The most tenuous of birth links may give the winless Castaway Wanderers (0-7) the surprise edge they need in the second half of the B.C. Premier Rugby season, which CW will warmup for with an exhibition game today at 2:30 p.m. at Windsor Park against Seattle RFC.
Lucas Albornoz looks to be an outstanding prospect, who at six-foot-three and 235 pounds, doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him. His large, yet lean, body type allows him to play from second row to No. 8 to flanker and he has performed for Argentina at the U-18 and U-19 levels and played a season in New Zealand.
It is an accident of birth, and of timing, that has brought the 23-year-old to Victoria to pursue his rugby dream. Dad Erick Albornoz came from Argentina to play rugby for the Vancouver Trojans in the late 1980s. It was during the last two months of that four-year stint that Lucas was born in Vancouver to his dad Erick and mother Gabriela Gonzalez. Both mom and dad were soon back to Argentina, with baby Lucas in tow. But that Vancouver birth gave him dual Canada-Argentina citizenship, of which Lucas has decided to take advantage.
It was when the Argentina Jaguars — the national B side to the Pumas — were playing at the IRB Americas championship tournament hosted at Westhills Stadium in Langford that Argentina’s coaching staff thought of this unique connection to Canada of one of its rising young stars back home. A relationship was forged, through Argentina native and noted Victoria squash instructor Gustavo Verna, who was the local liaison for the Jaguars during their Americas championship tournament visits. Verna was also a rugby player, whose club is CW.
“Canada has more physical, bigger boys,” said Lucas Albornoz, of his first impression of B.C. rugby over two weeks.
Not that IRB world No. 9 Argentina is a slouch in the sport. They play a more agile, finesse game.
Which can be said of all Argentina national sides in many sports. Two-time champion Argentina took Germany to extra time in the 2014 World Cup soccer final and Manu Ginobili and the Argentina basketball team won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics. Argentina is also the top nation from the Americas in both rugby and field-hockey and ranked in the world top-10 in both sports.
“There is a real feeling to your club, and to club play, which carries over when players are called up to national-team play,” notes Albornoz.
“All Argentina players work together and hate to lose. We really don’t like it [losing].”
Nothing wrong with that.
He said the loss to Germany in the 2014 World Cup soccer final still stings.
That brings up an intriguing situation. Having not yet earned a senior cap internationally, and because of his citizenship, Albornoz is still eligible to declare for either the national team of Argentina or Canada. At 23, it’s hard to gauge if he will get that far. But if he does, Canada has far less top-end depth in rugby than does Argentina.
“Of course, that [earning caps and playing internationally] is one of my dreams,” said Albornoz, who also played basketball.
“But it’s not easy.”
You can bet Canadian national team staff will be coming down to Windsor Park this season to take a peek.
Just two weeks into Victoria life, Albornoz has readily taken to North American sports.
“I’ve already become hooked on the Seahawks,” he said.
“And when I was working out at Pearkes, I just had to stop and watch some players play ice hockey because they were so fast.”
Sounds like he’ll fit in just fine.
Meanwhile, an Island derby helps kick off the second half of the B.C. Premier season today with the second-place UVic Vikes (5-2-1) hosting two-time defending champion James Bay (4-3) at 2:30 p.m. at Wallace Field.
