Julián Montoya

Julián Montoya (born 29 October 1993) is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker and captains the Argentina national team.^[2] He previously played for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers, where he won the 2022 Premiership and was captain as Leicester were runners up in 2025.

Julián Montoya

Montoya representing Argentina during the November Internationals
Date of birth	(1993-10-29) 29 October 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight	110 kg (243 lb; 17 st 5 lb)[1]
School	Colegio Cardenal Newman
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2013–2014 Club Newman 7 (0) 2014–2015 Pampas XV 17 (5) 2016–2020 Jaguares 63 (25) 2021–2025 Leicester Tigers 78 (145) 2025– Pau 0 (0) Correct as of 15 June 2025 International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2013 Argentina U20 5 (0) 2014– Argentina 95 (55) Correct as of 21 April 2024

Club career

In June 2020, there was speculation that Montoya had agreed to join Leicester Tigers for the 2021-22 Premiership Rugby season,^[3] but the move was eventually confirmed as an immediate transfer on 20 January 2021.^[4] He started the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Tigers beat Saracens 15-12.^[5]

On 18 June 2025, it was officially confirmed that Montoya would leave Leicester to sign for French side Pau in the Top 14 from the 2025-26 season.^[6]

International career

Montoya played for Argentina national under-20 rugby union team at the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship. He later would also play for Argentina Jaguars. He had his first cap for Argentina at the 65–9 win over Uruguay, at 17 May 2014, for the South American Rugby Championship, in Paysandu, Uruguay. He played for the Argentina squad that won the competition in 2014 and 2015, twice in each of them, with a try scored on both occasions. He was called for the 2015 Rugby Championship, playing his first game at the tournament in the 39–18 loss to New Zealand, on 17 July 2015, in Christchurch. He has 8 caps for the "Pumas", with 2 tries scored, 10 points on aggregate.^[7][8]

Montoya was a starter for the Argentina national team on 14 November 2020 in their first ever win against the All Blacks.^[9]

He is the only Argentinian captain to have a win over Australia (2022, 2023, 2024), New Zealand (2022, 2024) and South Africa (2024) and he is one of a few captains to achieve this.^[10]