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Player recruitment continues; London Irish have announced the signing of Lucio Cinti. The English Premiership club have signed two Pumas players in as many weeks. Last week the club confirmed the signature of flanker Juan Martín González. Both he and Cinti will join the club following the upcoming November Internationals.
González and Cinti are both very young. The former is aged 20 and the latter is 21. Both men made their test debuts for Argentina this year. They are part of La Nueva Generación. González was a try scorer on debut against Romania in Bucharest. His debut came following a stand-out season for Los Jaguares XV in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR).
Cinti’s pathway to the test arena, and to London Irish, has been different. The center from La Plata was on the bench for Argentina in the historic win over New Zealand in the 2020 Tri Nations. He was an unused replacement, meaning his test debut had to wait.
Cinti was on the bench in that fixture due to injury to centers Matías Moroni and Jerónimo de la Fuente. He got the call-up not from SLAR but from Los Pumas 7’s. His debut did not come alongside González in July against Romania, or Wales, as he was again busy in Sevens. Cinti was a star for Argentina at the Tokyo Olympics.
His test debut came less than one month after winning Bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. Cinti’s first cap was alongside fellow Olympian, Ignacio Mendy against South Africa. Cinti was a replacement in the loss in Port Elizabeth.
Cinti was elevated into the starting lineup for subesquent matches. He started against New Zealand in Brisbane and against Australia in both Townsville and Gold Coast. The changes meant he started at outside center, with Matías Moroni ultimately playing wing when involved in the starting line-up. Cinti and Moroni will now be rivals in the English Premiership.
Cinti and Moroni are also both on the Argentine roster for the November Internationals. Los Pumas will face France in Paris, Italy in Treviso and Ireland in Dublin. The tour will proide Cinti with the opportunity of adding to his four test caps.
The 21-year-old Cinti is a native of La Plata and is a product of La Plata Rugby Club. He is a Gold Medalist in Rugby 7’s at the Junior Olympics and a Bronze Medalist in the sport at the senior level. London Irish will be Cinti’s first professional club.
