Benjamin Garcia (born 5 April 1993) is a French professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a , or for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

at international level. He spent time with the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

as part of their squad during the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

Background

He was born in

Apt, Vaucluse Apt (; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''At / Ate'' in both classical and Mistralian norms) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of ...

. He is of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and Algerian descent.

Playing career

A SO Avignon junior and French junior international representative, Garcia moved to Australia to play for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, Queensland, Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum, Queensland, Wynnum. They competed in the Bri ...

in the FOGS Colts Challenge in 2012. After winning the Seagulls' FOGS Colts player of the year award, Garcia moved into the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

' National Youth Competition squad in 2013. In June 2013, he moved to the

mid-season on a two-year contract, making his

debut against the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

on 31 August 2013. On 10 June 2015, Garcia signed a two-year contract with Penrith of the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

, starting in 2016. Garcia was named in Penrith's squad for the 2016 Auckland Nines, scoring a try in their match against the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

. He rejoined the Dragons in June 2016. He played in the 2018 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. On 9 October 2021, Garcia played for Catalans in their

2021 Super League Grand Final The 2021 Super League Grand Final was the 24th official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXVI. The game was contested between Catalans Dragons and St Helens R.F.C., St Helens at Old Trafford. Background The two finalis ...

defeat against St. Helens. On 14 October, Garcia played in Catalans 2023 Super League Grand Final loss against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

International career

On 24 October 2012, Garcia was called into

's train-on squad for the

2012 Autumn International Series The 2012 Autumn International Series is a rugby league tri-series between England national rugby league team, England, France national rugby league team, France and Wales national rugby league team, Wales.Clément Soubeyras and

Mathias Pala Mathias Pala (born 14 June 1989) is a French rugby league footballer who currently plays for RC Baho XIII in the Elite Two Championship. He previously played for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League and their feeder club Saint-Esteve XIII ...

, Garcia was called into France's squad for the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams. It took place between the 26 October and 30 November and was hosted by England and Wales (although some games were played in France and Ire ...

. 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. Garcia played in France's lone international fixture of 2016, an end of year test match against England.

References

External links

Catalans Dragons profileFrance profileSL profile2017 RLWC profileFrench profileFrance RL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Benjamin 1993 births Living people Catalans Dragons players France national rugby league team players French rugby league players Rugby league centres Rugby league props Rugby league players from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rugby league second-rows Wynnum Manly Seagulls players 21st-century French sportsmen