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Facundo Gigena will continue his career in France. The Argentine loose head prop has signed for Pau. He makes the move for the upcoming season and does so after London Irish collapsed.
Pau have recruited Gigena as an established and experienced player. Gigena made over 100 appearances in the English Premiership; doing so for the Leicester Tigers and London Irish. Gigena moved to England in 2018 after previously making several appearances for Los Jaguares in Super Rugby.
The arrival of Gigena at Pau follows the serious injury to Ignacio Calles. Also a Pumas loose head prop, Calles has undergone surgery that saw his World Cup dream ended. Calles is from Buenos Aires province while Gigena is from Córdoba.
Gigena is the fifth, and final, London Irish player to secure his playing future. All with will remain in elite leagues. Agustín Creevy will play for the Sale Sharks and fellow hooker Ignacio Ruiz will play for Perpignan. Flanker Juan Martín González and center Lucio Cinti have signed for Saracens.
| PLAYER | POS | CAPS | NEW CLUB |
| Facundo Gigena | LH | 7 | Pau (French Top 14) |
| Agustín Creevy | HK | 99 | Sale Sharks (English Premiership) |
| Ignacio Ruiz | HK | 5 | Perpignan (French Top 14) |
| Juan Martín González | FL | 23 | Saracens (English Premiership) |
| Lucio Cinti | CE | 15 | Saracens (English Premiership) |
Click here to access Argentina’s complete player pool.
Gigena made his test debut for Argentina in 2021. He did so as the starting loose head prop against Romania in Bucharest. He played seven test matches that year. He is awaiting further opportunities with Los Pumas.
His move to France comes at the age of 28. Gigena is a product of La Tala in Córdoba. He went through the Argentine High Performance system, representing Argentina at u18, u19 and u20 levels. He played at the 2013 and 2014 Junior World Championships. His senior representative debut began for the Argentina XV in 2016 against Chile.
