Americas Players in Aviva Premiership – Season Preview

The second-richest domestic rugby competition on the planet gets underway on Friday. Gloucester will have the honor of hosting the opener when they host Leicester Tigers at Kingsholm.

Changes from the 2015-16 season see the overdue return of Bristol. The west country side takes the place vacated by London Irish who were relegated after finishing bottom last season. Bristol has a roster strong enough to stay afloat and will be looking to do more than just make up the numbers.

Saracens again have a strong contingent from Argentina and the USA but are have been overtaken by Newcastle Falcons, who now have seven Americas-eligible players on their books.

 

Argentina

Many a Puma has spent some time of his professional career in the Premiership. New player eligibility laws from the UAR have resulted in a number returning home or staying there. The Premiership will, as expected, have a notable lost of Argentine players for the new season. Gonzalo Tiesi has hung up his boots and Gonzalo Camacho is now playing in Buenos Aires. Others whose test careers look to be on hold remain active.

NAME	POSITION	CLUB
Marcos Ayerza	Prop	Leicester Tigers
Gastón Cortes	Prop	Bristol
Juan Figallo	Prop	Saracens
Santiago Socino	Hooker	Newcastle Falcons
Mariano Galarza	Lock	Gloucester
Juan Pablo Socino	Centre	Newcastle Falcons
Marcelo Bosch	Centre	Saracens
Juan Pablo Estellés	Centre	Northampton Saints
Belisario Agulla	Wing	Newcastle Falcons

 

Canada

Flying the flag for Canada this season will be Evan Olmstead. The big lock will call the Newcastle Falcons his home, signing a two-year deal after a stint with London Scottish in the RFU Championship. It is an ideal opportunity for him to develop as a player and comes at a time in which Canada is in need of greater depth in his position.

NAME	POSITION	CLUB
Evan Olmstead	Lock	Newcastle Falcons

 

St. Lucia

The Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia continues to be represented by Marland Yarde. The England test winger moved as a nine year old and subsequently earned his way up from national age-grade levels starting at u16s through to the u20s.

NAME	POSITION	CLUB
Marland Yarde	Wing	Harlequins

 

USA

Second to Argentina in representation terms is the USA. Eric Fry and Todd Clever have departed Newcastle but the club has imported Nick Civetta and David Tameilau, with US-eligible prop Paddy Ryan also calling Kingston Park his home. AJ MacGinty joins Sale from Connacht as Thretton Palamo arrives at Bristol.

NAME	POSITION	CLUB
Titi Lamositele	Prop	Saracens
Paddy Ryan	Prop	Newcastle Falcons
Nick Civetta	Lock	Newcastle Falcons
David Tameilau	No8	Newcastle Falcons
AJ MacGinty	Flyhalf	Sale Sharks
Thretton Palamo	Centre	Bristol
Chris Wyles	Wing	Saracens