Glasgow have finally ended their search for a player to replace Daryl Gibson in their squad by snapping up Argentina's record tryscorer. José María Núñez Piossek, who is 31, is understood to have signed for the rest of this season with an option on a second term, though the deal is conditional on him sorting out visa arrangements and passing a medical.

While he is a specialist wing, he will fill the gap left by Gibson, the former All Black centre who has returned to his native land to take up a coaching position with the Canterbury Crusaders, meaning that Hefin O'Hare, who has played both centre and wing for Glasgow in recent seasons, is likely to see a lot more action in the former role than he has recently.

The decision to look abroad has, however, ended the search for a Scottish-qualified player who could come in and do a job for the club, which had been the preference of Sean Lineen, the Glasgow coach. Instead he has plumped for an experienced old hand who can guide the young guns already in place.

“I'm delighted to have José on board,” Lineen said of the player who has scored 30 tries in 29 international appearances, a record helped by nine in a single match against Paraguay, which finished in a 144-0 win for his side. “He's an experienced internationalist and knows where the try line is. He is an important signing in terms of the experience he'll bring to the squad, he's also very good value for money.

“He's a tough player looking for rugby and will bring a bit of balance to the squad because we need to manage the game time of our Scotland internationalists. I'm also looking for José to be a big influence on our young Scottish players such as Chris Kinloch, Ruaridh Jackson and Peter Horne, who is aligned to Glasgow from the national academy.”

Núñez Piossek, who has also played for Bristol, Clermont Auvergne, Castres and Bayonne, faced Scotland in the first international in June, when his side won, but was dropped for the second meeting, which ended in a Scotland victory. He regained his place for Argentina's most recent international, the match against South Africa in Cape Town to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, which his team lost heavily. He played in the 2003 World Cup but missed last year's showpiece through injury.

“I am going to Glasgow for a season with the option of staying a further year,” he said. “I am delighted to have the opportunity to play in the Magners League. It is very professional and the level of rugby is good.”