A roster of 28 Jaguares will travel to Christchurch for the Super Rugby Final. The top two sides from the regular season will contest the 2019 Final on Saturday with the Argentine side making their first appearance on the biggest stage of Southern Hemisphere professional rugby.
Head Coach Gonzalo Quesada has named 16 forwards, and 12 backs for the trip from Buenos Aires to Christchurch. Among them are three notable selections.
The first of which is at flanker. With Juan Manuel Leguizamón back to fitness he has been given the nod over Francisco Gorrissen who has done extremely well as cover for Leguizamón in recent matches against the Sunwolves, Chiefs, and Brumbies.
Gorrissen’s line-out work was a particular high point for Los Jaguares, a notable fact given Leguizmón is not a specialist jumper. Now aged 36, Leguizamón is 12 years older than Gorrissen and the Super Rugby Final will be his last ever appearance for Los Jaguares.
A selection of the opposite variety has come in the second-row. Still deemed unfit to play rugby is Matías Alemanno. The 27 year-old veteran of 53 test matches has been left out of the squad with 21-year-old rookie Lucas Paulos preferred. This very selection would appear to now favor Paula’s over Alemanno for the Rugby Championship.
In the backs there is no place for Joaquin Tuculet. Quesada has instead gone for the much younger Juan Cruz Mallía, and rookie Santiago Carreras. The choice of leaving Tuculet out is of further note due to the availability of Ramiro Moyano who is traveling to Christchurch.
JAGUARES ROSTER
Forwards: Agustín Creevy, Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lavanini, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Tomás Lezana, Pablo Matera, Santiago Medrano, Julián Montoya, Javier Ortega Desio, Lucas Paulos, Guido Petti, Enrique Pieretto, Lucio Sordoni, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Mayco Vivas, Juan Pablo Zeiss
Backs: Emiliano Boffelli, Sebastián Cancelliere, Santiago Carreras, Tomás Cubelli, Jerónimo de la Fuente (capt.), Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Felipe Ezcurra, Juan Cruz Mallía, Domingo Miotti, Matías Moroni, Ramiro Moyano, Matías Orlando