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The most capped Americas player of all-time is to join the American Raptors in Super Rugby Americas. Diego Magno is to make the move north from Uruguay to Colorado for the upcoming Super Rugby Americas campaign.
Magno made history in 2022. He earned his 100th cap for Los Teros in the team’s first match of the July Internationals against Romania. The product of MVCC presently has 103 test caps. No other player has reached the mark of 100 caps for an Americas test team.
2022 was big for Magno for other reasons. He had the opportunity of playing professional rugby in his native Uruguay and winning the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) title. Magno was a try-scorer in the 34-13 Semi Final victory over Los Cafeteros Pro.
The year 2023 is a Rugby World Cup year. Magno is eyeing a third tournament. He played against Australia in Birmingham and England in Manchester at RWC 2015 and at RWC 2019 he faced Georgia in Kumagaya and Wales in Kumamoto.
Competition for places on the national roster are fiercer now than they were heading in to RWCs 2015 and 2019. Uruguay has more players in professional foreign leagues now than before and Peñarol is dominated by Uruguayans with only a few Argentines involved for the team in the SLAR 2021 and 2022 seasons.
For Magno, the move to Colorado represents a return to the USA; Magno played for the Houston SaberCats in Major League Rugby (MLR) from 2019-2021. He played second-row, flanker and N8. The roster that is coming together for the American Raptors implies that the second-row is well covered and the back-row less low.
Magno will not be the only South American player at the American Raptors. Former Pumas Martín Landajo and Ramiro Moyano are also being recruited. In addition, there are to be some players from Colombia and further Argentines are expected to also be added.
