Fresh off their first-ever Super Rugby finals appearance, can the side from Argentina consolidate their growth in 2019? Or was last season’s success just a flash in the pan? In the seventh part of our 2019 Super Rugby preview series, we cast our eye to the Jaguares.
Jaguares
Coach: Gonzalo Quesada
Captain: Jeronimo de la Fuente
Major signings: Gonzala Quesada (coach, Biarritz)
Major departures: Nicolas Sanchez (Stade Francais), Juan Martin Hernandez (retired), Mario Ledesma (coach, Argentina)
Squad
Jeronimo de la Fuente (c), Agustin Creevy, Bautista Ezcurra, Bautista Delguy, Diego Fortuny, Domingo Miotti, Emiliano Boffelli, Enrique Pieretto, Franco Molina, Gaspar Baldunciel, Guido Petti Pagadizabal, Gonzalo Bertranou, Ignacio Mendy, Javier Diaz, Javier Ortega Desio, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Joaquin Tuculet, Juan Cruz Mallia, Juan Pablo Zeiss, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Julian Montoya, Lucas Paulos, Lucio Sordoni, Marcos Kremer, Martin Landajo, Matias Alemanno, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Mayco Vivas, Nahual Tetaz Chaparro, Pablo Matera, Ramiro Moyano, Rodrigo Bruni, Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Santiago Garcia Botta, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Santiago Grondona, Santiago Medrano, Sebastian Cancelliere, Tomas Cubelli, Tomas Lavanini, Tomas Lezana
Last season
Won 9, lost 7, finished second in the South African Conference, seventh overall
It looked to be the same old story for the Jaguares early in 2018, with three straight losses anchoring them to the bottom of the table.
But they turned it around smartly, winning nine of their next 11 games to sit firmly in finals position at the pointy end of the season. Unfortunately, they fell out of form over the last fortnight and, by the time that debut finals appearance came around, they were no match for the Lions in their quarter-final.
Agustin Creevy. (Photo by Gabriel Rossi/Getty Images)
Strengths
It was a vastly improved defensive effort from the Jaguares that helped them rise up the ladder in 2018 and that forward corps is still very much intact for this season.
In fact, it’s probably the one area the club has added more depth.
The Argentinians were very stingy with their run metres, giving up just 641 a game and stopping their opponents from making the gainline 44 per cent of the time – second-best in the league in both statistics.
Nothing frustrates a team more than not being able to move the ball and score. If they can keep that miserly defensive setup together this season, they’ll be a hard team to beat most weeks.
Related
Weaknesses
There’s no other way to look at it, this team has lost some of their biggest names and don’t have ready-made replacements for them.
The departure of Nicolas Sanchez to France and the retirement of Juan Martin Hernandez leaves the side with a gaping hole in the halves – bad news for a team with the second-fewest kicking metres in 2018.
Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias has experience, but only looks to be a temporary solution at flyhalf given his age. The same can be said of Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, who turns 30 in April.
Mario Ledesma’s transition from Jaguares coach to manager of the national side is a big change too, although his replacement, Gonzalo Quesada, won’t necessarily be too much of a step down, having also been in the running for the Pumas job.
Mario Ledesma has left the Jaguares. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Prediction
After a rough initiation to Super Rugby, there’s little doubt now that the wheel has finally turned – Argentina is capable of producing a viable, competitive, Super Rugby outfit.
They’ll always be a tough team to play on their own paddock and carry an air of danger about them against most opposition.
But, with quality big names departing and only U20s graduates or senior citizens (or at least the rugby equivalent of the latter) to fill their shoes, repeating last season’s finals appearance is probably just beyond them.
Prediction: Third in the South African Conference, ninth overall
The Roar’s 2019 Super Rugby preview series
4. Highlanders
5. Chiefs
6. Rebels
7. Sharks
8. Waratahs
9. Jaguares
10. Brumbies
11. Bulls
12. Stormers
13. Blues
14. Reds
15. Sunwolves
Andres
Guest
Weak scrum, poor No. 9 whoever starts, no first five eight... it will be a though season for the Jaguares. Rivals in SA conference also made good incorporations, especially the Bulls. I think Domingo Miotti has a good future as 10 but not this year.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Thanks Carlos, I am on vacations as well in Brazil but always find some time to keep up with Jaguares. I think I will miss the opening .
Nobrain
Roar Guru
I know the rooster, probably you are right with NS, but you also have to understand that there pressure to win as many games as possible and there were nobody close to what NS could do on the field. There is only one pro team in Argentina and no time to test a rookie fly half in SR. The option was JM Hernandez but he retired in the middle of the season due to injuries.
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Hi H! The article by Nobrain was better than this one. I’ve made some comments in the SA conference section too. I am skiing and with little awareness of the immediate situation. Sorry. Please rely on Nobrain for the answer.
Origin
Roar Rookie
C'mon, Nobes, take the leap of faith: Jaguares by 10 on the 23rd. Cheers
CUW
Roar Rookie
fly half is the weak link - so they will suffer just like BLUES have suffered over the years. i still cannot understand why they did not give a standby player many minutes - i think Nico played almost all the minutes. now they have a big problem - uncooked guy against seasoned guys.... Props Javier Díaz Santiago García Botta Santiago Medrano Enrique Pieretto Lucio Sordoni Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro Mayco Vivas Juan Pablo Zeiss Hookers Gaspar Baldunciel Agustín Creevy Diego Fortuny Julián Montoya Locks Matías Alemanno Marcos Kremer Tomás Lavanini Franco Molina Lucas Paulos Guido Petti Pagadizábal Loose forwards Rodrigo Bruni Santiago Grondona Juan Manuel Leguizamón Tomás Lezana Pablo Matera Javier Ortega Desio Scrum-halves Gonzalo Bertranou Tomás Cubelli Martín Landajo Fly-halves Joaquín Díaz Bonilla Santiago González Iglesias Domingo Miotti Centres Santiago Carreras Santiago Chocobares Jerónimo de la Fuente (c) Bautista Ezcurra Matías Orlando Wingers Emiliano Boffelli Sebastián Cancelliere Juan Cruz Mallia Matías Moroni Ramiro Moyano Fullbacks Bautista Delguy Ignacio Mendy Joaquín Tuculet
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Not very sure to tell you the true. There are some injuries that I am not sure that will be ready for next week. But I think that Garcia Botha , Creevy, Piereto, Lavanini, Petty, kremer, Matera, Bruni or Ortega Desio, Bertranou, DIAS Bonilla, De La Fuente, Orlando, Moyano, Tuculet, Bench: Zeis, Montoya, Medrano, Lezama, Alemano, Cubelli, Gonzalez Iglesias, Mallia. I think Bofelli will not be ready for the opening due to injury. It it a wild guess with new staff is difficult to make a prediction.
Hazel Nutt
Guest
Nobrain and Carlos, what do you think the opening round match-day 23 will be?
Nobrain
Roar Guru
Sorry but PABLO Matera is no longer the captain, De La Fuente will have that distinction. Matera is the captain of Los Pumas.
Nobrain
Roar Guru
I disagree when you mention defense as their strength. Just looks their las three games and how many points they gave up very easy. I think that if they can fix the defense and the scrum they will be competitive in every game. The problem will be at the 10 position where Jaguares does not have someone with the experience and in SR the fly half is very important.
Bobby
Roar Rookie
They can be devastating at times, particularly at home. But they are a tough team to beat. I think the loss of Mario will be telling overall.
JRVJ
Guest
This seems overtly negative, since the only real loss to the Jags was N. Sánchez (J.M. Hernández almost didn't play last year and retired before the Jags impressive winning streak). We'll see, though.