It is Santiago Cordero’s own choice but a life in rugby exile can be testing. On Saturday the 24-year-old could have been running out against the All Blacks in Buenos Aires, facing the haka and standing shoulder to shoulder with his best mates for the national anthems. Instead he will be in distant Devon, plying his trade for Exeter Chiefs against Worcester at Sandy Park before heading home to watch his beloved Pumas from his sofa.
Across Europe there are around 20 players who, were they not based abroad, would be strong contenders for Argentina’s squad. Juan Imhoff at Racing 92, Juan Figallo at Saracens, Facundo Isa at Toulon: as with Cordero, these are not modest journeymen but major talents. All are now looking on from afar, unable to do more than cheer the Pumas’ recent wins over South Africa and Australia and the team’s highly encouraging performance in defeat to New Zealand in Nelson.
The big question is what happens next. The Pumas have a new head coach in Mario Ledesma and cracks are already discernible in the “home-based only” policy introduced to try to keep Argentina’s better players at home. Two overseas-based players – Figallo and Stade Français’s Ramiro Herrera – have already been selected for Rugby Championship duty and, a year out from the World Cup, there is a good case for whistling up a few more for this November’s internationals.
Alex Cuthbert’s first try helps Exeter overcome Sale for best start
Cordero is realistic enough to know the odds remain lengthy: Argentina’s back three have been playing well and his prospects of featuring in the 2019 World Cup in Japan remain slim. It does not stop him dreaming, or predicting that England will face a horribly tough pool encounter with the Pumas in Tokyo next year. “England should be worried,” he stresses. “Argentina have improved a lot in the past few months and the boys are getting better and better. I think the next World Cup will be amazing for Argentina.”
If Cordero’s increasing impact at upwardly-mobile Exeter is any guide, the Pumas should consider giving him a call. His wonderfully quick feet have yielded two tries in his last three games and earned him a first Premiership start at 15 this weekend, a far cry from his chastening first week at the club last January. “It was 30 degrees in Argentina when I left. I came here and it was zero degrees. My hands were freezing; when I went to catch the ball in training I couldn’t do it. Every touch I had was a knock-on.”
There was some more juvenile team-room sniggering this week when Cordero, not yet entirely fluent in English dressing-room speak, announced at the review of last Friday’s win at Newcastle that he “wanted to touch more balls”. Even when “Santi” says nothing some of his teammates make fun of his habit of drinking maté (a type of South American tea) at every possible opportunity. “They think I’m weird, I think they’re weird. The only one who drinks maté with me is [Italian international] Michele Campagnaro. We have a good chemistry. I’m trying to get all the boys to try it. Maybe they’ll like my culture!”
On the field, happily, there is now greater empathy with the 33-times capped Puma. The Chiefs’ structured system does not always suit spur-of-the-moment individualism but Cordero now knows where he needs to be to have a greater impact. “I’m now understanding the way they think here. Everyone, from props to full-backs, knows where we’re going. Latin players are not so structured. I just want to catch the ball and find a way through. If a gap opens, just go for it. But it’s good for me … I’m expanding my mind. Super Rugby is very dynamic but they study more here. You need to be alert all the time, you can’t rest. Maybe last season because I was new I felt like they didn’t trust me 100%. Now I’m gaining in confidence and I can see their trust in me growing. I’ve only been here a few months but I already feel like one of them.”
Given the rapid recent depreciation of the peso against the dollar and Argentina’s rampant inflation, which is expected to top 40% this year, it grows ever harder to argue that players should be frozen out for heading abroad. Cordero’s father works in a bank and his mother drives a school bus: having married his wife, Bernadita, in June – his best man was the Puma winger Ramiro Moyano – he would like his European rugby adventure to continue. “Every rugby player wants to play for his country but it’s been a good decision. I would like to find a club where I can settle down, play regularly and be part of it. Hopefully it will be here.”
Whether Exeter will extend his current one-year deal if European-based Pumas are ushered back into the World Cup picture remains to be seen. For now all Cordero can do is focus on his day job and see where it takes him. “I don’t think Argentina are going to call me but if there’s some miracle and they do I’ll always give 100% for my country. Every time you watch the Pumas you want to be there. For me that would be amazing. But it’s part of life. My first responsibility is to give everything to the Chiefs. My head is here and I’m enjoying every single moment.”