The Jaguares won their first Super Rugby match on Australian soil, beating the Waratahs 27-40 at Allianz Stadium in Sydney in their first ever encounter.
The visitors won their second game away from home, racing to a 3-25 lead before the Aussies hit back.
Bernard Foley scored a double and kicked 12 points, while Israel Folau also got on the scoresheet to make it 24-25 before the team from Buenos Aires pulled away, despite having two players in the sin-bin for the opening 10 minutes of the second-half.
The Jaguares scored five tries in all through Pablo Matera, Matías Orlando, Benjamin Macome, Agustin Creevy and Matías Moroni to inflict the Tahs’ third consecutive 40 point defeat at home.
The game started with an early Nicolás Sánchez penalty to give the Argentinians a three-point lead.
Four minutes’ later, Guido Petti made a break with Leonardo Senatore in support. The No 8 popped to Matera, who ran away for the try. The conversion was good and the visitors led 0-10.
The Jaguares were rampant around the fringes of the rucks, offloading in the tackles and making space for the support runners to wreak havoc.
On 12 minutes, the tourists came again, this time off the lineout, and Sánchez coasted through the midfield, going through Dean Mumm. The standoff raced to the Waratah’s’ 22, drew the defender and put Orlando away for the try.
Sánchez’s conversion rebounded off the post, but the Tahs had been warned. They were all at sea, missing tackles and losing possession in the tackle, or through poor handling.
Damien Fitzpatrick made a break into the Jaguares’ 22. After some messy rucking, the home team got the penalty and Foley made it 3-15.
Another penalty saw the Jaguares extended their lead back to 15 points and then Ned Hanigan was yellow carded for foul play when the Waratahs were in the red zone.
With the lock forward off, the South Americans scored after clever lineout move. The ball was shifted in the rolling maul and the Jaguares’ forwards walked the Waratahs’ pack backwards before Macome dived over from close range to score.
Sánchez added the extras to make it 3-25 with seven minutes left in the half.
Folau scored to reduce the deficit after Agustin Creevy was pinged for coming in from the side of the driving maul.
Foley, knowing he had the penalty advantage, kicked another cross-field kick for the fullback. The kick was not good, but the Folau’s challenge saw him steal the ball from the defender and cut inside to score. Foley’s conversion was good and the Tahs were in double figures.
As has been all season – and last – the Jaguares lost their cool and had two men sent to the sin-bin, gifting the home team a chance to mount a comeback.
First Petti, then Macome, was sent to the bin, meaning the opening 10 minutes of the second period, the visitors would be down to 13 players.
And it told. Within the first five minutes after the break, Foley had bagged a brace; both times the flyhalf took the ball at the gain line and cut through defenders to score.
He converted both scores to make it a one-point ballgame at 24-25. The Jaguares weathered the storm and managed to set up another rolling maul, from which their skipper scored.
The conversion made it a two-score game, again, and the visitors had halted the pressure from their hosts.
Going into the final quarter, Foley and Sánchez traded penalties to make it 27-35.
Some magic skills by Moroni put the game to bed. The wing collected the on the touchline, darted forward, chips the ball in the air, chased his kick, and after another foot to the ball, gathered the bouncing egg to score: Game over.
The final score is Waratahs 27 (10) Jaguares 40 (25)
Scorers
Waratahs
Tries – Folau, Foley (2)
Pen – Foley (2)
Con – Foley (3)
Drop –
Cards – Hanigan (Yellow, 29th minute)
Jaguares
Tries – Matera, Orlando, Macome, Creevy, Moroni
Pen – Sánchez (3)
Con – Sánchez (3)
Drop –
Cards – Petti (Yellow, 39th minute), Macome (Yellow, 40th minute)
Match Officials
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant Ref 1: Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2: Jordan Way
TMO: Ian Smith
Teams
Waratahs
15 Israel Folau, 14 Bryce Hegarty, 13 Rob Horne, 12 David Horwitz, 11 Cam Clark, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Michael Wells, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Dean Mumm, 4 Ned Hanigan, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Tom Robertson.
Replacements: 16 Damien Fitzpatrick, 17 Paddy Ryan, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 David McDuling, 20 Ryan McCauley, 21 Matt Lucas, 22 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 23 Andrew Kellaway.
Jaguares
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Benjamin Macome, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Enrique Pieretto, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Ignacio Larrague, 20 Rodrigo Báez, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 23 Santiago Cordero
