Sharks take down Jaguares at Vélez Sarsfield

Los Jaguares fell to the Sharks this afternoon. The 33-25 defeat sees the South Africans collecting four competition points and denying the Argentine side a bonus point.

The loss featured a notable fall-off in performance from last weekend against the Lions. It also saw the Argentine side unable to gather the same momentum. Pressure from the Sharks and Jaguares errors saw the home side crashing to a fourth straight defeat.

As was the case against the Bulls two rounds ago, Los Jaguares got themselves off to the poorest of starts possible. An early Sharks’ try had Los Jaguares 7-0 down in the opening minute. Philip van der Walt’s score was the latest instance of a weak start catching the South Americans off-guard.

Raúl Pérez’ men got themselves on the scoreboard in response. Fly half Nicolás Sánchez landed his first of two opening half penalties. In between hand Curwin Bosch landed a penalty for the Sharks.

The home side came close to scoring through Ramiro Moyano. The right winger made a sublime break from inside his own half, snipping through five would-be defenders. The 25th minute play ended with the Sharks penalized and scrum half Michael Claasens yellow carded.

The one-man advantage would see Los Jaguares scoring their opening try. It came from fullback Joaquin Tuculet. He entered the backline to provide support for the centers. A final pass from winger Bautista Ezcurra put Tuculet over in the right corner.

The 26th minute score would be followed by a second. In the 33rd minute Matías Orlando combined with center partner Jerónimo de la Fuente to score under the posts. Sánchez added the conversion to give Los Jaguares a 20-13 lead.

Rather than kick-on to build a lead the South Americans let themselves down. Sloppy defense paid the price with Rhyno Smith embarrassing Pérez’ arrangement. Ultimately second-rower Etienne Oosthuizen would go over for the try.

The converted try leveled the scores. Sánchez failed to take a late penalty opportunity which meant the teams were locked into a 20-20 scoreline at the interval.

Contrasting approaches in the second half saw the Sharks sealing the result. While the South Africans were calm and playing the basics impressively, Los Jaguares were erratic and unsettled. Defensively the Sharks were able to shut down Los Jaguares’ maul and overpower the scrum.

Loose Head prop Thomas du Toit was highly impressive, out first choice Pumas Tight Head prop, Ramiro Herrera. du Toit’s 51st minute try would be the Sharks’ third and final score of the match. Bosch would add the conversion and a penalty minutes later to put the Sharks in control.

The 30-20 deficit would be downsized. Winger Bautista Ezcurra combined with Tuculet to score in the left corner. The try came from a piece of Tuculet flair in which the fullback gathered an up-and-under and broke clear, feeding the fly half come winger.

The score brought the Sharks to their senses. Determined to come away with the win the Durban-based franchise went eight points clear though Bosch. His fourth penalty for the match would deny Los Jaguares a bonus point. Missed kicks at goal from Sánchez and Juan Martín Hernández proved costly.

The Argentine side must rapidly pick up the pieces. They have another home match next Saturday. Their opponents are to be the Sunwolves. Los Jaguares’ poor tour to New Zealand in 2016 culminated with a loss in Tokyo against the Sunwolves. In order to win Pérez will require a far sharper performance. Fit-again players including Martín Landajo, Tomás Lavanini and Manuel Montero are expected to return.

SCORING

JAGUARES 25
Tries – J. Tuculet (26′), M. Orlando (33′), B. Ezcurra (64′)
Cons – N. Sanchez 2 (27′, 34′)
Pens – N. Sanchez 2 (10′, 22′)

SHARKS 33
Tries – P. van der Walt (1′), E. Oosthuizen (36′), T. du Toit (51′)
Cons – C. Bosch 3 (2′, 37′, 52′)
Pens – C. Bosch 4 (18′, 24′, 60′, 73′)
Yellow cards – M. Claassens (20′)

TEAMS

JAGUARES
1 Lucas Noguera Paz, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 3 Ramiro Herrera, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Rodrigo Báez, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Bautista Ezcurra, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 15 Joaquín Tuculet

Replacements: 16 Roberto Tejerizo, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Ignacio Larrague, 20 Benjamín Macome, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Juan Martín Hernández, 23 Matías Moroni

SHARKS
1 Thomas du Toit, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 4 Ruan Botha, 5 Stephan Lewies, 6 Philip van der Walt (capt.), 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 8 Daniel du Preez, 9 Michael Claassens, 10 Curwin Bosch, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 12 Jeremy Ward, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 Odwa Ngundane, 15 Rhyno Smith

Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Etienne Oosthuizen, 20 Tera Mtembu, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Johan Deysel

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistants: Jaco van Heerden (SARU) & Damián Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Santiago Borsani (UAR)
Attendance: 9,458