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The 2018 Super Rugby season is to be the third involving Los Jaguares. The Argentine franchise will make their debut in just under one month’s time. First up is an away match against the Stormers on February 17.
The team is no longer the new kid on the block. But what about the personal. Looking back to the 2016 Jaguares where are they now?
Still Active
Of the 2018 roster there are 26 players who were also Jaguares in 2016. These players cover every position and are realistically to be seen frequently this season. The players are shown in the following table.
| PLAYER | POSITION |
| Felipe Arregui | Loose Head |
| Santiago García Botta | Loose Head |
| Agustín Creevy | Hooker |
| Julián Montoya | Hooker |
| Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro | Tight Head |
| Matías Alemanno | Second-row |
| Marcos Kremer | Second-row |
| Tomás Lavanini | Second-row |
| Guido Petti | Second-row |
| Tomás Lezana | Flanker |
| Pablo Matera | Flanker |
| Javier Ortega Desio | Flanker |
| Juan Manuel Leguizamón | No 8 |
| Leonardo Senatore | No 8 |
| Gonzalo Bertranou | Scrum Half |
| Felipe Ezcurra | Scrum Half |
| Martín Landajo | Scrum Half |
| Santiago González Iglesias | Fly Half |
| Juan Martín Hernández | Fly Half |
| Nicolás Sánchez | Fly Half |
| Jerónimo de la Fuente | Inside Center |
| Matías Moroni | Outside Center |
| Matías Orlando | Outside Center |
| Emiliano Boffelli | Wing |
| Ramiro Moyano | Wing |
| Joaquín Tuculet | Fullback |
Former Jaguares
Impacts have been varied per position. As shown above scrum halves and fly halves remain the same in 2018 as in 2016. Other positions see much alteration in the roster with prop and wing having been hit the hardest.
Overall a total of 16 players from the 2016 Jaguares are not involved in 2018. Their absences represent a one or two or, in some instances, a combination of (a) moving to play in Europe and (b) a changing in the hierarchy.
Included among these players is Gabriel Ascárate who was in the roster and trained yet did not achieve game time. All of the others played in 2016 and most also in 2017.
The following table indicated where these players are now officially playing. Those listed as unattached are possibilities to join the Argentine list of players playing their rugby abroad. In some instances players are actively being sought to play in Europe.
| PLAYER | POS | CLUB | UNION |
| Facundo Gigena | LH | Leicester Tigers | England |
| Lucas Noguera Paz | LH | Bath | England |
| Roberto Tejerizo | LH | Unattached | |
| Facundo Bosch | HK | Agen | France |
| Cristian Bartoloni | TH | Charante | France |
| Ramiro Herrera | TH | Stade Français | France |
| Juan Cruz Guillemain | LO | Unattached | |
| Ignacio Larrague | LO | Argentina XV | Argentina |
| Rodrigo Báez | FL | Unattached | |
| Facundo Isa | No 8 | Toulon | France |
| Joaquín Paz | CE | Calvisano | Italy |
| Santiago Cordero | WI | Unattached | |
| Lucas González Amorosino | WI | Pucará | URBA |
| Manuel Montero | WI | Pucará | URBA |
| Segundo Tuculet | FB | Narbonne | France |
In 2017 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Bautista Ezcurra, Nicolás Freitas (Uruguay), Benjamín Macome and Santiago Portillo were the new additions. Freitas and Portillo received no game time and neither are involved for the 2018 campaign. Macome is the one, and thus far only, example of a player returning from Europe since Los Jaguares first played Super Rugby.
For 2018 Santiago Álvarez, Franco Brarda, Rodrigo Bruni, Sebastián Cancelliere, Tomás Cubelli, Bautista Delguy, Javier Díaz, Diego Fortuny, Nicolás Leiva, Santiago Montagner and Juan Pablo Zeiss are the new additions. Álvarez trained in 2017 without playing. He is expected to play this year. Cubelli is to play from April. He is back after two years in Australia.
