Gloucester sign Argentine hooker Matias Cortese
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Gloucester have signed Argentine hooker Matias Cortese for next season.
The 25-year-old spent a season at Premiership rivals Northampton Saints in 2006/07 and also counts Biarritz and Bayonne among his former clubs.
Head coach Bryan Redpath told the club website: "Matias is joining Gloucester determined to make a real impact.
"I've spoken to him at length and he knows that he's got a real opportunity here and he's coming here to make the most of it."
Cortese, who won his one cap for Argentina against Samoa as a 20-year-old, arrives at Kingsholm following a stint for Pampas XV in the Vodacom Cup in South Africa.
Redpath continued: "At 25, he's at that stage of his career where he knows that he needs to be playing regularly if he is to fulfil his undoubted potential and maybe add to the cap he won a few years ago.
"He's a big man who, as is usually the case with Argentinian front rows forwards, loves to scrummage. But he also likes to get his hands on the ball and get in people's faces."
