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In game three of Los Jaguares’ three-match tour of South Africa the Argentine side face the Sharks. The match will take place on Saturday in Durban and is to be a decisive match-up for both teams.
The Sharks have named a side with four changes for the round six fixture. They are on the wings and at flanker. Outwide Springboks Sbu Nkosi and Makazole Mapimpi return to start in place of Madosh Tambwe and Lwazi Mvovo. Tamable is a unique Super Rugby player in that he is from the Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was raised in Johannesburg.
The backline is packed with Springboks. In addition to the wingers the side will have Curwin Bosch at fly half; and a mid-field of Andre Esterhuizen and captain Lukhanyo Am.
The changes of flankers see James Venter and Tyler Paul starting ahead of Dylan Richardson and Henco Venter.
Los Jaguares have also made changes from last weekend. In the forwards Gonzalo Quesada has recalled Mayco Vivas to loose head, replacing Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro; and Marcos Kremer reverts to flanker in place of Francisco Gorrissen. This sees Matías Alemanno back into the side to start with Guido Petti in the second-row.
In the backs there is one different player, but other changes. Veteran Joaquín Tuculet will play his first game of Super Rugby in 2020. This sees Santiago Carreras moving to one wing and Emiliano Boffelli playing on the other. As such Sebastián Cancelliere will be on the bench, officially covering scrum-half.
Also on the bench will be Santiago Grondona. Game time will mrk his Super Rugby debut. He gets the opportunity ahead of Gorrissen and Bautista Pedemonte who made an impressive first appearance last Saturday from the bench against the Bulls.
There have been eight prior matches between Los Jaguares and the Sharks. The Sharks won the first four, winning 19–15 in Durban and 25-22 in Buenos Aires in 2016; and 18-13 and 33-25 in home-and-away matches in 2017. In 2018 Los Jaguares were 29-13 winners in Buenos Aires but lost 20-10 in Durban.
In 2019, Los Jaguares played superbly against the Sharks. They won 51-17 in Durban and 34-7 in Buenos Aires. The latter result saw the Argentine side clinching a home Quarter Final.
The Sharks are above Los Jaguares in the standings. This aught to suggest that the home side is favorite. However, this match could very easily go either way. ARN predicts Los Jaguares to achieve the win, doing so by 6 points.
TEAMS
SHARKS
1 Ox Nche, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 5 Hyron Andrews, 6 James Venter, 7 Tyler Paul, 8 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 9 Louis Schreuder, 10 Curwin Bosch, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 13 Lukhanyo Am (capt.), 14 Sbu Nkosi, 15 Aphelele Fassi
Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 John-Hubert Meyer, 19 Le Roux Roets, 20 Henco Venter, 21 Sanele Nohamba, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Madosh Tambwe
JAGUARES
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matías Alemanno, 6 Tomás Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (capt.), 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Santiago Carreras, 15 Joaquín Tuculet
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Sebastián Cancelliere, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Santiago Chocobares
Date: Saturday, March 07
Kick-Off: 3:05pm (local), 10:05am (Rio de la Plata)
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), Egon Seconds (South Africa)
TMO: Joey Klaaste-Salmans (South Africa)
