Toronto Arrows Announce Signing of Tuculet, Returns of Parfrey, McRogers

For Immediate Release

TORONTO, ON – The Toronto Arrows are pleased to announce a seventh group of significant signings ahead of the 2021 Major League Rugby season.

The club is excited to confirm that Jack McRogers and Pat Parfrey have recommitted for the team’s upcoming campaign, and that the Canadian duo will be joined by Argentinian international fullback Joaquin Tuculet.

Jack McRogers
Hooker | Newmarket, Ontario
Arrow #38

McRogers has featured in two matches over his two seasons with the club, with both appearances coming during the team’s inaugural MLR campaign. The young hooker made seven tackles – including two dominant tackles – in the 2019 season (100% completion), and ran for nine metres.

The 21-year-old is a graduate of the Ontario Blues junior men’s provincial program and the McMaster Marauders post-secondary program, represented the Canada under-20s in 2017 (as an under-ager) and 2018, and played his grassroots rugby with the Aurora Barbarians.

Pat Parfrey
Fullback / Fly-half / Centre | St. John’s, Newfoundland
Arrow #39

Parfrey has made six appearances throughout his two seasons with the club, with the versatile back making 34 carries, running for 166 carry metres, and completing 21 tackles (87.5% completion), five offloads, two tackle breaks and a linebreak.

The 28-year-old has amassed 32 caps for Canada since making his international debut against the United States in May 2013, including featuring at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where he started two of Canada’s three matches. He also represented the Canada under-20s in 2010 (as an under-ager) and 2011.

Parfrey is a graduate of the Atlantic Rock senior men’s provincial program, and played his grassroots rugby with the St. John’s-based Swilers Rugby Club. Off the pitch, the Newfoundlander is a PhD candidate in clinical epidemiology.

Joaquin Tuculet
Fullback / Centre / Fly-half | La Plata, Argentina

Widely regarded as one of the sport’s top fullbacks of the past decade, Tuculet arrives at the Arrows with a decorated rugby CV, a desire to help grow the sport in Canada, and a determination to continue producing head-turning, world-class performances.

Tuculet began his professional career in Europe in 2011, starting his six-year overseas spell with the English Premiership’s Sale Sharks before making stops at Top 14 clubs Grenoble and Bordeaux and Pro 14 side Cardiff Blues.

He returned to his native Argentina for Los Jaguares’ inaugural campaign in 2016, and made 44 appearances – including earning 41 starts and scoring 10 tries – for the Super Rugby side over the past five seasons.

Internationally, the 31-year-old won 56 caps and scored 18 tries for Argentina since debuting for Los Pumas in 2012; the clinical fullback featured in two Rugby World Cups (2015, 2019) where he scored four tries in six matches, and also made 22 appearances in The Rugby Championship between 2014 and 2019. He was last capped in Argentina’s most recent test match, putting in a two-try performance in a 47-15 Rugby World Cup victory over the USA in Japan last October. Tuculet also appeared in two IRB Junior World Championships, first in 2008 as an under-ager, and again in 2009, before earning a spot in his nation’s sevens program in 2010.

“Joaquin came to us in somewhat unlikely fashion, but he is undoubtedly one of the top Pumas of the last decade, has experience at the highest levels of the international and pro game, can play almost every backline position and brings depth and class to our backline,” said Arrows Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Mark Winokur. “He is making this move for all the right reasons and we are excited to have him here on a multi-year deal. He will fit in perfectly to our culture and he has expressed a keen desire to get out and work with all the great young talent in Ontario and help build the game.”

“We thought Pat was Canada’s best player at the Rugby World Cup last year and we missed having him around this past year. He can play a variety of positions well and is a total Canadian pro in the way he approaches the game. We are very happy to have him back.”

“Jack is a very hard-working young player who will have a big MLR career and we are excited to be on that pathway with him. We see him as a future leader and another young, local player to build our core around.”

Toronto has now signed 32 players ahead of the club’s 2021 MLR campaign.

About Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club:

The Toronto Arrows Rugby Football Club is Canada’s first professional rugby union team.

Competing in Major League Rugby, the team is equipped to compete against top-tier North American club teams, providing emerging Canadian talent with enhanced and more frequent opportunities to hone their skills at an elite level.

For more information, visit https://torontoarrows.com/

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For more information, please contact:

Brock Smith
Communications Manager
Toronto Arrows
416-846-3228
[email protected]

Header Photo Credit: Shaun Roy / UAR