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In a massive coup d’etat Los Jaguares have secured the signing of a leading Argentine forward in Europe. The national Super Rugby franchise have signed hooker Santiago Socino from England’s Newcastle Falcons and will add him to their roster next month.
The 27-year-old Socino is uncapped but met with Pumas Head Coach Mario Ledesma recently in England. He was one of two hookers playing in Europe to meet with Ledesma, the other being Tomás Baravalle.
Socino, like both Ledesma and Agustín Creevy, converted from flanker to hooker as an adult. The move proved to change his career and now his quest to represent his country has been profoundly boosted. He will join Creevy, and Julián Montoya on full-time contracts with Los Jaguares on Monday, June 03 and like both is contracted for the longterm, until December 2021.
The move sees him back home from England for the first time in six years. Aged 21 Socino departed his home club of Los Matreros to play for the Hull Ionians with whom he won the National League 2 North.
In 2015 he was signed by the Newcastle Falcons to play for the English Premiership side’s academy. This saw him also playing in the National League 1 for Darlington Mowden Park where he named Player of the Year by coaches in the league.
His debut in the English Premiership would arrive in 2016. He would play for the Newcastle Falcons in not only the Premiership but also both the European Champions Cup, and the Anglo-Welsh Cup. In his first season at the elite level he would make 15 appearances for the Falcons.
At the Falcons he would join his older brother, and RWC 2015 Puma, Juan Pablo Socino. The inside center would depart for Scottish side Edinburgh in 2018.
Having completed the 2018-2018 season Santiago Socino now joins his brother in departing. It comes with the club having been relegated to the RFU Championship after finishing bottom in this seasons’s English Premiership.
The Falcons will now battle to win promotion back to the Premiership but will do so without Santiago Socino. Los Jaguares will be able to decrease the workload now on their hookers and Argentina will also now likely name three hookers for the Rugby Championship.
