Benjamin Garcia

Benjamin Garcia

Garcia playing for the Dragons in 2015.
Personal information
Born	5 April 1993 Apt, Vaucluse, France[1]
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	98 kg (15 st 6 lb)[2]
Playing information
Position	Second-row, Prop, Centre
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2013–	Catalans Dragons	61	11	0	0	44
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
2013–16	France	7	0	0	0	0
Source: Rugby League Project, Love Rugby League

Benjamin Garcia (born 5 April 1993) is a French professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. A French international representative, Garcia primarily plays at second-row, but can also fill in at prop and centre.

Playing career

A SO Avignon junior and French junior international representative, Garcia moved to Australia to play for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in the FOGS Colts Challenge in 2012.^[3] After winning the Seagulls' FOGS Colts player of the year award,^[4] Garcia moved into the Brisbane Broncos' National Youth Competition squad in 2013. In June 2013, he moved to the Catalans Dragons mid-season on a two-year contract,^[5] making his Super League debut against the Leeds Rhinos on 31 August 2013.

On 10 June 2015, Garcia signed a 2-year contract with the Penrith Panthers of the National Rugby League, starting in 2016.^[6][7] Garcia was named in the Panthers' squad for the 2016 Auckland Nines, scoring a try in their match against the North Queensland Cowboys.^[8] He rejoined the Dragons in June 2016.^[9]

Representative career

On 24 October 2012, Garcia was called into France's train-on squad for the 2012 Autumn International Series.^[10] Following injuries to Clément Soubeyras and Mathias Pala, Garcia was called into France's squad for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.^[11][12] He made his international debut on 27 October 2013 and played in three of France's Group B matches.

Garcia played for France in all three of their matches at the 2014 European Cup. He was unavailable for selection for the 2015 European Cup.^[13] Garcia played in France's lone international fixture of 2016, an end of year test match against England.

References

1. "Penrith Panthers sign Frenchman Ben Garcia from Catalans Dragons". Daily Telegraph. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
2. "Catalans Dragons Equipe Saison 2015" (in French). catalansdragons.com. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
3. Ricketts, Steve (9 March 2012). "Wynnum-Manly Seagulls have added a French connection to their books for the 2012 Intrust Super Cup". Courier-Mail. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
4. "Presentation Night 2012". WynnumSeagulls.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
5. "Benjamin Garcia: Brisbane Broncos forward joins Catalans". BBC. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
6. "Panthers sign Quartet of Young Guns – Panthers". penrithpanthers.com.au. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
7. "Catalan Dragons forward Benjamin Garcia to join Penrith Panthers in NRL". Sky Sports. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
8. Kennedy, Chris (7 February 2016). "Cowboys muscle up to deny Panthers". NRL.com. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
9. Reynolds, Ben (23 June 2016). "Catalans Dragons re-sign Ben Garcia from Penrith Panthers". Sky Sports. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
10. "Teenager Garcia called into French train-on squad". NRL.com. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
11. "Catalans dominate France World Cup squad". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
12. "Benjamin Garcia named in France squad". catalansdragons.com. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
13. "Agar names France's 23-man squad". Rugby League European Federation. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2016. Ben Garcia is unavailable as he heads to Australia to start his new career.