The Toronto Arrows re-signed Uruguay international Gastón Mieres for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 31-year-old fullback/wing is 5’11”, and 175 lbs.
Gaston played 951 minutes in 13 matches, starting 12, and scored 5 tries in 2021. He played 183 minutes in three matches (2 starts) as part of the shortened 2020 season and scored 2 tries. In 2019 he played 648 minutes in 10 matches (9 starts) and scored 6 tries.
The Uruguayan holds club records in several statistical categories, including tries scored (13), carry metres (1,751), linebreaks (28), and offloads (20).
Mieres’ career totals also include 73 tackles (90.1% completion), seven dominant tackles, 31 tackle breaks, and 738 kicking metres (19 kicks in play).
Gastón was born and raised in Punta del Este, Uruguay. He began playing rugby at a young age for Lobos, the local area club.
Gastón Mieres & Uruguay National Team
He progressed through the Uruguay age-grade system and debuted for the Senior National team on May 13, 2010, against Brazil. Since then he has played in 77 Uruguay national matches, starting 67 of them. Three of the 2018 matches were against Argentina XV (twice) and Emerging Italy (twice), all as a starter. He has scored 85 points through 17 tries.
Gastón has played in several Sudamerica Championships, Nations Cups, Americas Rugby Championships, and also played in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, starting all four matches.
In 2018 the team prepared for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. He played for Uruguay A in the 2018 Americas Pacific Challenge and toured with the National team in November matches against the Cardiff Blues, Ulster, Fiji, and Romania. His last test was against Romania at Vannes, France on November 7, 2021.
The highlight of the 2021 international tests, was beating the United States in cumulative point differential to become Americas’ 1 team at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
Gastón Mieres & Uruguay Sevens
Gastón grew up in Punta del Este, which is known for its rugby sevens tournaments. He has played in the HSBC World Sevens Series in 7 tournaments, scoring 15 points through 3 tries. He also played in the 2017 Hong Kong Qualifier to see if Uruguay could gain core status.
Gastón also played in the 2013 and then the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco, where he started all four matches and scored two tries in the latter.
Professional Rugby
Gastón Mieres signed his first professional contract in 2014 to play for Valpolicella in the Italian Series A competition. He then was offered a 20-week trial that concluded with a short contract with Coventry in 2015.
He then returned to Uruguay and to his club team, the Lobos.
Following the November tests, Gastón will join his new team, the Toronto Arrows for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. With the Arrows, he will provide experience and leadership.
He is among a number of Uruguay National team players that played in the MLR in 2019. This provided the high-performance opportunities that are necessary for the team to compete in the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
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