Lucas Paulos

He played for Spain Under-18s, then moved to Argentina at nineteen specifically to make himself eligible for the Pumas. It worked.

Lucas Paulos played for Spain at Under-18 level in 2016, alongside the future Clermont wing Samuel Ezeala. The following year, at nineteen, he left France for the second division of Argentine club rugby, with the explicit aim of making himself available to the Pumas. Three years later New Zealand were the opposition for his first cap.

Second row at Bayonne, 1.99m and 123kg.

He started playing at five in Majadahonda, on the edge of Madrid, and stayed there until he was fifteen. In 2015 he joined the Stade Montois academy in France, playing Crabos and espoirs rugby for two seasons. Then came the move to Olivos RC in Buenos Aires.

It worked quickly. He was in the Argentina Under-20 side at the 2017 and 2018 junior world championships, and with the reserve national team by 2018. The Jaguares picked him for Super Rugby in 2019, where he debuted against the Highlanders on 11 May, played five matches with three starts, and reached the final. Covid ended his 2020 season after six.

Brive brought him to France in December 2020 as a medical joker for Peet Marais and kept extending him, first by a year, then to 2024. When Brive were relegated in 2023 he left for Bayonne on two years.

Argentina capped him against New Zealand in Newcastle on 28 November 2020. He was left out of the 2023 World Cup squad and then called in mid-tournament, on 9 October, to replace the injured Pablo Matera. He did not get on the field.

Eighteen caps, six starts.

A big, orthodox lineout second row. Bayonne have Ewan Johnson and Arthur Iturria in the same area, so the competition is real.