensa in 2020. He departed in June to join Valence Romans in France. Another option for center from the 2020 roster is Facundo Ferrario. He has rafted by Los Cafeteros Pro and will play for the Colombian SLAR side this year.
A starting winger in 2020, Facundo Cordero followed in the footsteps of his brother Santiago. His joined the Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership. Fellow Ceibos winger Leopoldo Herrera is on his way to Paraguay. Herrera will play for the Olímpia Lions this year.
Additional names are expected to be added to the Ceibos exodus list. One instance is tight head Juan Pablo Zeiss. He has offers from Europe and the MLR.
Finally, there were players on the 2020 Ceibos roster who also trained with Los Jaguares. This was true of center Juan Pablo Castro, and fly half Tomás Albornoz. Both, nonetheless, count as Ceibos players. Albornoz did not play SLAR but he did play Super Rugby in 2020.
