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.
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.
SL
Guest
Good articles Nobes !!
Machooka
Roar Guru
Hola Nobrain... late to this but thanks :) Looking forward to the start of this new SR comp!
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Stade Français. Stade de France is the stadium.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
I saw that too, and it is nonsense. Just diversionary tactics. Hourcade can say what he wants but Hourcade knows he doesn't make the decisions.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Initial team to face friendly game against the Bulls ( my mystake I thought the friendly was against Sharks) 1-Arregui, Felipe. 2-Creevy, Agustín. 3-Tetaz Chaparro, Nahuel. 4-Alemanno, Matías. 5-Lavanini, Tomás. 6-Matera, Pablo. 7-Ortega Desio, Javier. 8-Lezana, Tomás. 9- Bertranou, Gonzalo. 10-Sánchez, Nicolás. 11-Moyano, Ramiro. 12-Ezcurra, Bautista. 13-Boffelli, Emiliano. 14-Delguy, Bautista. 15-Tuculet, Joaquín.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Carlos, unless you know who is playing some sort of media game, that perfectly well could be the case, I watched an interview to the man saying that this rule should be change but it was DH decision and he respects that.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Nobrain, This is not necessarily true. According to what I heard from very close to the center of influence, Hourcade works directly for you know who. It is he who decides everything and Hourcade will do as he is told. Hourcade may work on coaching and making sure the players are "nice people", but any decision or opinion regarding players abroad comes from up. The elections are really about how much influence "he" will keep in the UAR. I am not sure how much influence he still has over URBA, so in this circumstance, pathetically, if URBA powers gain, then things may change a bit. I will try to write something up without naming names, but it is not easy
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Thanks for that Mr. River Plate. I always thought that Los Pumas should use overseas players in the Rugby Championship and November Tests, but give the boys in Europe a break during the June Tests, so they get some downtime to recover. Should work alright hence the Rugby Championship kicks off August 18 (more or less the same as the Aviva Premiership and Top 14 kicks off), Weird that Hourcade is against using players who play in Europe, hence he is the one who is responsible for Los Pumas results, and their poor results the last two years could very well lead to he loses his job. Even as a neutral, it has been frustrating to follow Los Pumas and the Jags lately. The talent is there in so many regards, so if they just get some help with leadership, direction, and a Union that does everything it can to help, things could improve very fast. But I hear what you been saying for a long time; nothing is easy or straightforward in Argentina.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Hi and welcome man from Sweden. There are elections in March or April for new authorities in UAR and after that they will have to make the decision to keep Daniel Hourcade or not ( his contract expired in December of last year) . He has been one of the main obstacles to use the overseas players. Anyway, I think that results will apply pressure in favor of the players in Europe to play in the RWC. But who knows, if Daniel Hourcade keeps the job, he is avery stubborn man .
Nobrain
Roar Guru
To tell you the true the Nogueira Paz ( Bath) and Herrera ( Stade de France) got offers than UAR could not matched. The wingers left because the positions is well covered and they would not have much playing time.
Cuw
Guest
@ Fionn dude u shud always read PLANET RUGBY . these days so many SH are jumping off ship to NH. and then seem to know it first :D http://www.planetrugby.com/news/exeter-snap-up-santiago-cordero/ http://www.planetrugby.com/news/thomas-waldrom-and-exeter-chiefs-to-part-ways/
Cuw
Guest
i see he has dropped 2 wingers and props ? but the simple fact is there re some fine players in Europe , both young and old who could wonders for this team. look at Bosch , he is more or less a starter for Sarries - the best club in England :D Isa Galarza Lobbe Imoff Carizza ... a few names and i dont know how many props are there in NH. both NZ and SA can afford to lose good players and still be competitive but not the Argies IMO. BUT making MAtera the captain is a good move - now Creevy can play without trying to be all and do all. AND he can be pulled much earlier :P
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Hello Nobrain Thanks for this little appetizer. Really looking forward to see what the new leaders in the Jags camp can bring to the table. I read the other day that UAR will look at the eligible laws again, and maybe soften them up even more (the last change was to allow overseas player in the world cup). Have you heard anything about this?
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Ledesma will find it very difficult. I expect a strong SA confernce and the temas from Australia should improve. NZ is a total different story. It is not the same to prepare for a test match or RCH than do it for SR.. It requires a different approach in my opinion. I hope Mario adapts quickly to this new challenge. Defence and set pieces must improve if Jaguares want to do better this year.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Matera should speak a bit better, but do not expect a lot better.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Exeter Chief, Premier League.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Baaaa!
Fionn
Guest
Where did Cordero go*
Fionn
Guest
What did Cordero go? Does Matera speak English better than Creevy? I feel like Creevy's limited English skills sometime hamper his captaincy.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
I am just waiting for the time when I can...