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Super Rugby is back! Los Jaguares will start their 2017 campaign on the sunny shores of Port Elizebeth, where they will face the Southern Kings at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday. It was a long, long season for the Argentines in their first year of Super Rugby but the players will be anxious to get back in the swing of things having had a few weeks off to recuperate following the stern welcoming in the UK.
Agustin Creevy leads a side bursting with talent despite the absence of several key players. Felipe Arregui slots straight into the tighthead spot after returning from a short spell with Edinburgh. Tomás Lezana runs out on the openside flank with veteran Leonardo Senatore given the role of no8 with Facundo Isa headed off to play for big bucks in France. Cristian Bartoloni should win his first Super Rugby cap as a second half repacement for Arregui.
An exciting halfback combination has been named with Gonzalo Bertranou getting the nod over Felipe Ezcurra and Hindu flyhalf Joaquín Díaz Bonilla ready to make his Super Rugby debut in place of the injured Nicolás Sánchez. Also worth noting is the selection of Matías Moroni at outside centre with Matías Orlando named on the wing. The two have been neck-and-neck for the no13 shirt since Marcelo Bosch signed off at the World Cup.
The all-out attacking style of the Jaguares will be countered by a measured Kings team. Former Toulouse prop Schalk Ferreira skippers the side with a solid front row and experienced halfbacks. Both Louis Schreuder and Lionel Cronje have tasted international rugby at u20 level. Schreuder has been in the Springboks training squad on a couple occasions but has never quite cracked the senior test side.
There are two fully capped players in the run-on side. Powerful midfielder Waylon Murray won all three of his caps as a 21-year-old in 2007, while Namibian international and former Exeter Chiefs fullback Chrysander Botha offers his game-breaking counter-attacking abilities. Ross Geldenhuys was a Super Rugby winner with the Highlanders in 2015. On the bench there is a second front row unit nearly as strong as the first.
It was a predictably difficult season for the Jaguares in their maiden voyage of 2016, but their 5th-place finish in the South African conference was still two spots higher than the Kings and their four wins doubled the success rate of the lowly Southerners. On paper this is a must-win game for Los Jaguares, even on the road. A loss against one of the weakest sides in the competition dare not be considered, even without the likes of Sánchez, Lavanini, and Landajo.
The Jaguares roasted the King in Buenos Aires last year to the tune of 73-27 but fell by 29-22 in Port Elizabeth just a week later. If they have any hope of earning a spot in the top third of the competition, these are the types of game they need to be winning.
SOUTHERN KINGS
1 Schalk Ferreira (capt,), 2 Michael Willemse, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 4 Irne Herbst, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 7 Stefan Willemse, 8 Ruaan Lerm, 9 Louis Schreuder, 10 Lionel Cronje, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 12 Waylon Murray, 13 Berton Klaasen, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 15 Chrysander Botha
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Chris Heiberg, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Masixole Banda, 23 Luzuko Vulindlu
JAGUARES
1 Lucas Noguera Paz, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 3 Felipe Arregui, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matías Alemanno, 6 Tomás Lezana, 7 Pablo Matera, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Santiago Cordero, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Matías Orlando, 15 Joaquín Tuculet
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Cristian Bartoloni, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Rodrigo Báez, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Ramiro Moyano
Date: Saturday, February 25
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
Kickoff: 17:15 local (10:15 Eastern, 12:15 Argentina)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistants: AJ Jacobs (SARU) & Rodney Boneparte (SARU)
TMO: Johan Greeff (SARU)
Broadcasts: ESPN 2
