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The Scarlets have signed Tomás Lezana from the Western Force. A local source has confirmed with ARN that the 27-year-old will move to West Wales from his present home in Perth, Australia. He joined the Western Force from Argentina for the 2021 Super Rugby season.
The Western Force is Lezana’s second Super Rugby team. He played 46 games for Los Jaguares from 2016-2020. He had signed for the Argentine team’s inaugural Super Rugby season and played for the franchise until the end.
He narrowly missed out on selection for RWC 2015. He had made his test debut in 2014 against France in Paris at the age of 20. It was a memorable debut with Los Pumas completing an 18-13 victory. He entered the match early as a replacement for Leonardo Senatore. It saw he and Facundo Isa playing as Argentina’s flankers. Both players are products of Santiago Lawn Tennis in Santiago del Estero as is Juan Manuel Leguizamón.
Lezana makes the move to Wales with 39 caps to his name. Most of them have been at flanker, though he also has 11 caps playing at N8. His most recent caps was in November 2020. He was a replacement for Los Pumas in the historic win over New Zealand. Gonzalo Bertranou also featured as a replacement. He now plays for the Dragons in Wales.
Four Pumas played for the Western Force in 2020. Three of them have now completed transfer deals to continue their careers elsewhere. Scrum-half Tomás Cubelli will join Biarritz; fly half Domingo Miotti will play for the Glasgow Warriors; and Lezana will join the Scarlets.
The Scarlets are one of four professional Welsh rugby teams that compete in the Pro 14. The team is based in Llanelli in West Wales. The Ospreys are based in nearby Swansea while Cardiff and the Dragons play in the East. Lezana’s Pumas teammate Gonzalo Bertranou plays for the Dragons.
Additional Argentine players will play in the 2021-2022 Pro 14. Nahuel Tetaz Chapparo, a former Dragon, will play for Benetton together with Tomás Baravalle, Juan Ignacio Brex, Thomas Gallo, Ivan Nemer and Joaquín Riera. Zebre is home to Eduardo Bello while fellow tight head Enrique Pieretto will be joined by Sebastián Cancelliere and Domingo Miotti at the Glasgow Warriors.
