The mate-sipping London import aiming to down England

Quilter Nations Series: England v Argentina

Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Sunday, 23 November Kick-off: 16: 10 GMT

From the shadow of the Andes to the shadow of the Allianz Stadium is a journey of about 7, 000 miles.

And last autumn, Rodrigo Isgro was feeling every one of them.

Sporting a conquistador moustache and thighs as thick as a gaucho’s steak, the culture shock was severe when the Argentina wing arrived at Harlequins.

It wasn’t just a new country, a new club and a new language, but also a new game.

“For the past five years I had played sevens and I arrived in England with just a couple of games of 15s”, recalls Isgro.

The 26-year-old was a short-format star – the Olympic rings tattooed on the inside of his right bicep are a memento of a bronze-medal winning campaign in Tokyo. In 2023, he was named as the world’s best sevens player.

Isgro could have stayed in that game and enjoyed a globe-trotting circuit with a familiar network of team-mates.

London had been the destination for Isgro’s first ever overseas trip, an appearance at the glitzy, if short-lived, Rugby X event at the O2 Arena in 2019.

Getting used to day-to-day life in his new hometown of Guildford was hard though. But it would have been even harder without his team-mates – and one in particular.

Mendoza-born Isgro continues, “Marcus]Smith is a very good friend.”

When I arrived in England, he was fantastic. He also had a lot of time for me, as well as patience and understanding.

I didn’t speak the language because it wasn’t very good. He drinks “mate” with me every day and is a really good friend.

Smith and Isgro would share lifts during training with the traditional South American herbal beverage, which Lionel Messi, a legend of the Argentine football team, enjoyed.

On the pitch, they both worked well together. Isgro made his debut against Bath a quarter of an hour later when Smith cut blind, chipped across, and threw the ball over his opposing number’s head for a try.

Before half-time, Isgro added another goal, and he’s a kind of cult hero at the Stoop ever since, signing an extension to his contract in January.

He says, “I grew up a lot, both with my personality and the game,” “but it was difficult because the language is different.”

When England and Argentina face off in their final autumn international match at Allianz Stadium on Sunday, he and Smith will be on the opposite side of the road from the Stoop and on opposing teams.

And Isgro leads a pack of Prem Pumas who are pursuing the hosts.

Santiago Carreras and Juan Martin Gonzalez are both currently based in Bristol, while Santiago Carreras and Simon Benitez Cruz have recently been installed in Newcastle. This season, Isgro has signed with Guido Petti, Pedro Delgado, and Boris Wenger.

We “are always coming together,” Isgro says. weekly, at least once.

Agustin Creevy, a former Irish hooker in London, and I meet at his Kingston home for a barbeque. In the north, Juan Gonzalez and his Saracens team-mate Lucio Cinti, who is currently recovering from an injury, reside. We meet at Creevy’s house and the Argentina players at Quins reside in Guildford and the south.

Along with the meat, there are plenty of memories to chew on.

Is Isgro thinks that the English public is underestimating Argentina, who is ranked sixth in the world, given that they have seen their team win ten straight games and defeat the All Blacks in their most recent game?

He pauses before responding, which this time might not be due to language issues.

He states, “Our focus is on the game and improving it.”

If we perform the tasks that we’ve been working on throughout the week, the results will be predictable.

We focus solely on our game, I’m not sure if people think that, but we are.