Jaguares on the verge of greatness
MATCH REPORT: The Jaguares have continued their red-hot charge to a historic home Super Rugby quarter-final in Buenos Aires with a 34-23 win over the Queensland Reds.
The Argentine franchise made it three wins from three against Australian opposition in 2019 with the five-tries-to-two victory on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium.
The Reds started brightly with Chris Feauai-Sautia scoring the match’s first try but had little answer to the visitors in the second half.
Santiago Carreras and Felipe Ezcurra crossed for tries in the opening term as the Jaguares took a 15-13 lead into the break.
Bryce Hegarty’s penalty in the opening minutes of the second half put the Reds back in front, but the Jaguares used their bench forwards – most with multiple Test caps for Argentina – to turn the screws on their less-experienced opponents.
All five reserve forwards were on the field with 30 minutes to play and Pumas pair Julian Montoya and Marcos Kremer both scored to open up a 29-16 lead.
Reds wing Jock Campbell’s try with three minutes to play gave the home team hope of an unlikely comeback.
With the clock ticking down, Samu Kerevi appeared poised to deliver something special but his pass to wing Filipo Daugunu was intercepted by Carreras, who sprinted 80m to seal the win.
The bonus-point victory keeps the Jaguares on top of the South African conference and means they end their tour of New Zealand and Australia with three wins from four matches.
They head back to Buenos Aires next week to host the Sharks. The Reds, whose finals hopes are already over, welcome the Blues to Brisbane.
As it happened: Reds v Jaguares
Man of the match: The Jaguares were phenomenal and one player that will certainly remember this match is double try-scoring Santiago Carreras, who certainly deserve our man of the match,
The scorers:
For Reds:
Tries: Feauai-Sautia, Campbell
Cons: Hegarty
Pens: Hegarty 3
For Jaguares:
Tries: Carreras 2, Ezcurra, Montoya, Kremer
Cons: Diaz Bonilla 3
Pen: Diaz Bonilla
Teams:
Reds: 15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Jock Campbell, 13 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 12 Samu Kerevi (captain), 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Matt McGahan , 9 Tate McDermott, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Liam Wright, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Angus Blyth, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 JP Smith
Replacements: 16 Alex Mafi, 17 Ruan Smith, 18 Gav Luka, 19 Harry Hockings, 20 Adam Korczyk, 21 Scott Malolua, 22 Duncan Paia’aua, 23 Hamish Stewart
Jaguares: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando (captain), 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Guido Petti, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Lucas Paulos, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon , 21 Pablo Matera, 22 Tomas Cubelli, 23 Jeronimo De La Fuente.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Egon Seconds (South Africa), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: James Leckie (Australia)
