Jaguares Power Past Brumbies To Reach Super Rugby Final

Los Jaguares will play in the 2019 Super Rugby Final. The Argentine franchise booked their place against the winner of the Crusaders vs Hurricanes as they powered past the Brumbies this evening. The 39-7 win was a dominant display with the Australian side unable to match Los Jaguares’ intensity.

Cheered on by a loud crowd, Los Jaguares would deliver one of their best performances of 2019. The tickets had all sold out, marking, in itself, a historical achievement for professional rugby in Argentina.

The match as a contest was all but over after the opening quarter. With 20 minutes gone Los Jaguares were ahead 20-0. Their massive early lead would ironically begin with a try from Tomás Cubelli, a former Brumbies player.

Cubelli would punish a Brumbies error in chasing through a loose ball and touching down. Fly half Joaquín Díaz Bonilla would convert from a tough angle before quickly adding two penalties.

The Leicester-bound Tomás Lavanini is a founding member of Los Jaguares. He would enjoy a tremendous performance, including scoring the second try. He would do so from close-range, finishing off hard work from the home pack.

The second twenty minutes of play provided further action though points would not result until the half time siren. With time up the Brumbies would score for the first, and only time. Doing so was hooker Folau Fainga’a. Christian Leali’ifano landed the conversion to make it a 20-7 half-time scoreline.

The Brumbies need to score first after the break yet would find the going tough. A loose pass would see Los Jaguares punishing them as Matías Moroni gathered before running 30 meters and linking with Matías Orlando who scored.

The 49th minute score would be the first of a second half double for Orlando. His second would also be against the run of play. This time he would do the running, and the finish to seal the result with 18 minutes left to play.

The Brumbies were out though would still continue searching for points. This high-risk tactic would not pay-off as replacement hooker Julián Montoya latched onto a mis-aimed chip-kick, passed off the deck for Emiliano Boffelli to run in and score.

 

SCORING

JAGUARES (39)
Try: Cubelli, Lavanini, Orlando (2), Boffelli
Conversion: Díaz Bonilla (4)
Penalty: Díaz Bonilla (2)

BRUMBIES (7)
Try: Fainga’a
Conversion: Leali’ifano

TEAMS

JAGUARES
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Agustín Creevy, 3 Santiago Medrano, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Tomás Lezana, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Matías Moroni, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (capt.), 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Emiliano Boffelli

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Francisco Gorrisen, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Ramiro Moyano

BRUMBIES
1 Scott Sio, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Rory Arnold, 5 Sam Carter, 6 Rob Valetini, 7 Tom Cusack, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey, 9 Joe Powell, 10 Christian Leali’ifano (capt.), 11 Toni Pulu, 12 Ira Simone, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 14 Henry Speight, 15 Tom Banks

Replacements: 16 Connal McInerney, 17 James Slipper, 18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Murray Douglas, 21 Jerome Brown, 22 Matt Lucas, 23 Tom Wright