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Argentina veteran Agustin Creevy is reportedly on his way back to the Premiership
By Chris Jones
Veteran Argentina hooker Agustin Creevy is set to join London Irish from Jaguares, becoming the latest well-experienced international to link up with the Gallagher Premiership club. It was Tuesday when RugbyPass reported that a deal had been done for 100-cap Wallaby second row Rob Simmons, the 31-year-old Waratahs player who will be arriving in London in October.
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Now, Argentine publication Ole are reporting that 35-year-old Creevy, the front row who has 89 Test caps and has captained his country on 49 occasions, will also be joining the Premiership club who are soon set to move into their new stadium in Brentford.
Creevy, who converted to hooker from flanker in 2009, has long been a permanent fixture in the Los Pumas squad while he has previously played professionally in England.
He was at Worcester Warriors from 2013 to 2015 before returning to Argentina to become the first captain of Los Jaguares, the side that reached the 2019 Super Rugby final. Additional experience in Europe came at hooker for Montpellier and Clermont and at flanker for Biarritz.
Creevy joined Montpellier after RWC 2011, a switch that coincided with Mario Ledesma’s retirement. With it, Creevy and Eusebio Guinazu became the hookers over the following seasons with Creevy becoming first choice and captain in 2014. Under his leadership, Argentina reached the semi-finals of RWC 2015.
? Agustín Creevy también se suma al éxodo de Jaguares: jugará en el London Irish de la Premiershiphttps://t.co/z3OvDCdjLD
— Diario Olé (@DiarioOle) July 28, 2020
The impending move to England of Creevy, which is expected to be confirmed by London Irish in coming days, is the latest in the ongoing Jaguares player exodus to Europe. Julian Montoya is another linked with a move away.
London Irish’s recruitment of Creevy comes after the addition of Simmons, their latest Australian who is coming to a club already featuring fellow Wallabies in lock Adam Coleman (38 caps), prop Sekope Kepu (110 caps), scrum-half Nick Phipps (72 caps) and centre Curtis Rona (3 caps).
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One hooker signing that was confirmed on Wednesday by Irish was the return of 23-year-old Matt Cornish from Ealing. A season with the exile club’s Wild Geese team was what secured him his move to the Championship Trailfinders.
“It is a brilliant story that Matt has come through a journey that includes the London Irish Wild Geese and now has returned to Hazelwood with the professional team,” said Declan Kidney, director of rugby. “It shows the close link between the two clubs and hopefully this can continue in the future.”
'We are going to lose 10 years of rugby that we’ve built'
Argentinean rugby is being gutted, undermining years of work. @JLyall93 ???talks to @TomDBeattie and @Chipifigallo, first-hand witnesses to its unraveling ??https://t.co/mBKaylZH5j
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 26, 2020
