The Jaguares earned a hard-fought 27-12 win over the Bulls at the Jose Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires.
The Argentinians held a slender four-point lead at the break after a fine individual 80-metre run by Matias Orlando.
Gonzalo Quesada’s men went up a few gears after the interval, scoring two tries late in the game after trailing to three more Handré Pollard penalties.
Rodrigo Bruni crashed over after a powerful driving maul and Bautista Delguy finished off a slick counter-attack to put the game beyond the tourists.
Pollard’s boot kept the Bulls in the game played in pouring rain.
Video Highlights: Jaguares versus Bulls
The flyhalf kicked four penalties as the South Africans took a 10-12 lead going into the final 20 minutes.
Joaquin Diaz Bonilla added 12 points from the tee, himself. The 29-year-old managed the conditions better than his opponent in the No.10 jersey and the Pretoria side was made to pay.
Played in wet conditions, the two teams struggled to control the ball and both were guilty of employing the wrong tactics for wet weather matches.
Pote Human’s team stayed with the South Americans but they ran out of gas – and ideas – collapsing at the death.
The Bulls conceded 17 points in as many minutes and could not claim a losing bonus-point as their abysmal away record in the tournament continues.
Both teams struggled with slippery conditions underfoot and heavy rain
It was, however, apparent that the two sides thought they were playing in dry conditions because they looked to go wide at every opportunity.
Maybe we should have seen this coming, with the ‘Blue’ Bulls playing in a faded shade of dark green.
Pollard’s had a pass intercepted but he was not punished for his error, early on the game.
Trevor Nyakane was pinged for collapsing the scrum, Guido Petti lost the ball in contact from the resulting lineout, letting the tourists off the hook.
Joaquin Tuculet lost the ball forward with the try line at his mercy, however, the referee was playing advantage to the Jaguares because Ruan Steenkamp tackled Pablo Matera without the ball.
Diaz Bonilla stepped up but missed, keeping the game scoreless.
Jaguares pounce
Then, on 18 minutes, another Pollard handling mistake, did prove costly. The 24-year-old could not hang on to Embrose Papier’s pass, the greasy ball slipping out of his hands and picked up by the wily Orlando.
The Pumas centre was quick to gather the bouncing ball, Burger Odendaal and race into the opposition’s half. He slipped Papier and sped away from Rosco Specman to give his side the lead.
Pollard missed a chance to get some points, shanking a penalty.
Schalk Brits was having an immense game. His defending solid, hitting the Argentinians backwards and lineout throwing, accurate.
It didn’t take long after his miss to make it 7-3.
Nyakane caught Augustine Creevy’s stray throw, sparks a Bulls’ attack, however, Warrick Gelant knocked on in contact.
The visitors were having chances, albeit slim ones, yet they never looked like punishing their opponants. In fact, the Jaguares were growing into the game, keeping the ball tight after changing tactics.
Their pack started to dominate, winning a big scrum-penalty before the break, which Diaz Bonilla missed. It was ominous.
Bulls fightback thanks to Pollard’s boot and Jaguares ill-discipline
An early second-half penalty reduced the deficit to one, but Jason Jenkins’ high tackle on Pablo Matera after Duane Vermeulen’s error, allowed Diaz Bonilla to restore the four-point advantage.
Quesada changed his entire front row, ringing the changes. The move seemed to take away the momentum his forwards had built and given life to Human’s pack.
The elements got worse as the game wore on; the hosts had conceded 11 turnovers to the Bulls’ 10, which was not bad considering the rain was teeming down.
Tuculet cleared a Bulls attack and Pollard missed a drop-goal while referee Brendon Pickerill played advantage.
Pollard doubled his side’s tally, putting the Bulls ahead with some pin-point long-range goal-kicking.
Lood de Jager’s men had used the kick-chase to good effect and the South Americans were struggling with it.
The game changed back in favour of the hosts after Pollard’s 62nd-minute penalty rebounded off the post.
Two minutes’ later, after Diaz Bonilla put his side in a great position for a rare attack, Bruni crashed over from a destructive driving maul. It turned the game on its head.
Dayan van der Westhuizen’s deliberate knockdown meant the Bulls had conceded 10 points in four minutes.
The Jaguares flyhalf’s third penalty, ultimately, took the game away from the three-time Super Rugby champions.
Bautista Delguy finishes off a stunning counter-attack and the opposition.
Ramiro Moyano took the ball up past the halfway line. He was tackled, the ball was recycled at lightning speed before the home team sent the ball through several pairs of hands to the winger.
Moyano finished without missing his stride.
Final Score: Jaguares 27 (7) Bulls 12 (3)
Scorers
Jaguares
Tries – Orlando, Bruni, Delguey
Pen – Diaz Bonilla (2)
Con – Diaz Bonilla (3)
Drop –
Cards –
Bulls
Tries –
Pen – Pollard (4)
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Brendon Pickerill
Assistant Ref 1: Rasta Rasivhenge
Assistant Ref 2: Mike Fraser
TMO: Santiago Borsani
Teams
Jaguares
15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente (c), 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortego Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Juan Cruz Mallia, 23 Matias Moroni
Bulls
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jessie Kriel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Rosko Specman, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Embrose Papier, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 Ruan Steenkamp, 5 Lood de Jager (captain), 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Replacements: 16 Corniel Els, 17 Simphiwe Matanzima, 18 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Thembelani Bholi, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Dylan
Sage
