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Exeter land Pumas lock Franco Molina as Dafydd Jenkins replacement
By Neil Fissler
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.
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Latest Comments
Yeah - 100% of these players were immigrants and arrived mainly as children or teenagers in NZ. And I might add that unlike Lowe, Aki, and Jamieson GP, they reflect the ethnic and cultural makeup of NZ. 185,000 Samoans are not all rugby players....
Unlike professional rugby players, who like Aki and Lowe, had represented their country of origin in both U20 and Maori All Blacks, the 'project players' are a different breed.
But because you are so dishonest, let's see if you can bring some honesty to the discussion:
Agree or disagree:
1. The IRFU enacted a policy of "Project Players."
2. The policy targeted professional rugby players who they considered could, after the residency three-year residency period in existence at that time(now five years), play for Ireland.
3. None of the Southern Unions - RA, NZRFU, etc- have ever enacted any centralized policy and have ever had any "project player."
Be brave - answer the questions - I bet you can't or won't.
Because the facts reflect how dishonest the IRFU and the likes of its fans who are happy to disassemble around how they effectively brought their way to success.
But go ahead and prove me wrong - because if you can't acknowledge facts - what does that say about you?
Go to commentsExcept they are not the British Lions, and haven’t been since the Aus tour in 2001 when the official name was changed to The British and Irish Lions. Trying to link possible Irish unification to the name of the team is quite bizarre, as is your comment about yearning to be under the auspices of a combined sporting structure. I’m assuming it’s a pitiful attempt at being provocative, as it would be unkind to believe that you are actually that stupid.
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