Full Jaguares Super Rugby Details

It is now official – Argentina’s first professional rugby team will play as the Jaguares. This morning at a media conference in Argentina the team name, logo, staff, roster, fixtures and membership were all announced.

Logo and Name
The logo is the same to that leaked on social media over recent months. As displayed below the logo features the neck and head of a Jaguar. By picturing a roaring Jaguar the image puts forward an aggressive rather than a passive image. It is consistent with the changes to the UAR logo in recent years.

The choice of using Los Jaguares has been included on the website stating that the animal is the tiger of the Americas, known for being cunning, having skill and power. Also stated is that the keen instint and intelligence makes the Jaguar the ideal emblem for the team.

Website
The Super Rugby franchise’s website has been launched. It is www.jaguares.com.ar and is supported by the twitter account @JaguaresARG and will be using the official hashtag of #JaguaresEnSuperRugby

Staff
Four coaches have been named for Los Jaguares. Raúl Pérez has been named as Head Coach. He comes from Rosario club Duendes, the club that produced Rugby World Cup 2015 Pumas Jerónimo De la Fuente and Juan Imhoff and won 20 caps for Los Pumas from 1992-1999.

His support staff are to include Felipe Contepomi (Newman) José Pellicena (La Plata) and Martín Gaitan (Estudiantes de Paraná).  Together the four are vastly experiences in differing ways which is designed to combine to produce a most competitive team possible.

Contepomi played in four Rugby World Cups for Argentina and was a Guinness Pro 12 and a European Heineken Cup champion with Leinster. He also played in the Aviva Premiership for Bristol and the Top 14 for Toulon and Stade Français.

Gaítan also played in France, for Biarritz from 2002-2007. He played in Rugby World Cup 2003 but was forced to retire just a month before Rugby World Cup 2007 after suffering a blocked artery in his heart. Thereafter he turned to coaching.

Captain
Los Pumas captain Agustín Creevy will take on the double role of also being the leader of the Super Rugby franchise. The hooker returns to Argentina from Europe where he played in England and France. A number of others are also returning ranging from the seasoned veterans of Juan Martín Hernández and Juan Manuel Leguizamón to the young Tomás Lavanini and Pablo Matera.

Roster
The roster has been known for quite some time. The most recent player to sign was Julían Montoya, Creevy’s deputy. In total there are 20 players under contract but the number will rise due to Martín Landajo currently being the only specialist scrumhalf. Also short on specialists is hooker with only two, though loosehead prop Lucas Noguera Paz can cover if required.

Position	Player	Argentine Club	Province
Hooker	Agustín Creevy	San Luis	Buenos Aires
Hooker	Julián Montoya	Newman	Buenos Aires
Loosehead Prop	Lucas Noguera Paz	Lince RC	Tucumán
Loosehead Prop	Santiago García Botta	Belgrano Athletic	Buenos Aires
Tighthead Prop	Ramiro Herrera	Hindú Club	Buenos Aires
Tighthead Prop	Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro	La Plata RC	Buenos Aires
Second-row	Matías Alemanno	La Tablada	Córdoba
Second-row	Juan Cruz Guillemaín	Universitario de San Juan	San Juan
Second-row	Tomás Lavanini	Hindú	Buenos Aires
Second-row	Guido Petti	SIC	Buenos Aires
Back-row	Rodrigo Báez	Liceo RC	Mendoza
Back-row	Facundo Isa	Santiago Lawn Tennis	Santiago del Estero
Back-row	Juan Manuel Leguizamón	Santiago Lawn Tennis	Santiago del Estero
Back-row	Pablo Matera	Asociación Alumni	Buenos Aires
Back-row	Javier Ortega Desio	Club Estudiantes de Paraná	Entre Rios
Back-row	Leonardo Senatore	Gimnasia y Esgrima	Rosario
Back-row	Tomás Lezana	Santiago Lawn Tennis	Santiago del Estero
Scrumhalf	Martín Landajo	CASI	Buenos Aires
Fly half	Santiago González Iglesias	Asociación Alumni	Buenos Aires
Fly half	Juan Martín Hernández	Deportiva Francesa	Buenos Aires
Fly half	Nicolás Sánchez	Tucumán Lawn Tennis	Tucumán
Center	Emiliano Boffelli	Duendes RC	Rosario
Center	Jerónimo De la Fuente	Duendes RC	Rosario
Center	Matías Moroni	CUBA	Buenos Aires
Center	Gabriel Ascárate	Natación y Gimnasia	Tucumán
Wing	Santiago Cordero	Regatas Bella Vista	Buenos Aires
Wing	Manuel Montero	Club Pucará	Buenos Aires
Wing	Matías Orlando	Huirapuca	Tucumán
Fullback	Ramiro Moyano	Lince RC	Tucumán
Fullback	Joaquín Tuculet	Los Tilos	Buenos Aires

Venue
All home matches will be played at Velez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires. The 50,000 capacity stadium has been heavily used by the UAR in the past with Los Pumas playing there many times. Super Rugby games will all be played on Saturday evening’s, kicking-off at 6pm local time.

Fixtures
Los Jaguares will play against the Cheetahs in an away match on the opening weekend of the competition. The Friday February 02 fixture will be followed by a second away match, against the Sharks on Saturday March 05.

The Argentine side will then return home to have a week off before playing host to the Chiefs and Stormers in rounds four and five. In April Los Jaguares will face New Zealand sides the Blues, Hurricanes and Crusaders all away before facing the Sunwolves in Japan.

Home matches against the Southern Kings and Sharks on April 29 and May 13 will be followed by away matches against the Lions and Southern Kings in South Africa in May. Finally, after a break for international rugby in June, Los Jaguares will play at home against the Bulls, Highlanders and Lions in July.