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Talking to Spanish site A La Contra Hugo Porta has slammed Los Jaguares, doing so at a time in which team team is struggling. After three rounds the Argentine side is winless in Super Rugby. Porta’s views are based on the entire project as an entity. In commenting on a variety of themes the World Rugby Hall of Famer says that Los Jaguares have no soul.
Porta notes the contrasting reality of today from his time as a Puma and also in the recent past.
“We played for the jersey. Two or three matches per year. Now I am not saying that they do not put their feelings into playing for Los Pumas, but they play ten matches a year and there is money involved. It is simple. For me those who play for Los Pumas ought to pay instead of charging because playing with the Pumas gives you a status as a player that doubles or triples your salary in European clubs. So they should pay and the money that is needed to pay them would be invested in the clubs, which are the real driving force of rugby in a country.”
The former Pumas fly half is not shocked at all to see Los Jaguares failing to be a force in Super Rugby.
“I am often asked about them (Jaguares) and I say that I am not surprised with what is going on with them. Los Jaguares are a product of professional rugby. They are neither a club nor a representative team. Los Jaguares do not have a soul. They are a group of players who play for money to be measred against others formed in a similar way.”
The outcome of the Jagaures experiment and the implications that they have brought for Los Pumas are not pleasing to Porta. A combination of factors have been pointed out by Porta with money being among the central problems at hand.
“It pains me to see how the Pumas, which are a brand in which you work for success and for growth, experience sizeable defeats. I like Hourcade as I feel that he has put together a team with the idea of playing from any part of the field, yet it is difficult to overlook the fact that toay they play for money.”
“At which point will a player risk his place in the test team and the money that this brings in by doing more than what you have signed for? What I do not buy into is the idea that we are going to beat New Zealand. Will I see it before I die? I hope so but it certainly does not seem to me now.”
