Italy

South Africa’s four existing Super Rugby franchises will leave the competition. SA Rugby confirmed that the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers will transition to an expanded Pro 14. The four Super Rugby teams will take part while the Cheetahs and Southern Kings exit the league. SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux noted …

Benetton have signed Thomas Gallo. The Italian side have secured the services of the 2020 Pumitas prop for the 2020-2021 Pro 14 season. The loose head prop from Tucumán officially joins the team weeks after Ivan Nemer was signed from Mar del Plata. The arrival of Gallo sees Benetton’s Argentine …

Gordon McRorie is set to move to Italy to take up a player-coach role with Serie A club AS Milano. The 32-year-old will call Europe his home for the first time since arriving in Canada from Scotland in 2011. Milano have signed McRorie initially on a one-year deal with a …

Juan Manuel Rodríguez is departing Uruguay. He is leaving to continue his career at Valpolicella, an Italian Serie A side. The move sees him leaving Uruguay’s first professional rugby team, Peñarol. Rodríguez will have his first professional club experience abroad at the age of 23. Despite his young age he …

Joaquín Riera was a try scorer for Benetton on Friday. The former Argentine 7’s player crossed in the second half in the Italian Pro 14 derby match vs Zebre. Zebre were 17-13 winners. Their win came after they had also led 10-3 at half-time. Tommaso Boni and Jimmy Tuivaiti scored …

Thomas Gallo is set to join Pro 14 side Benetton Treviso. The 2020 Argentine u20’s prop is partly an answer the the Italian side’s injuries. The team has Federico Zani, Matteo Drudi and Derrick Appiah out of action to injuries. As such, both Gallo and Ivan Nemer are medical jokers. …

Benetton have announced the recruitment of Argentine prop Ivan Nemer. The loose head prop joins the Italian side for the 2020-2021 Pro 14 season on a contract which will run until June 30, 2021. Nemer spent there years playing age grade rugby for his country. He was an Argentine u18’s …

Bill Beaumont has established an 8 Nations competition. It sees Fiji and Japan joining the six members of the annual 6 Nations tournament. The competition replaces the annual November Internationals that see teams traveling to Europe to play three or four matches. The cancellation of the matches due to COVID-19 …

Franco Lamanna is to play for Mogliano in the Italian Top 12. The Teros forward has signed for the Venetians for the upcoming season. Lamanna is an established name in Uruguay’s test side. He has two RWC campaigns to his name and 46 caps. The 28-year-old usually plays flanker, though …

The leading contributor to Los Pumas is Buenos Aires. Argentine test teams over the years have seen many a Porteño. For example, all but four players from Argentina’s roster for RWC 2007 were from Buenos Aires. The dominance has decreased in subsequent RWCs with PladAR unearthing more and more players …