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What difference will Mario Ledesma bring to the Jaguares in 2018?

Roar Guru
8th February, 2018
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The Jaguares are aiming for finals in their third season. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Roar Guru
8th February, 2018
24

The Jaguares have made an important change ahead of the 2018 Super Rugby season, with Mario Ledesma taking over from Aspirina Perez as coach.

Three-time World Cups scrumhalf Nicolas Fernandez Miranda – who played in the 2007 tournaemtn, when Argentina won the bronce medal, in France – will be Ledesma’s main assistant. As a coach, Miranda has taken Hindu club to several titles in Argentina’s top division.

The rest of the staff remains the same, with Martin Gaitan the defensive coordinator.

Ledesma has gained experience at international level as an assistant coach to Michael Cheika for the Wallabies, but he is a debutant in Super Rugby, which is a very different animal.

Pablo Matera will be the skipper this year, instead of Agustin Creevy, who remains the captain for los Pumas.

Outs
Santiago Cordero, Manuel Montero, Ramiro Herrera, Lucas Noguera Paz.

Ins
Sebastian Cancelliere, Bautista Delguy, Tomas Cubelli, Santiago Alvarez, Nicolas Leiva, Juan Pablo Zeiss, Franco Brarda, Javier Diaz

The 29-man squad is already in South Africa for a friendly against the Sharks, before their first game, against the Stormers. The following weekend they will face the Lions.

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Again this year the Jaguares will have to travel extensively, but have the entire month of March at home, hosting teams from New Zealand and Australia.

The team aims for the play-offs in this, their third season of Super Rugby, however this is made tougher due to format changes.

Ledesma will likely be more concerned with results than style, and we can expect more rotation, giving more game time to all the players.

The former hooker will take advantage of the new scrum laws to resolve one of the weakest issues from last year.

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