Crusaders vs Jaguares highlights: Super Rugby scores, blog

Roar Guru

15th April, 2016

2429 Reads

Kickoff: 5:35pm (AEST)
Venue: AMI Stadium
Referee: Craig Joubert (RSA)
Betting: Crusaders $1.20 Jaguares $4.70

Crusaders
Israel Dagg, Johnny McNicholl, Kieron Fonotia, Ryan Crotty, Nemani Nadolo, Richie Mo’unga, Andy Ellis, Kieran Read (c), Matt Todd, Jordan Taufua, Scott Barrett, Luke Romano, Owen Franks, Codie Taylor, Joe Moody
Reserves: Ged Robinson, Wyatt Crockett, Mike Alaalatoa, Jimmy Tupou, Tim Boys, Mitchell Drummond, Sean Wainui, Ben Volavola

Jaguares
Joaquin Tuculet, Matias Orlando, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Emiliano Boffelli, Juan Martin Hernandez, Gonzalo Bertranou, Facundo Isa, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Rodrigo Baez, Matias Alemanno, Guido Petti, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Agustin Creevy (c), Santiago Garcia Botta
Reserves: Facundo Bosch, Felipe Arregui, Enrique Pieretto, Juan Cruz Guillemain, Pablo Matera, Felipe Ezcurra, Joaquin Paz, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino

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The Crusaders are flying high. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

Nicholas Hartman

Roar Guru

15th April, 2016

2429 Reads

The Jaguares make their third stop in their trans-continental tour to take on the team that’s won the competition the most, the Crusaders, for the first time ever. Join The Roar for live scores, commentary, and a little bit of chat from 5:30pm (AEST).

The Crusaders were rusty against the Force in Perth, scraping a win by just a one point.

Maybe that’s because they were feeling a bit worn out, having visited South Africa to play the Sharks and then the Lions.

They won both games, and since their Round 1 loss to the Chiefs, the Christchurch team have won five – an impressive feat, even if one of those games was against the Kings.

They return to New Zealand tonight, to play only their second home game of the season.

Meanwhile, Argentina’s Jaguares came into Super Rugby outside shots to win the thing… and haven’t done much since.

For this mini-tour of theirs – they’ve played the Blues and the Hurricanes, and lost both games with two poor performances – they decided to leave a lot of their star players at home. But for this game, the Jaguares have recalled some of their rested stars, including Argentina captain, hooker Agustin Creevy.

They’ve also made four other changes in the scrum positions, and three more out at the backs – Juan Martin Hernandez replaces Nicolas Sanchez (rested) at flyhalf after he himself was rested against the Hurricanes.

The big news for the Crusaders is the return of Israel Dagg from a long time out with a shoulder injury. Dagg resumes the title of ‘best fullback named Israel’ with Folau being played at outside centre this week against the Brumbies.

Joe Moody is rotating positions with Wyatt Crockett, swapping the bench for the number 3 jersey. There are also changes at lock (Sean Barrett) and in the backs, with Ben Volavola making way for Dagg.

Prediction
Given the Jaguares’ bad start to the season, and the Crusaders’ eternal ability to be really, really good at rugby, it’s hard to go past the home side.

Crusaders by 10.

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