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2020 is over for Los Jaguares. Will the team continue in Super Rugby? If so, when? The answer to these and many other questions are not yet clear. What is official is that the UAR is exploring possible avenues for Los Jaguares in 2021.
In the mean time Jaguares employees are encouraged to explore their options. In what was a hectic week for the team, players were encouraged to take up offers from abroad and Gonzalo Quesada departed to return to France.
Two fringe players under Quesada have also departed. The first to do so was Bautista Ezcurra. The inside center signed a contract to play Major League Rugby (MLR) for Atlanta in 2021. It came after he had gone from the back-up inside center under Mario Ledesma in 2018 to being behind others in the Quesada regime.
One name to move above Ezcurra is Lucas Mensa. Ledesma liked what he saw from the mid-fielder for the Argentina XV. This saw him selecting him for Los Pumas in 2019 where he played two test matches despite having no Super Rugby experience. In 2020 he captained Los Ceibos in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). Mensa is no longer a Ceibo. Instead, the 24-year-old has signed a two-year-deal with Valence Romans to play in the French Pro D2.
There are eight UAR players whose contracts will officially end this year. They are forwards Matías Alemanno, Ignacio Calas and Francisco Gorrissen; and backs Santiago Chocobares, Jerónimo de la Fuente, Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Matías Moroni and Matías Orlando.
The future is now unknown beyond December 31 for all of these players. de la Fuente’s name has been rumored to a move to France. He himself, noted on Sunday that the players had been encouraged to sign with foreign clubs. Orlando noted that he would like to continue his career abroad.
The contracts of 17 other Jaguares will expire in December 2021. They are forwards Agustín Creevy, Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lezana, Julián Montoya, Guido Petti, Joel Sclavi, Santiago Socino, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Juan Pablo Zeiss; and backs Gonzalo Bertranou, Emiliano Boffelli, Sebastián Cancelliere, Tomás Cubelli, Bautista Delguy, Felipe Ezcurra, Juan Cruz Mallía and Joaquín Tuculet.
Despite having an additional year on their contracts this need not mean that they are in a notably different situation. Senior staff at the UAR have emphasized that changes for the 2021 Super Rugby season mean that the format will be entirely different with Los Jaguares absence from the competition all but confirmed.
The redesigned SANZAR competition for 2021 is expected to be a conference model with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa each playing in separate competitions. Inter-conference matches are therefore being structured as play-off’s. If Los Jaguares were to play it would be entirely in South Africa. This would entail a tremendous financial loss which means such a possibility is virtually nil.
Seven further players are contracted until 2022. They are forwards Rodrigo Bruni, Javier Díaz, Santiago Grondona, Javier Ortega Desio, Lucas Paulos and Lucio Sordoni; and fly half Domingo Miotti. While in 2023 forwards Santiago Medrano, Juan Bautista Pedemonte and Mayco Vivas; and backs Mateo Carreras and Santiago Carreras are under contract until after RWC 2023.
All players wanting to remain at Jaguares must now renegotiate their contracts with the UAR. The option of playing abroad is more secure. This has contributed to speculation over player movement and there are a number of transfer rumors.
A move to England has been speculated for Julián Montoya. The hooker has been linked to bot Gloucester and the Leicester Tigers. The latter has also been interested in second-rower Matías Alemanno. The club had talks with the player earlier this year. Such a move would see him re-forming his partnership with Tomás Lavanini.
Quesada may not be the only Jaguar en route to Stade Français. Rumored to be joining the team is Guido Petti. The second-rower has been linked to the club and should it be confirmed then he would join not only Quesada but also Pablo Matera and Nicolás Sánchez.
Stade Français’ Parisian rivals, Racing 92 have been rumored to be interested in Jaguares too. More than one name has been rumored, with the most likely of them being fullback Emiliano Boffelli. Such a move would see him joining fellow Rosario and Duendes player Juan Imhoff at the club.
Another of Los Jaguares’ leading names, Marcos Kremer has been linked to France. The flanker has been connected to a potential move to La Rochelle. The club has former Jaguares’ front-rowers Facundo Bosch and Ramiro Herrera on its roster.
