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The Super Rugby 2018 season continues for Los Jaguares. On Sunday the Argentine franchise play their second match of their four-match tour to Oceania. They are up against the Brumbies, Australia’s capital city side.
Brumbies Head Coach Dan McKellar has awarded a 100th cap to Henry Speight. The Australian international is back in the side after recovering from injury. The winger from Fiji is one of four changes made from last week by McKellar.
Back in the team to lock the scrum is Sam Carter. He is to captain the Brumbies this weekend, doing so in place of mid-fielder Christian Leali’ifano who has been rested.
Also starting against Los Jaguares will be Joe Powell at scrum-half and and Kyle Godwin at inside center. They replace Matt Lucas and Leali’ifano respectively.
McKellar has also gone for alterations among his replacements. There are to be debuts for Mees Erasmus and Darcy Swain who are covering prop and second-row from the bench. Meanwhile Jordan Jackson-Hope has a first opportunity for match time in 2018.
Mario Ledesma has also made changes. He has gone for three from the side that defeated the Melbourne Rebels last Saturday. Up front Agustín Creevy returns at hooker in place of Julián Montoya. The remaining seven forwards positions are unchanged.
In the backs Martín Landajo’s return to scrum-half has lasted just the one match. He makes way for Gonzalo Bertranou to return. The Mendoza scrum-half has started all matches in 2018 aside from that against the Rebels.
Vice-captain Joaquín Tuculet returns to fullback which sees Emiliano Boffelli moving to the left wing and Sebastián Cancelliere dropping out of the 23 altogether. Bautista Delguy gets the nod as the teams replacement outside back.
The match is to be the first between the Brumbies and Jaguares in Australia. The teams have met on one prior occasion with the Brumbies winning 39-17 in Buenos Aires in 2017.
The Brumbies have notable players in their side. Among them are Wallabies Scott Sio, Rory Arnold and David Pocock. Despite the win from last weekend the Jaguares are the underdogs. The Brumbies enter the match as favorites with history on their side and superior consistency.
In order for Los Jaguares to claim a victory they will need a far better start than was the case in Melbourne. They will also need to nullify the presence of David Pocock at the breakdown and also shutdown the dangerous runners, notably Tevita Kuridrani and Henry Speight.
Pablo Matera’s side have a tough assignment. For them to realistically have a shot at the post season they need to come out on top in Canberra.
BRUMBIES
15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kyle Godwin, 11 Chance Peni, 10 Wharenui Hawera, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Isi Naisarani, 7 David Pocock, 6 Tom Cusack, 5 Sam Carter (capt.), 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Robbie Abel, 17 Nick Mayhew, 18 Mees Erasmus, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Michael Oakman-Hunt, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 23 Andrew Smith
JAGUARES
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Saniago García Botta
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Javier Díaz, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Bautista Delguy
Date: Sunday April 22
Venue: Canberra Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 4:05pm local (3:05am Argentina)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia), William Houston (Australia)
TMO: Ian Smith (Australia)
