Exeter land Pumas lock Franco Molina as Dafydd Jenkins replacement

Exeter Chiefs have landed Argentina lock Franco Molina as a replacement for Wales skipper Dafydd Jenkins, who will miss the start of the Gallagher Premiership season after having an operation on his knee and shoulder.

Jenkins suffered the knee injury on Wales’ summer tour of Australia and has been suffering from a sore shoulder rotator cuff injury and Chiefs boss Rob Baxter has been searching all over the globe for a replacement.

Molina, 27, has won six international caps since making his Test debut off the bench against France at the Estadio Malvinas in Mendoza in July and made his first start in their win at Buenos Aires’ Estadio Jose Amalfitani a week later.

The second row, who stands at 6 ft 6, scored his first international try in the shock 38-30 win over New Zealand in Wellington last month, and his signing comes hot on the heels of Harlequins landing Rodrigo Isgro.

It won’t be the first time that Molina, who started his club career at Jaguares, has plied his trade outside of his homeland. He spent a season with Chilean side Selknam, which plays in the Super Liga Americana de Rugby.

After leaving the La Pintana-based outfit, he has spent the last two seasons playing for Dogos XV, another Super Liga Americana de Rugby side founded in 2019, which plays out of Cordoba, Argentina.

Molina will be the seventh Argentinean player to have worn a Chiefs shirt in the Premiership, following prop Ignacio Elosu, winger Gonzalo Camacho and fly-half Ignacio Mieres in their early days in the English top flight.

The Cordero brothers Santiago, now on the books of URC outfit Connacht and Glasgow Warriors’ winger Facundo, also had spells at Sandy Park along with flanker Santiago Grondona, who is now plying his trade for Bristol Bears.