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Franco Molina has signed to continue his playing career in England. The 2020 English Premiership champions have signed the Argentine second-rower for the upcoming season. He joins the Exeter Chiefs with Wales captain Dafydd Jenkins sidelined following knee and shoulder surgeries.
| TEST DEBUT – FRANCO MOLINA |
Franco Molina made his test debut for Argentina in July 2024. He earned his first cap against France in Mendoza. Los Pumas were beaten 28-13. Molina was a replacement that day. Lucas Paulos (Bayonne) and Matías Alemanno (Gloucester) were the staying lock combination.
| LOS PUMAS – FRANCO MOLINA |
A week after debuting, Molina earned his second cap for Argentina. He started in Argentina’s 33-25 victory over France in Buenos Aires. Molina partnered Lucas Paulos in the second-row with Matías Alemanno and Pedro Rubiolo (Newcastle Falcons) providing tandem lock replacements.
Molina’s third test cap was his first test match on foreign soil. He and Rubiolo were the starting second-row in Argentina’s 79-05 win over Uruguay in Punta del Este. Alemanno was the replacement lock.
The Molina and Rubiolo combination started again together in Argentina’s opening match of the 2024 Rugby Championship. Los Pumas upset New Zealand in Wellington with Molina scoring his first test try. The 38-30 win featured tandem lock replacements with Tomás Lavanini (Lyon) and the debuting Efraín Elías (Toulouse).
Molina’s fifth test cap was against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland. Marcos Kremer moved from flanker to lock to start alongside Rubiolo. Molina and Lavanini were the replacements.
Argentina’s first home match of the Rugby Championship saw changes. Among them were the second-row with Molina and Rubiolo starting together. Rubiolo was knocked-out in the 18th second of play. This changed the match planning with Lavanini coming on. Molina was replaced by Guido Petti (Bordeaux) in the second-half of the 20-19 defeat.
| CAREER – FRANCO MOLINA |
Molina’s selection by Felipe Contepomi was a celebration for Super Rugby Americas. It shows a player can make the jump from the South American professional league to the top. As noted above, Molina debuted and retained his spot in Los Pumas. He moves to Exeter Chiefs with 6 test caps.
He captained Los Dogos won Super Rugby Americas 2024. The Córdoba side defeated Los Pampas in an all-Argentine final. Peñarol was critical in Uruguay building a team that could compete at Rugby World Cup 2023. Uruguay came away with a win over Namibia and had solid performances in losses against France and Italy.
Molina previously also played for Selknam. He was one of two Dogos who defeated the All Blacks in Wellington. The other was Efraín Elías who made his test debut as a replacement. Elías led Argentina at the World Rugby u20 Championship this year and has signed for Toulouse.
Selknam was front-and-center as part of Chile’s road to debuting at the Rugby World Cup. The Super Rugby Americas team gave players a level of rugby that was previously unavailable. With it, Chile was able to lift their game to get past both Canada and the USA in qualifiers.
Molina was born in Córdoba in 1997. He is a product of Jockey Club Córdoba. Molina stands 1.98m (6ft-6) tall and weighs 118kg (260lbs).
| EXETER CHIEFS – PUMAS |
Molina will be the only Argentine at the the Exeter Chiefs in the 2024-2025 season. Six other Argentines have previously played rugby for the Exeter Chiefs. Argentina u21 prop Ignacio Elosu was at the club in 2010-2011.
Argentina’s starting right winger at Rugby World Cup 2011, Gonzalo Camacho was an Exeter Chief from 20-11-2013. Fly half and former Puma Ignacio Mieres played for the club from 2010-2013.
More recently, three other Argentines have played for the Exeter Chiefs. Of them the most capped is Santiago Cordero who played for Exeter from 2017-2019. His brother, Facundo Cordero played for the Exeter Chiefs from 2020-2023. In addition to Santiago Cordero, fellow contemporary Puma, Santiago Grondona is a former Exeter Chiefs player. Grondona played for the Exeter Chiefs from 2022-2023.
