Match Preview – Bulls vs Jaguares

The Bulls play host to Los Jaguares in a Super Rugby match on Saturday. The 8th round fixture sees teams from the two Africa conference going head-to-head. Both sides are third in their respective groups, though Los Jaguares have 19 competition points compared the the Bulls’ 6.

Having struggled so far this season the Bulls welcome back Springboks Handré Pollard and Jesse Kriel. Both are back straight into the starting lineup, playing fly half and fullback respectively. Their inclusion sees Tian Schoeman and Warrick Gelant dropping to the bench.

Head Coach Nollis Marais also has Lood de Jager available again. The giant second-rower returns to replace Jason Jenkins, who had started in last weekend’s loss against the Sunwolves in Tokyo. In the front-row Pierre Schoeman earns his 4th start this season at Loose Head prop, replacing Lizo Gqoboka.

The remaining change sees a fourth Springbok returning. Piet van Zyl replaces another Springboks scrum-half. This sees Rudy Paige playing this week off the bench.

Los Jaguares Head Coach has also made five changes. As expected Guido Petti is back, starting together with Marcos Kremer in the second-row. This has combined with Matías Alemanno returning to Argentina to have his shoulder injury evaluated.

Petti is one of two changes to the pack. The remaining alteration sees Tomás Lezana rested this weekend. Having been one of, if not, the best Jaguares this season he will feature as a replacement. The rotation sees Rodrigo Báez starting at flanker.

Of the three changes in the back line it is fly half which is the most notable. Earning his first start in a year for Los Jaguares is Santiago González Iglesias. He takes over from Nicolás Sánchez who drops to the bench. The selection is a combination of rotation and tactics. The defensive excellence of González Iglesias is well suited to the style of the Bulls.

González Iglesias will play with the same scrum half, fullback and centers that faced the Sharks. He will ,however, have two different wingers. Back into the side is regular first choice flier Santiago Cordero. Puma in-waiting, Emiliano Boffelli will also starting, doing so for the first time since his serious knee injury from 2016.

Saturday’s match is to be the second between the teams. The previous fixture took place in round 15 of the 2916 Super Rugby season. On that occasion Los Jaguares ran-out 29-11 winners in Buenos Aires. Agustín Creevy scored two tries and Pablo Matera one. Both are to start in Pretoria this weekend.

Overall the match is to be the 14th in which Los Jaguares face a South African opponent. The Argentine franchise enters the match with a 7-7 record. Playing in South Africa Los Jaguares have won 2 and lost 5 matches. Adding to this against the Bulls will require a significantly organized effort. The return of key players give the Bulls the favorites tag.

TEAMS
BULLS
15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Nick de Jager, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: 16 Jaco Visagie, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Marnus Schoeman, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Warrick Gelant

JAGUARES
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Santiago González Iglesias, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Rodrigo Báez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Marcos Kremer, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Lucas Noguera Paz

Replacements: 16 Roberto Tejerizo, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Benjamín Macome, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Ramiro Moyano

Date: Saturday, April 15
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 7:30pm local (2:30pm Argentina)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistants: Angus Gardner (Australia), Egon Seconds (South Africa)
TMO: Willie Vos (South Africa)