Ignacio Dotti has signed a new two-year deal with the NOLA Gold. The 25-year-old Uruguayan lock has opted to stay in Major League Rugby through the 2022 season, in doing so turning down overtures to play in South America’s new professional competition – the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby.
After making his test debut in 2015, Dotti narrowly missed out on selection to Rugby World Cup 2015 but has been a mainstay for Los Teros since. He now has 50 caps and was an integral part of the team that earned plaudits at RWC 2019, starting three of the four matches including the famous victory over Fiji.
Dotti has been similarly prominent for NOLA since joining ahead of the 2019 MLR season. He played 13 games last season, lining up at blindside flanker for five, and started the first three games of the 2020 season before suffering a broken forearm against the Colorado Raptors.
The retention of Dotti is a key signing for the Gold heading into 2021. They have already secured several leading players on long-term deals, most recently extending props Matt Harmon and Kevin Sullivan, loose forwards Moni Tonga’uiha and Malcolm May, and winger Tim Maupin.