Lions-taming Puma joins Newcastle revolution

Newcastle Falcons’ impressive recruitment drive has continued with the capture of Argentina scrum-half Simón Benítez Cruz on a two-year deal.

The 25-year-old becomes the sixth new player to sign for the Falcons, who are busy strengthening their squad in preparation for the new season, which is set to be under the ownership of Red Bull.

Benítez Cruz made his international debut during Los Pumas’ historic victory over the British & Irish Lions in June, played both Tests against England during their recent tour and started in his country’s win over Uruguay three weeks ago.

He is now part of the Argentina squad preparing for the upcoming Rugby Championship, which begins on Saturday when they host New Zealand, and joins a Newcastle roster which already includes fellow Puma Eduardo Bello.

Named as the MVP for this year’s Super Rugby Americas tournament, the half-back originally hails from the CUBA club in Buenos Aires, which was also the home of former Newcastle centre Matias Moroni.

Benítez Cruz has starred for Pampas and Tarucas in Super Rugby Americas action and has also played international sevens for Argentina – scoring against Fiji in the World Sevens Series.

Speaking ahead of joining the Kingston Park club, Benítez Cruz said: “I’m incredibly honoured to be joining Newcastle, a club which has such a strong affiliation with Argentinian players.

“I’m confident this is the right move for me, and I can’t wait to pull on my Newcastle shirt in front of all our amazing fans.”

Director of rugby Steve Diamond said: “We’ve done our research on Simón, and he will definitely add to the group when he arrives.

“He has gone well during his first few involvements for Argentina, he is a big running threat and we really see a lot of potential in him.”

In the past month, Newcastle have announced the signings of Ethan Grayson, George McGuigan, Jamie Hodgson, Freddie Clarke and Amanaki Mafi in addition to Benítez Cruz.