Jaguares Make History at Auckland’s Eden Park

Los Jaguares have made history at Auckland’s Eden Park. The Argentine Super Rugby side claimed a 20-13 win over the Blues this morning. The victory marked the first time Los Jaguares have defeated a New Zealand side since they joined Super Rugby in 2016.

Played in appalling weather conditions, Los Jaguares overcame a half time deficit to control the second half and complete an important victory.

The match started well for the visitors. Hooker Agustin Creevy opened the scoring in the 13th minute, crossing from a set-piece rolling-maul. Ill-discipline from the Blues had seen Akira Ioane yellow carded and the Jaguares’ forwards turned it into a 5-0 lead.

Los Jaguares would fail to score again until the second half. At the other end of the field the Blues would have the better of play for the remainder of the opening half. Tries to Tumua Manu and Matt Duffie would be unconverted though a Stephen Perefota penalty provided the Blues with a 13-5 halftime lead.

Los Jaguares could have gone into the interval with additional points but turned down opportunities at goal to scrum. On several occasions Los Jaguares were on top and advancing but referee Paul Williams would limit his whistle-blowing to penalties.

In the second half Los Jaguares would cross for two tries and keep the Blues scoreless. Emiliano Boffelli and Tomás Lezana would each score a try, the former claiming his ninth for the season.

Boffelli’s score saw the left winger linking with Matías Orlando to catch the Blues defense off guard. Nicolás Sánchez missed the wide conversion attempt.

Mario Ledesma’s use of the bench aided Los Jaguares significantly. Gonzalo Bertanou was tremendous, distributing superbly. Julian Montoya impressed as did Tomás Lezana. The replacement flanker would score the match-defining try.

Sánchez’ early misses at goal would not matter as he converted Lezana’s score and then added a late penalty to ensure a cushion heading into the final minutes.

Winning in Auckland gives Los Jaguares four competition points. It also sees the team moving into second spot in the South African Super Rugby conference.

In what was the third of a four match tour of Oceania, Los Jaguares have a 3-0 record. Prior to facing the Blues they defeated both the Rebels in Melbourne and the Brumbies in Canberra.

Los Jaguares now travel south to Rotorua to face the Chiefs on Friday. The fixture will see further history being made as Canadian Tyler Ardron is set to go up against the first professional team from the Americas.

SCORING

BLUES
Try: T Manu, Duffie
penalty: Perofeta
Yellow Card: A Ioane

JAGUARES
Try: Creevy, Boffelli, Lezana
Conversion: Sánchez
Penalty: Sánchez

BLUES
15 Matt Duffie, 14 Jordan Hyland, 13 Orbyn Leger, 12 Rieko Ioane, 11 Tumua Manu, 10 Stephen Perofeta, 9 Jonathan Ruru, 8 Akira Ioane, 7 Kara Pryor, 6 Dalton Papalii, 5 Josh Goodhue, 4 Gerard Cowley-Tuioti, 3 Sione Mafileo, 2 James Parsons (capt.), 1 Pauliasi Manu

Replacements: 16 Leni Apisai, 17 Ross Wright, 18 Mike Tamoaieta, 19 Ben Nee-Nee, 20 Lyndon Dunshea, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Dan Kirkpatrick, 23 Terrence Hepetema

JAGUARES
15 Joaquin Tuculet (capt.), 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo De La Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Javier Ortega Desio, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Javier Manuel Díaz, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere