Confirmed: Los Pumas Captain Off To Paris

Stade Francais have added another Puma to their ranks for the 2019/20 season with Los Pumas and Jaguares captain Pablo Matera joining fellow countrymen Ramiro Herrera and Nicolas Sanchez at the Paris-based club. 

Stade Francais have also been linked with former Los Pumas captain and inspirational hooker Agustin Creevy but Stade Francais owner Hans Peter Wild confirmed the club have secured the services of Matera, who will join the club after the Rugby World Cup.

Wild confirmed the signing on French rugby show 'The Late Rugby Club' saying "We can announce that we have signed with Pablo Matera, he is the captain of the Argentine team, and he is going to come after the World Cup,".

Matera joins an impressive list of Argentines to represent Stade Francais with Agustín Pichot, Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martín Hernández having donned the jersey in the past while Argentine-born Italian captain Sergio Parisse is still on the club's books.

This is not Matera's first venture into Europe having played for Leicester Tigers between 2013 and 2015 before joining the Jaguares in their first season in Super Rugby.

The flanker took over the captaincy at the Jaguares, from Agustin Creevy, last year and lead them to their most successful season in the competition as they reached the playoff for the first time and claimed wins in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

He also took over the captaincy of the test side and has highly regarded as one of the best blindside flankers in the world. 

A key member of the Jaguares' starting line up, Matera made more tackles than any of his teammates while only Creevy made more carries than the flanker.