VIDEO: Jaguares overcome card and Brumbies
SUPER RUGBY REPORT: The Jaguares survived a yellow card and several late Brumbies onslaughts to win 20-15 in Buenos Aires and complete a Super Rugby hat-trick.
A deserved, hard-earned Round 11 success at Estadio Jose Amalfitani came after they defeated the Bulls and the Sharks on a tour of South Africa.
The victory lifted the Argentine outfit five places to sixth in the combined standings of the Southern Hemisphere championship and to third in the South African conference.
The Australians also came into the match on the back of two victories over South African opposition, the Lions and the Stormers.
They were in with a chance of winning right to the end of a match that contrasted sharply with the last between them in Buenos Aires – a 39-15 triumph for the Brumbies two years ago.
It was a tense affair in perfect conditions for rugby with never more than seven points between two evenly matched sides.
The Jaguares turned around a seven-point deficit midway through the opening half to lead 17-15 at half-time.
There was only one addition to the score in the second half, a penalty slotted by Argentine flyhalf Domingo Miotti on 62 minutes.
The Canberra outfit must have fancied their chances when the hosts were temporarily reduced to 14 men with the sin-binning of loose forward Marcos Kremer after 66 minutes.
Several times the visitors forced line-outs five metres from the Jaguares’ tryline, but they could not force their way over.
Defeat keeps the Brumbies 12th overall and third in the Australian conference, four points behind the pacesetting Melbourne Rebels.
Both teams were guilty of handling errors at crucial moments, with the Argentines the slightly more frequent offenders.
But the home side was less prone to mistakes in the crucial closing stages, defending heroically to thwart the Brumbies.
“This was a wonderful performance by all our players – the starting 15 and the replacements who came on in the second half,” said Jaguares skipper Jeronimo de la Fuente.
“I believe we deserved the victory, particularly because of our bravery in defence when reduced to 14 men for 10 minutes in the closing stages.”
Brumbies captain Christian Lealiifano admitted the game was there to be won and said his men must improve for the final six games of the season if they want to play finals.
“The Jaguares put us under a lot of pressure today. They were very physical. We had our opportunities there but just didn’t capitalise,” he said.
“We just have to be better in our attack shape, we had some opportunities, we just weren’t in position early enough to be able to execute.
“We’ve just got to keep getting better, this is a tough competition. I’m proud of the effort but we’ll need to regroup.”
The Brumbies flew out of the blocks in Argentina but it was one of their former players who set up the opening try against the run of play.
Jaguares scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli broke the line and kicked through for winger Sebastian Cancelliere to score on three minutes.
The Brumbies hit straight back with a line-out trick play as hooker Folau Fainga’a went down the blindside and crossed for his seventh try of the season.
The visitors took the lead when scrumhalf Matt Lucas, who made the most of his first start this season, hit Tom Banks on the perfect line and the fullback went through untouched to score a five-pointer.
The Jaguares drew level in controversial fashion when Matias Orlando appeared to be tackled by Pete Samu but kept scampering to the line to score.
It was sent upstairs but given the green light on the half hour and the Jaguares took a 17-15 lead into the break.
It was an arm wrestle in the second 40 minutes and the Jaguares extended their lead with a 61st-minute penalty.
Jaguares flank Marcos Kremer was yellow carded for a professional foul in the 65th minute but the Brumbies couldn’t make the most of the man advantage and turn pressure into points.
It was a frustrating finish for the Brumbies as several errors robbed them any chance of victory, but the home side also appeared to simply want the win more.
The scorers:
For the Jaguares:
Tries: Cancelliere, Orlando, Creevy
Con: Miotti
Pen: Miotti
For the Brumbies:
Tries: Fainga’a, Banks
Con: Lealiifano
Pen: Lealiifano
Yellow card: Marcos Kremer (Jaguares, 65)
Teams:
Jaguares: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente (captain), 11 Santiago Carreras, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Tomas Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizaval, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Enrique Pieretto Heilan, 19 Rodrigo Bruni, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia.
Brumbies: 15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Tom Wright, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Matt Lucas, 8 Pate Samu, 7 Tom Cusack, 6 Jahrome Brown, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Connal Mcinerney, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Murray Douglas, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Irae Simone, 23 Andy Muirhead.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: AJ Jacobs (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Santiago Borsani (Argentina)
Sources: AFP & AAP
