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Two Argentines will play in Super Rugby Pacific 2024. The players are both fully capped Pumas who have appeared in Rugby World Cups. Both men are returning again after having played in prior Super Rugby campaigns for the Highlanders and Western Force respectively.
Fullback Martín Bogado is back for a second season with the Highlanders. The 25-year-old made his test debut for Argentina against South Africa in 2023. Despite having just the one cap to his name, Bogado was subsequently selected for Rugby World Cup 2023.
Michael Cheika took Bogado to France as Argentina’s second-choice fullback. He played in the warm-up match against Spain in Madrid where he came away with two tries. His third cap is his most recent. It was at the World Cup itself where he was again a try scorer in the win over Chile. In short, Bogado has three tries from three test caps.
Bogado joined the Highlanders for Super Rugby Pacific 2023. He did so after previously playing Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) for the Olímpia Lions and Los Jaguares XV. He then signed for Bayonne as a medical joker in September 2022 before signing a two-year-deal with the Highlanders.
Santiago Medrano is back for the Western Force after a stint in the Top 14. He joined Lyon as a Rugby World Cup medical joker. The move saw Medrano in Europe after having signed for the Worcester Warriors a year earlier only for the club to collapse.
Medrano was left out of Argentina’s roster for Rugby World Cup 2023. Four years earlier he played for Argentina at the World Cup in Japan. Medrano was on the RWC 2019 roster. He played in all four matches including starting in the win against the USA. For 2023 Cheika opted for Francisco Gómez Kodela, Eduardo Bello and Joel Sclavi as his tight head prop options.
Medrano is not new to Super Rugby Pacific. He played for Los Jaguares from 2018-2020 and for the Western Force from 2021-2023. Amazingly, the 2024 season will be Medrano’s seventh season of Super Rugby.
