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In the penultimate round of Super Rugby season for Los Jaguares the Argentine franchise face the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday. A win will see the Pablo Matera captained side making history by qualifying for the play-off’s for the first time.
The Bulls are coached by former USA Eagles Head Coach John Mitchell. Despite coming off a 42-37 defeat against Japanese franchise, the Sunwolves in Singapore, Mitchell has named an unchanged side to take-on Los Jaguares.
Ledesma has made two changes from the side that defeated the Stormers 25-14. In the forwards the one change seres Matías Alemanno back into the starting line-up, replacing Tomás Lavanini. He joins the stand-out from last weekend, Guido Petti in locking the scrum.
The one alteration to the backs sees Matías Moroni earning his first start of the year. Moroni replaces Matías Orlando at outside center, a move which sees Orlando not starting for the first time all year.
On the bench Ledesma has made additional changes. Retuning from minor injuries are forwards Julián Montoya and Marcos Kremer. They replace Diego Fortuny and Juan Manuel respectively. Of the replacements backs Orlando trades places with Moroni while Joaquín Díaz Bonilla misses out with Ledesma instead naming Sebastián Cancelliere.
Los Jaguares are not only playing for a place in the play-off’s, they are also looking to finish in top spot of the African conference.
There have been four prior matches between the Bulls and Jaguares. The most recent was earlier this season with Los Jaguares claiming a 54-24 win in Buenos Aires. In their prior outings Los Jaguares won 29-11 in Buenos Aires in 2016 and the Bulls won 26-13 in Pretoria in 2017.
Los Jaguares enter the match as favorites. Their 7-match winning-streak has them on track to secure a place in the play-off’s. Securing the result will require a strong performance from the forwards.
BULLS
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Johnny Kotze, 11 Divan Rossouw, 10 Handre Pollard (capt.), 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Conraad van Vuuren, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Matthys Basson / Morne Smith, 19 Thembelani Bholi, 20 Nic de Jager, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Dries Swanepoel
JAGUARES
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Pablo matera (capt.), 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Santiago García Botta
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Javier Díaz, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Matías Orlando, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere
Date: Saturday July 07
Kick-Off: 3:05pm local (10:05 Argentina)
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Egon Seconds (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Jaco Kotze (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
