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Wednesday, July 10 sees Santiago Arata earning his 50th test cap. Arata starts at scrum-half for Uruguay against France. The match is the first since Rugby World Cup 2023. It is also the first ever home test match for Uruguay against France.
Arata, who plays his rugby in France, will start at scrum-half against Les Bleus. It will be his second cap against France. He faced France at Rugby World Cup 2023. The tournament was his second. He made his World Cup debut against Fiji in 2019.
| TEST DEBUT – SANTIAGO ARATA |
Santiago Arata made his test debut for Uruguay in 2016. He did so as Los Teros’ replacement scrum-half against Canada. Arata was a 73rd minute substitution for Guillermo Lijtenstein. Canada were 33-17 winners at home in Langford.
| LOS TEROS – SANTIAGO ARATA |
Santiago Arata Perrone is considered by Americas Rugby News as the leading scrum-half from the region. He made his debut while he was still a teenager. He played for Uruguay u20 in 2015 and 2016 and quickly overtook long-time servant, Agustín Ormaechea to become the first-choice Teros 9. Now aged 27, Arata reaches the milestone of 50 test caps.
| CAREER – SANTIAGO ARATA |
Santiago Arata learned his rugby in Montevideo. He is a product of Lycée Français Jules Supervielle and subsequently Old Christians Club (OCC). His abilities saw him emerging young. He played for Uruguay u20 and was capped while still a teenager.
He featured for Uruguay at the 2015 and 2016 World Rugby u20 Trophy. Los Teritos finished third in the 2015 tournament in Portugal and sixth in the 2016 tournament in Kenya. Hsi test debut fell between the two tournaments.
Six days after debuting for Uruguay against Canada, Arata earned his second cap and first test try. Arata was a replacement in Uruguay’s 33-29 away win over Brazil. He was the starting scrum-half for Uruguay in the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship. That year he scored a double in Windhoek against Namibia. Uruguay completed a historic series win in Africa.
Arata returned to Canada in 2018 and left his mark. Uruguay defeated Canada 39-28 in Vancouver in a Rugby World Cup 2019 Qualifier. Uruguay won the reverse fixture 32-31 to qualify for Japan 2019. Arata again started ahead of Ormaechea.
Rugby World Cup 2019 saw Uruguay making history. Los Teros pulled-off a monumental upset, downing Fiji in Kamaishi. Arata scored in the 30-27 victory. Four years later, Arata also scored for Uruguay in the World Cup pool match win over Namibia in Lyon. Uruguay were 36-26 winners.
Arata’s test career includes test caps against Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Fiji, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Romania, Russia, Spain, USA and Wales.
Professional rugby has seen Arata involved in Uruguay, the USA and France. His first profession al experience was with the Houston SaberCats in Major League Rugby (MLR) in 2019. He played for Peñarol in Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) now Super Rugby Americas in 2020. He joins Castres that year. He started in the 2022 Top 14 Final, losing against champions Montpellier. Arata also started for Castres. He had a try assist in what was Castres’ only try of the night.
