(left to right) Matias Orlando, Mateo Carreras and Matias Moroni at home in Newcastle Falcons' Kingston Park Stadium. Photo: North News/Will Walker.
In the bar on the top floor of Kingston Park's East Stand, a photograph of Newcastle's most famous son, Johnny Wilkinson, adorns the wall. The Falcons Argentine international trio Matias Orlando, Matias Moroni and Mateo Carreras pose for photos on a leather bench below. They playfully argue in Spanish before spotting a picture of the World Cup-winning English midfielder and demanding to move. Further along the wall is a portrait of fellow countryman and former teammate Juan Pablo Sochino, whom they glide towards. “It's better this way,” they say.
The trio whose Falcons go to the Harlequins on Saturday are shamelessly Argentine. Their commitment to Newcastle is undeniable, but as with all Cougars, any reference to their homeland touches on something more primitive. After all, all three of them were involved in that historic victory at Twickenham last fall, so a photo taken with the legend of England — be it Newcastle or anything else — would be sacrilegious.
As the photographer grows increasingly irritated by the trio's mischief—much to their delight—the dynamics of this Argentinian version of Ed, Edd n Eddy become clear: Orlando and Moroni, die-hard Puma centers, are big brothers in this diasporic Argentinean family that unexpectedly hoisted its flag in the north-east. And Carreras, the deadly Argentine flank who could very well end this season as the Premier League's top scorer, is the little brother. Mati, Mati and Mateo.
(From left to right) Matias Orlando, Matias Moroni and Mateo Carreras are photographed in front of the Argentinian, not English, club legend in Kingston Park. Photo: North News/Will Walker
«We've built our own family here,» Orlando, 31, tells Telegraph Sport.
“We were all holidaying in the Lake District together,” adds Moroni, 32, who moved to Newcastle from Leicester at the end of last season. “Mathias and I have played together all our lives. Everything is close to Puma surroundings, we feel like family. I spent more time with them than with my schoolmates or clubmates.”
“It was quite difficult at first because of the language and Covid,” says Carreras, 23. “But now we have a group of four argas [together with Pedro Rubiolo without a hat] here. Something like a small family. This season I feel much better.”
Three Argentines nesting in the northeast, glittering in black and white Newcastle? No, you are not accidentally on the football pages. But the trio's influence on the club was such that the Falcons' The coaching staff regularly take Spanish lessons to reflect the efforts that the Argentines, especially the Carreras, have put into their English.
Despite off-pitch turmoil when head coach Dave Walder left the club during the season and ended up 7,000 miles from mate tea in Buenos Aires, they settled in and became Geordie's adopters, but that adoption didn't quite extend into regular pub visits or mastering English. butcher shop systems.
“I try to cook Argentinean food at home,” says Orlando. «We eat a lot of chicken schnitzel, but I'm struggling to find it here.»
“In England, the carnage is different,” says Moroni. “We have a barbecue, but the meat we find in the butcher shop is different. We ask for food and the butcher says no, because we waste many other parts of the cow, as in England. I said to the butcher: “Please, could you make this cut for me, and I will come every week.”
“Here in the north, people are very friendly”
“And we are already too old to walk to the pubs! says Orlando.
“I don't want to be unfair, but the music in Argentina… we're used to other music,” adds Moroni. «The music you find here in pubs and nightclubs, we don't know how to dance to it!»
“One thing here is the people,” says Carreras. “They are very friendly here in the north. I remember how I came here; everyone came up to me and helped. I didn't speak English well.»
«Outside the club, the neighbors are always willing to help, too,» adds Orlando.
«When we first encountered Geordie's accent, we didn't understand a thing,» Moroni says. “I was told that it would be colder here, but it turned out not to be as bad as I expected. Maybe because the UK has shitty weather everywhere? So it's more or less the same as Lester. Cold. Thanks to Argies, everything has become easier.
“But if you had told me 15 years ago that we were all going to end up here, I would have said you were drunk! I didn't even play rugby — or at least I just started — so to imagine that I'm here … no.
While Orlando and Moroni were already big names before arriving in Newcastle, Carreras arrived as a virtual nobody. However, he won't leave as one and his wing will turn into one of the most devastating offensive runners in the global game. Carreras' rise has made a lasting impression on his central comrades.
Absolutely ridiculous 😳
Mateo Carreras presses on his foot to score an unreal singles try!#PremRugby pic.twitter.com/gfpykOMj9N
— RUGBYcomau (@rugbycomau) October 5, 2022
«Mateo can score goals himself — he doesn't need help,» says Orlando. “But it’s easier to speak Spanish on the pitch. We know each other so well. I've been playing with Matthias for over 10 years since we were 17: World Cup, Sevens, Jaguares, Pumas, Newcastle. We can judge each other's moods only by the expression on our faces.”
“I am amazed at how young he came here,” adds Moroni. “I had a chance to come to the UK when I was 20, but I turned it down because I was happy and afraid to leave Argentina. I am impressed by his courage to go alone to another country, to another language.”
«Easier because of the language!» Carreras says. “But they both have over 50 caps; when I need help on the field, they give it to me. They are so easy to play with. But when I do something here at Newcastle, I always have an eye on playing for Puma. I love playing here, but I'm going all out here to try and get into the Argentina national team.»
Wind rages in Kingston Park, doors slam and the corrugated roof rattles, and a photographer forces the trio outside against their will , for paintings in the stands. They are fully equipped and, given Moroni's earlier words about the inclement British weather sweeping the room, seem less than impressed to go outside.
Five minutes is enough. We can do it inside if you want? Carreras asks, rubbing his hands as the wind lashes his skin, hoping the photographer got the hint, and the two Argentinian brothers giggle next to him again. The photographer agrees and starts looking for other places in the room. But with Argentina taking on England starting in Group D at the World Cup on September 9, Mati, Mati and Mateo will fit anywhere but Wilkinson.
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