Late error costs Jaguares win over Chiefs

A late error was decisive, costing Los Jaguares a home win this evening over the Chiefs. Having held a six point lead with two minutes remaining a charged down from a Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias clearance saw the Chiefs given a 5 meter scrum from which they would score to win the match.

The blow came from replacement Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi. His score would be converted by fullback Damian McKenzie and with it the Chiefs claimed a 30-27 victory. It came on the back of a dominant first half from the New Zealanders though a second half in which they were out performed.

For Los Jaguares the match was sandwiched in between two tours to South Africa. The team arrived back to have a bye round before today’s game while they are now set to travel again to face the Bulls, and Sharks in the upcoming two rounds.

Thoughts on the tour will be about revenge, but also about clear improvement. So poor were Los Jaguares in the opening half that they appeared to be out of the game at half time.

It did, however, start well with Joaquín Díaz Bonilla landing two early penalties. The Chiefs managed one with Damian McKenzie making it a 6-3 scoreline after fifteen minutes of play.

The lead did not provide an accurate account of play as the Chiefs had looked like scoring tries while Los Jaguares were guilty of committing repeated unforced errors. It would catch up with the home side as Damian McKenzie would stroll over between Jerónimo de la Fuente, and Emiliano Boffelli for the opening try.

The fullback would also be involved in the second try. While his own score was a result of catching out the defense the second was about pure luck. An attacking kick rebounded off the posts which enabled center Tumua Manu to score from the reflection.

While Los Jaguares were flat, and non-competitive in the opening half this would not be repeated in the second 40 minutes of play. Gonzalo Quesada managed to fire-up his team and they came out looking like an altogether different team.

Changes included that of Pumas captain Pablo Matera entering the game early. With the Chiefs being in form control of the breakdown Matera was brought on early to give scrum-half Tomás Cubelli much needed support from the base of the ruck.

Matera would cross for a try, leaping in delight following the score. It was the second from Los Jaguars, following that from fullback Joaquín Tuculet. Both players were among the leading performers for the home side today.

When a third try came it looked like the win has been sealed. The try was scored by replacement center Matías Orlando who latched on to a rebound from an up-and-under from replacement fly half Santiago González Iglesias.

The try would be converted y González Iglesias to give Los Jaguares a 27-23 lead. Yet the veteran Jaguar and Puma would go from hero to zero as his inability to clear on time saw his defensive kick charged down in-goal. The Chiefs capitalized on the error to claim a late win in Buenos Aires.

The players will now pack their bags for their second tour to South Africa. The roster for the two-match tour may yet have surprises with Quesada needing to find the winning formula.

 

SCORERS

JAGUARES
Try: Tuculet, Matera, Orlando
Conversion: Díaz Bonilla (2), González Iglesias
Penalty: Díaz Bonilla (2)
Yellow Card; Matera

CHIEFS
Try: D McKenzie, Manu, Tahuriorangi
Conversion: McKenzie (3)
Penalty: D McKenzie (4)

 

TEAMS

JAGUARES
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Santiago Medrano, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Tomás Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (capt.), 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 15 Joaquín Tuculet

Replacements: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Pablo Matera, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Matías Orlando

CHIEFS
1 Aidan Ross, 2 Nathan Harris, 3 Nepo Laulala, 4 Michael Allardice (capt.), 5 Mitchell Brown, 6 Luke Jacobson, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 8 Tyler Ardron, 9 Brad Weber, 10 Marty McKenzie, 11 Solomon Alaimalo, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 13 Tumua Manu, 14 Sean Wainui, 15 Damian McKenzie

Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tevita Mafileo, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Jesse Parete, 20 Taleni Seu, 21 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, 22 Alex Nankivell, 23 Etene Nanai-Seturo