Sloppy Jaguares sink to third straight Super Rugby defeat

Los Jaguares slumped to a 13-8 home defeat to the Stormers this evening, to make it a third straight Super Rugby defeat for the newcomers to Super Rugby.

Both Los Jaguares and the visiting Stormers crossed for one try each but with Nicolás Sánchez having an off night with the boot and Kurt Coleman being on target it was the Cape Town Super Rugby franchise who came out on top.

A diabolical opening half from Los Jaguares saw the Stormers leading 13-3 over the Argentine side. The scoreline and general play saw the South African visitors outplaying a team featuring eleven starting players who were picked in the initial Pumas squad for Rugby World Cup 2015.

Without question the fixture was an off night for the hosts and was an embarrassment. The 13-3 deficit went well until the final stages before Los Jaguares finally turned possession into points with Rosario inside center Jerónimo de La Fuente going over for a late try.

As dire as Los Jaguares were the Stormers, nonetheless, were on their game. The Cape Town franchise well and truly out thought Los Jaguares, enabling Coleman to make it a third consecutive defeat for the Argentine Super Rugby franchise.

Coleman had started well, getting the Stormers on the board with an early penalty in just the 4th minute. Fourteen minutes later it was 6-0 as the Stormers had minimal problems against a Jaguares side well and truly appearing lost on the field.

Nicolás Sánchez hit back, getting Los Jaguares in the game shortly thereafter as the Stomrers were penalized for being offside. Sánchez was then yellow carded as the Argentine side continued to have significant disciplinary problems, as was the case in earlier matches.

Without Sánchez off for ten minute the Stormers went over for the game’s opening try, scored by Cheslin Kolbe. The fullback’s try involved him stepping past multiple would-be tacklers before touching down. With Coleman adding the extras the Stormers found themselves ten points clear.

With Sánchez back into the game the first choice Los Pumas fly half cancelled out the try with a clearance kick from a penalty making way for Los Jaguares’ only try of the game. Inside center Jerómi de La Fuente collected the kick to go over but with Sánchez’ kick off target the scoreline was 13-08 to the visitors.

The second half got underway with Los Jaguares controlling play and it would remain this way largely thought. Opportunities beaconed but were left to rue upon. On one occasion back-rower Tomás Lezana lost control of the ball, a costly incident given the final scoreline.

All coming the home side was the usually reliable goal kicking of fly half Sánchez. His 62nd minute miss was a routine opportunity which he has kicked thoughout his career.

A further Sánchez miss saw the Stormers holding on for an away win as Los Jaguares were simply out played by a visiting side with far less talent at their disposal than that of Raúl Pérez. This loss is sure to be one to seriously question the merits of the Rosario coach as the right person for the position.

Scorers
Jaguares
Try: de La Fuente
Penalty: Sánchez

Stormers
Try: Kolbe
Conversion: Coleman
Penalty: Coleman (2)

Jaguares
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Orlando, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Lucas González Amorosino, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavannini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Felipe Arregui, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 1 Santiago García Botta

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Roberto Tejerizo, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Santiago Cordero

Stormers
15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Johnny Kotze, 12 Juan de Jongh (capt.), 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe (capt.), 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jan de Klerk, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 23 Huw Jones