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Julián Montoya will not play Super Rugby in Australia. The Pumas starting hooker will instead join the Leicester Tigers in the English Premiership. The move comes following Montoya having competed his two-weeks of quarantine in Australia. He had problems with his paper work in Western Australia.
Cambio de planes para Julián Montoya. Después de algunos problemas de papeles no jugará en Western Force y lo hará en Leicester Tigers. Tendrá su primera experiencia en el extranjero en la Premiership.
🐯 Los Tigers se llevan un hooker de clase mundial. pic.twitter.com/0wkbVlww2j— Periodismo Rugby (@Perrugby) January 13, 2021
The change means that the 27-year-old will have his first professional experience abroad in England. It comes on the back of an outstanding Tri Nations campaign. Montoya was the starting hooker throughout the campaign. He started in the history-making win over New Zealand in Sydney, and in both draws against Australia in the cities of Newcastle and Sydney.
Montoya was Los Jaguares’ reserve hooker in the teams debut season in 2016 and continued as such until 2019. In 2020 he played as the first-choice in the position ahead of mentor Agustín Creevy.
Montoya has 63 test caps for Argentina. They were earned from 2014-2020 and include appearances in two Rugby World Cups. In the former he started against Namibia and South Africa while in the latter he did so against Tonga, England and the USA.
Montoya has nine test tries to his name with six of them having come in RWC matches. Three of them were a hat-trick against Tonga at RWC 2019.
The Leicester Tigers are among the biggest names in English rugby. The club has won 20 major titles. These include two European Championships and a record 10 English Premierships. The team most recently won the English Premiership in 2013.
Montoya’s move to the club continues the link between Leicester and Argentina. The likes of Horacio Agulla, Marcos Ayerza, and Gonzalo Camacho are former Tigers who played at Rugby World Cups for Argentina.
The club presently has a very healthy contingent of Argentine players. Montoya’s arrival gives the club five former Jaguares. They are Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Facundo Gigena, Tomás Lavanini, Matías Moroni and Julián Montoya.
