The Toronto Arrows signed Juan Cruz Gonzalez for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 27-year-old flyhalf/fullback will likely take the place of Sam Malcolm, who departed the club for Japan, at fullback.
Gonzalez is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was a former teammate of current Arrows flanker Tomas de la Vega. Gonzalez spent several years at Club Universitario de Buenos Aires (CUBA) and has long been a standout for Argentina XV in the Americas Rugby Championship and Americas Pacific Challenge, scoring five tries and kicking for 108 points over 17 appearances for Argentina’s development side. The speedy Argentine has also spent time with his nation’s sevens program, playing in two World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments during the 2015-2016 season.
While with CUBA, he appeared in 110 URBA Top 14 / Top 12 matches between 2011 and 2019, scoring 29 tries and 688 total points This past year he played in Spain with CAU Madrid Rugby, a second division team prior to the season being cut short due to the pandemic. He is currently playing in Spain with Club Alcobendas Rugby prior to joining the Arrows for 2021.
When he was younger he was an avid soccer player and his skill with the boot could result in some creative kick passes during the MLR season.
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