Expert
The Lions will host the traveling Jaguares in the fourth and last quarter-final of the 2018 Super Rugby competition in Johannesburg. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 11:05pm (AEST).
These two have had some great clashes over the past few years and never one with such high stakes
The Lions are looking to reach their third consecutive semi-final and, with home advantage and the better form, will really fancy their chances. Given their relatively poorer performance this season, a semi-final would be a good achievement.
The team from Johannesburg haven’t reached the same levels of previous seasons and have had to fight very hard against an impressive Jaguares team to claim the No. 1 spot in the South African conference. But claim it they did, and they will look to key players Elton Jantjies and Malcolm Marx to have big games against the Argentinians.
Marx especially will want to stamp his authority on a Jaguares pack that has caused many sides real problems this year.
For Jantjies, he might be feeling his future is more about potential success in Super Rugby rather than success at Springbok level. He’s never really been able to make the ‘Boks No. 10 shirt his own despite impressive club form and, in the third test against England back in June, he again failed to live up to expectations.
This, however, could make him even more dangerous for the Jaguares defence as he’ll be wanting to bounce back with a class performance in this knockout game.
The Jaguares have had their best season by far this year in Super Rugby and have picked up a number of good wins.
Weirdly, the Pumas have not replicated this form which is very strange as they are basically the Jags in different shirts – but that’s another article.
In this match, coach Mario Ledesma is bringing back a number of players who he rested last week. While this meant that the teams’ overall momentum stumbled a bit with a loss last week, it will be interesting to see if this rest gives some key players the extra bit of energy they need at the end of a hard season.
Prediction
The Jaguares have not been able to win on South African soil this season, so it will take a great effort from them to get themselves into their first ever semi final. The Lions are the bookies favorites but there’s an upset in the thinner air of Ellis Park.
Jaguares by 3
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 11:05pm (AEST) on Saturday.