Argentina’s Jaguares will play their first ever match in Super Rugby against the Western Force in this, the final match of the weekend.
The Jaguares have won seven of their last 10 home matches while the Force has won once in their last 14 matches on their travels outside Australia.
That came against the struggling Sunwolves in Round 11 last season. The Aussies only average 2.1 tries per game, the Jags, 3.3 per game.
The Perth franchise has won twice this season, both at home against the Reds in Round 2 and Round 7, in a 46-41 thriller against the Southern Kings.
Match detail
The two teams are out on the field.
We are waiting for the kick-off.
1.00: BEEP! BEEP! Ben O’Keeffe gets the game underway in Buenos Aires. The Force have the ball early, but they knock on.
3.00: The pitch is cutting up – as usual – so the referee moves the scrum across 10 metres. It is reset twice. The Force pack is the heavier of the two, weighing in at 904kg, while their opponents weighing in at 889kg.
4.00: The Jaguares win the penalty for collapsing and kick to touch, five metres out.
5.00: Great work from Richie Arnold. The lock holds up Agustin Creevy and wins the scrum.
6.00: The Force get a good shove, Ian Prior passes to Jonno Lance and the standoff clears to the Jags’ 10.
8.00: Bautista Ezcurra knocks on, chasing Juan Martin Hernández’s up-and-under. The Force have the scrum near the sideline. They go wide, but Peter Grant’s pass toSemisi Masirewa is forward.
10.00: Richard Hardwick wins the penalty at the breakdown after Jeronimo De La Fuente is caught holding. Billy Meakes goes wide, but Semisi Masirewa knocks on, again.
13.00: Ramiro Herrera collects his charge down from Lance, Creevy picks and drives, offloads out the back door, but the ball is lost forward. Lots of errors in the opening 15 minutes.
15.00: It’s Santiago Cordero’s turn to knock on. He had space, but it comes to nought. Scrum to the visitors inside their host’s half. They win the penalty for illegal scrummaging and kick to touch.
16.00: Meakes dances his way through two defenders after some good work by the forwards. The Force win a penalty and decide to kick to touch. Wait, they opt for a scrum, five metres out, just to the right of the right-hand post.
18.00: Prior goes right to Grant, he is tackled short. Hardwick picks up and dives over the goal line, but he loses it forward in the act of grounding. Good defence by the Jaguares. It was Martin Landajo’s initial tackle on Grant, that saved the day after the first attack.
19.00: BIG SCRUM by the Force. Landajo passes to Ezcurra, on the sideline. The winger stays in-field, the Jaguares clean out the ruck and Hernández clears. That was dodgy by the home team.
22.00: Landajo makes a break and stabs a little kick for Ezcurra to chase. Alex Newsome saves the day, just. Masirewa gets another rubbish pass and almost loses it forward. The force clear and the Jaguares have the lineout.
23.00: a bit of argy-bargy taking place now. The referee is talking to the captains about the scrum. He tells them to speak to their players. The scrap was between the sets of locks; boiler-room politics. Scrum on halfway to the home team, but they are penalised for an early engagement. Lance kicks a big up-and-under, however, Juan Manuel Leguizamon gathers and the Jags clear.
25.00: Both teams handling has been poor. Another knock on during the aerial contest gives the visitors the ball.
27.00: Ross Haylett-Petty makes a break and is supported by Hardwick. The Force loses the ball and the Jags kick downfield. This is one scrappy game. Lance clears, Joaquin Tuculet returns. Tomas Lezana goes close. eventually, the Jaguares win a penalty and kick to touch, five metres out.
28.00: YELLOW CARD! Richie Arnold is sin-binned for another infringement at the ruck.
29.00: Another penalty. The Force are under severe pressure here.
30.00: PENALTY! The Force win the penalty at the maul. Great D. The home team has the worst disciplinary record in Super Rugby, conceding the most penalties.
31.00: The Force are the first team to keep the Jaguares scoreless inside 20 minutes. They’ve made it to half an hour now.
32.00: The hosts attack from deep, but the visitors are superb at the ruck, causing another turnover. Despite the Force’s good defence, they’ve failed to score more than 15 points in their last three matches.
34.00: Adam Coleman makes a break. The Force has gone 11 phases and are camped inside the Jaguares’ 22. They win a penalty for not releasing. It’s five penalties to three, in the Perth team’s favour. They should take the points.
35.00: Prior will take a shot.
36.00: PENALTY! The scrumhalf gets the scoreboard moving with a chip-shot.
37.00: Arnold is back on. The Force survives the 10 minutes and takes the lead. Good going by the Aussies.
39.00: The game is in a state of chaos; the ruck is a mess. Both teams lose the ball in the contact, trying to offload. Somehow, the visitors have managed to keep their hosts out.
40.00: The hooter sounds, Tuculet makes a break, but Curtis Rona makes a huge tackle and saves the day. It was Grant, who made the initial stop. A massive fight breaks out on the sideline. It’s Spanish and English being shouted at each other. What a play by the centre to stop the try. That could be huge.
The Force have had the better of the territory and possession, it’s a 54, 52 percent split in those stats – and they lead by three. Handling errors are 8-all, while the home team has conceded six penalties to four.
The half-time score was Jaguares 0 Force 3
41.00: BEEP! BEEP! We begin the second-half of the last game of Round 12. This is the first time that the Argentinians have been nilled at the break this season.
41.00: TRY James Verity-Amm! Semisi Masirewa made the break after collecting and running from the halfway line to the 22 before sending Amm away… wait, NO TRY! TMO rules obstruction. Poor call that. That was not deliberate. That is terrible. The Jaguares get the penalty and will kick at goal from 49 metres.
42.00: MISS! Juan Martin Hernández pushes it wide. Amm is on for Jonno Lance. Masirewa has gone to fullback, Peter Grant to standoff and Amm to the right wing.
44.00: Masirewa takes another high ball, breaks in midfield, passes to Richard Hardwick, who almost gets over, but is tackled short. He looked to have lost the ball forward. It’s a Force scrum, five out and near the sideline.
45.00: The scrum is reset. The Force win a scrum penalty; they opt for another scrum. The replacements are flooding on.
46.00: Ian Prior feeds, the Jaguares wheel the scrum and win a penalty. Another scuffle breaks out as the home team celebrate that set-piece victory.
48.00: Adam Coleman is pinged for a high tackle on Ramiro Herrera. It was more late than high. Hernández kicks to touch and they will look to the driving maul. another high tackle, this time against Prior. They opt for the points.
49.00: PENALTY! The Pumas fly-half makes no mistake this time, levelling the game at 3-all.
50.00: Ben O’Keeffe has had enough and calls to Santiagi Borsani, in the booth, to check for some foul play. there is lots of niggle in this match and tempers are boiling over. Ramiro Herrera is penalised for pushing, causing the rumble. It’s a penalty near the sideline. Agustin Creevy is not impressed.
51.00: MISS! Ian Prior calls for the tee. He pushes his kick wide to the right, to the jeers of the home support. You feel this game will explode at any moment.
53.00: The Jaguares get the feed to the scrum, wheel it, and are awarded the feed, again. Wash, rinse, repeat.
55.00: The home team break blind, Joaquin Tuculet puts boot to ball, but it goes out inside the Force’s 22. They have the throw, but it is not straight. The home team have been given a gift; a scrum in good field position, seven metres out.
56.00: A big scrum sees the Jags go wide, but a loose pass, is picked up and the Australians flood the breakdown, win the ball after a knock on. The replay shows it was not lost forward: poor by the ref, again.
58.00: Peter Grant clears. Billy Meakes has been immense; starting attacks, bashing the ball in the channels and doing the dirty work at the breakdown, time and again.
59.00: BIG SCRUM! The Force win a penalty inside the Jaguares’ half, in centre field. Prior will attempt the kick from 41 metres out.
60.00: PENALTY! Prior puts his side back in front. the ball sneaking inside the right-hand upright.
62.00: We have entered the final quarter, the game tryless. However, the ref awards the Argentinians a penalty and they kick to the corner.
63.00: The Jaguares forwards decide on route-one pick-and-drives, but they knock on close to the whitewash. However, they are awarded another penalty and will opt for the posts.
64.00: PENALTY! Hernández levels the scores at 6-all with less than 15 to play.
67.00: The Western Force has gone 14 phases, bashing their way up the field. The Jaguares are not committing to the breakdown. Eventually, 18 phases later, the Force lose the ball.
69.00: TRY Alex Newsome! The winger gets his sixth try of the season. The force went another set of phases, the Jaguares were back peddling, the visitors went wide and Ross Haylett-Petty put the 22-year-old away.
70.00: MISS! the conversion is wide.
74.00: The Australians are finishing stronger in Argentina. They’ve found their groove and are going through multiple phases.
75.00: TRY Isireli Naisarani! The substitute crashes over from close range and silences the crowd. This is a shock upset.
76.00: Prior misses from out wide, but the force lead by 10 points.
78.00: The Force will hang on for a much-deserved victory.
80.00: The hooter sounds and the ball is launched into touch. The Aussies have claimed a big scalp in Argentina. Wow! Dave Wessels will be delighted at his team’s performance.
Full-time
Final score is Jaguares 6 (0) Force 16 (3)
Scorers
Jaguares
Tries –
Pen – Hernández (2)
Con –
Drop –
Cards –
Force
Tries – Newsome, Naisarani
Pen – Prior (2)
Con –
Drop –
Cards – Arnold (Yellow, 29th minute)
Match Officials
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant Ref 1: Juan Sylvestre
Assistant Ref 2: Jose Covasi
TMO: Santiagi Borsani
Teams
Jaguares
15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Bautista Ezcurra, 10 Juan Martin Hernández, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Benjamin Macome, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Tomas Lezana, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizaval, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Felipe Arregui, 19 Tomas Lavanini, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, 23 Manuel Montero.
Western Force
15 Peter Grant, 14 Semisi Masirewa, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Billy Meakes, 11 Alex Newsome, 10 Jonno Lance, 9 Ian Prior, 8 Richard Hardwick, 7 Onehunga Havili, 6 Ross Haylett-Petty, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Richie Arnold, 3 Tetera Faulkner, 2 Heath Tessmann (captain), 1 Francois van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Anaru Rangi, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Shambeckler Vui, 19 Lewis Carmichael, 20 Brynard Stander, 21 Isireli Naisarani, 22 Mitchell Short, 23 James Verity-Amm
