It’s all South America in the Pro D2 as numbers there are similarly thin with only a half-dozen players named and no more than one in any game. This week got underway on Thursday with Bayonne defeating Oyonnax. Chilean prop Ramón Ayarza has been used as an emergency hooker for Bayonne this season and did so again from the bench.
Of the six Friday games five will feature Argentine players. Damian Arias covers tighthead prop on the bench for Bressane as they host Biarritz. Jerónimo Negrotto will do the same for Mont-de-Marsan when Provence comes to town.
Sebastián Poet is one of only two starters this week as he runs out at flyhalf for Colomiers on their trip to Aurillac. Axel Müller is the other, the former Pumas Sevens star named on the left wing for Brive in their road game at Béziers.
Finally it’s second row Demian Panizzo who awaits his turn among the replacements for Carcassonne who play host to Montauban. Sunday’s match will Charente travel to Vannes with both sides yet to confirm their rosters.