Eduardo Bello, known as ‘Lolo’, joined Newcastle Falcons in the summer of 2023 from Saracens.

The tight-head hails from Villa Maria in Cordoba province, in the centre of Argentina.

His junior club was San Martin de Villa Maria, for whom he played all the way up until 16 years of age, at which point he got selected for an academy in Cordoba, the province’s capital.

Aged 19 he moved to the city of Rosario to play for Atletico de Rosario, which is where he began to play for Los Pumitas, the Argentina Under-20s national team. Bello played in the Junior World Cup with them in Italy in 2015, and in 2017 moved to Italy to sign for Zebre in Parma.

He and his now-wife Maria Florencia both have Italian ancestry and headed there together, spending five seasons with Zebre before his single campaign with Saracens, which saw them winning the Premiership title. They now have a daughter Amapola, which translates as ‘Poppy’.

Bello made his Argentina debut against Australia in October 2020, and during the 2022-23 season he was part of the Pumas team which beat the All Blacks in New Zealand and England at Twickenham.

He went on to feature in the 2023 Rugby Championship and was a regular for Los Pumas during their Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign, which saw them finishing fourth.

His debut season with the Falcons brought 16 appearances, scoring a try in the home game against Benetton.