The Jaguares beat the Reds 22-8 at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires and claimed their first victory over the Queenslanders.
The Jaguares took a 15-3 halftime lead through Jerónimo de la Fuente and Ramiro Moyano after the Reds had Eli Nabuli and Kane Douglas, sent to the sin-bin in quick succession, inside 20 minutes.
De la Fuente got his brace soon after the restart, to extend the home side’s lead to 19.
Scott Higginbotham scored on the hour but that was all the Australians could muster in Argentina.
The opening exchanges were a battle as both teams tried to find a way past some stubborn defence.
De la Fuente, finally, broke the deadlock but only after the Reds lost Nabuli to the sin bin.
Leonardo Senatore started the move from a pick up at the back of the scrum before he sent the final pass to the inside centre who, on the angled run, could not be stopped by Duncan Paia’aua.
The man with the best name in rugby collected a pass from his No 8 and scored from close range.
Soon Douglas found himself sitting next to Nabuli for an offside call that was deemed cynical.
Juan Martín Hernández added the conversion and the home team led 7-0. The Jaguares won a line-out and Moyano’s break set up another five-pointer.
The Jaguares sent the ball wide. Moyano stepped left, beating Paia’aua and then three forwards. First, Markus Vanzati and Higginbotham, then Izack Rodda.
The 26-year-old cut back onto his left foot and turned on the afterburners, beating Izaia Perese’s cover tackle to score a stunning 60-metre try.
The home team had capitalised on the two-man advantage; 12-0.
Jake McIntyre and Hernandéz traded penalties late in the half, to reduce the score to only 12 points at the break.
Both coaches emptied their benches early, looking for fresh legs and, impetuous.
The game was still tight but, another converted try, essentially, killed the game for the visitors.
The Jaguares mauled a line-out from close to the Reds’ goal line and after some patience, De la Fuente sped through a gap for his second of the game.
The 26-year-old collected Gonzalo Bertranou’s pass after Agustín Creevy peeled away from a loose maul.
He saw the gap and raced between McIntyre and Adam Korczyk to score under the sticks.
Hernandéz kicked his second conversion to put the Argentinians 22-3 to the good with half an hour to play.
The Reds did, eventually, get over the whitewash.
They secured a lineout and after Chris Kuridrani was held up short, they continued forward until Higginbotham used his reach to stretch and score after receiving Karmichael Hunt’s short pass.
The No 8 charged over Joaquín Tuculet in the corner for the score.
McIntyre’s conversion fell short but the Reds had a hope of a comeback.
Bautista Ezcurra was then sent to the bin but the Queenslanders could not make their numerical advantage count, going down by 15 points in the capital.
Final score is Jaguares 22 (15) Reds 8 (3)
Scorers
Jaguares
Tries – De la Fuente (2), Moyano
Pen – Hernandéz
Con – Hernandéz (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Yellow (Ezcurra, 63rd minute)
Reds
Tries – Higginbotham
Pen – McIntyre
Con –
Drop –
Cards – Yellow (Nabuli, 18th minute), Yellow (Douglas, 19th minute)
Match Officials
Referee: Mike Fraser
Assistant Ref 1: Jamie Nutbrown
Assistant Ref 2: Damian Schneider
TMO: Santiago Borsani
Teams
Jaguares
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Bautista Ezcurra, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Marcos Kremer, 3 Felipe Arregui, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Lucas Noguera Paz
Replacements: 16 Roberto Tejerizo, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Rodrigo Baez, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Emiliano Boffelli
Reds
15 Karmichael Hunt, 14 Izaia Perese, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Eto Nabuli, 10 Jake McIntyre, 9 James Tuttle, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 Adam Korczyk, 6 Leroy Houston, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sam Talakai, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Markus Vanzati
Replacements: 16 Andrew Ready, 17 Kirwan Sanday, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lukhan Tui, 20 Hendrik Tui, 21 Nick Frisby, 22 Lachie Maranta, 23 Chris Kuridrani
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