Meet Hugo Garcia.

He hails from Santiago del Estero in the north of Argentina, the land of big steaks and bigger scrummagers.

The 18-year-old tighthead prop has come on leaps and bounds at the Auckland International Rugby Academy and with the Eden Under 20s this year and now looms as a key man for the Auckland Development side in the Jock Hobbs Memorial National Under 19 tournament, which kicks off this Sunday in Taupo.

Garcia is loving his time in rugby country.

“It’s so good, a big experience for me. It’s been awesome meeting new people, nice people and playing a high level of rugby,’ he says.

He loves pumping weights in the gym but has upped the ante with his other conditioning and skills work. 

The aim for this Auckland Development Under 19 side is to win the second tier Michael Jones trophy for the first time.

“This is a really good team and a good level. We are all focused on the win and working really hard,” Garcia says, just before training at Orakei Domain.

It is not just on-field rugby stuff that Garcia has immersed himself in. He acts as an interpreter – he speaks good English – for some of the South American boys in the International Academy and has completed a Level 2 coaching course. Coaching could be a possible future career path when he eventually hangs up the boots.

Auckland Under 19 Development assistant coach Brent Semmons says Garcia’s rugby now has more strands to it.

“When he arrived in New Zealand (last year) he had a soft underbelly, as it were, so he’s gone away and done a lot of work on his own. Because he’s made improvements in his strength and conditioning, he’s made gains on the grass,” says Semmons.

“Clearly he can scrum well, but he also lifts well and can carry. He’s got a good allround game.”

Argentina has a strong scrummaging culture and pedigree and in recent times front-rowers such as Ramiro Herrera, Marcos Ayerza, Agustin Creevy and Matias Diaz have been prominent for the Pumas.

Further back in the 1980s and ‘90s, the likes of Serafin Dengra and Federico Mendez were stars. The Pumas’ famous bajada, or eight-man shove, was feared and admired in global scrummaging.

“The scrum, maul and ruck are big in Argentina. Whereas here we might only practise scrums for 20 minutes, in Argentina it is for one hour. Here we practise the breakdown more,” Garcia says.

He has his rugby goals, but it is small steps for now. But one day Garcia would love to follow in the footsteps of Matias Diaz, who appeared in eight games for the Highlanders in 2014.

“It’s a really big dream (to play for the Pumas), but I prefer Super Rugby. There’s a lot of technical play and offloads and it’s fast. European rugby is so slow and Super Rugby is better.”

And his pick for the All Blacks-Pumas Test match in New Plymouth on Saturday?

“The All Blacks had the (hard) games against the Lions and Australia. The Pumas didn’t have a good match against the Springboks, so I think it will be really difficult for the Pumas.”

As for Garcia himself, he is keen to return to Auckland in 2018 for university studies and to continue his rugby education. Furthermore, he will still be eligible for the Auckland Under 19s. 

We wish him well. – Campbell Burnes