Why Matera replaced Creevy
Ledesma, who takes over from Raúl Pérez as head coach of the franchise, has also replaced Argentinean legend Agustin Creevy as captain.
Loose forward Pablo Matera has been entrusted with the captaincy of the embattled outfit – which has a winning rate of just 37 percent in its first two years of Super Rugby.
Fernando Rizzi, who serves as secretary of the Argentine Rugby Union and is also a member of the board of Jaguars, explained the importance of the captain.
"A captain encompasses many things,"Rizzi said.
"It is not a mere reward for a person," he said, adding: "To be, or to appoint a captain, as in this case, has to do with granting a great responsibility to a person who has demonstrated, over time, that his leadership has been built and solidified with his actions – on the field and at practice – through his positive attitude, his general commitment to the game and to the franchise.
"Pablo plays a very important role [in the team], despite being very young, and has everything to become a great leader.
"He has all the characteristics that suggests he will impact in the best way possible on his teammates."
* Meanwhile the Jaguars beat an Argentina XV 31-12 in their first pre-season outing in Buenos Aires at the weekend.
Ledesma's charges will depart to Cape Town on Tuesday, February 6, for their opening match of the season – against the Stormers on February 17.
The scorers:
For the Jaguares:
Tries:Delguy 2, Montoya, Fortuny, Álvarez
Cons: Sánchez, Bonilla
For Argentina XV:
Tries:Montagner, Bruni
Con: Granella
Teams:
Jaguares: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Santiago Álvarez, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (captain), 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Benjamín Macome, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Felipe Arregui.
Replacements – from: Santiago García Botta, Nicolás Leiva, Diego Fortuny, Guido Petti, Tomás Lavanini, Javier Ortega Desio, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Tomás Lezana, Felipe Ezcurra, Martín Landajo, Juan Martín Hernández, Joaquín Diaz Bonilla, Matías Orlando, Santiago González Iglesias, Joaquín Tuculet.
Argentina XV: 15 Gastón Arias, 14 Germán Schulz, 13 Juan Cruz Mallía, 12 Juan Cappiello, 11 Rodrigo Etchart, 10 Juan Cruz González, 9 Luca Magnasco, 8 Santiago Montagner, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (captain), 6 Tomás de la Vega, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 4 Jerónimo Ureta, 3 Benjamín Espinal, 2 Axel Zapata, 1 Francisco Ferronato.
Replacements – from: Díaz, Baldunciel, Favre, Molina, Galetto, Romanini, Bruni, Portillo, Nogueira, Granella, Domínguez, Mensa, Resino, Malanos, Medrano, Gorrisen, Sbrocco, Elías y Videla.
