Jaguares smash the Southern Kings

The Jaguares won their second Super Rugby match and their first at home when they hammered the Southern Kings 73-27 in Buenos Aires.

The Jaguares were rampant in the match and outscored the Kings by eleven tries to four which earned them their first Try bonus point.

The Jaguares score of 73 is their highest ever score and is the highest points conceded in the Kings history – surpassing the 72 points they conceded to the Waratahs in 2013.

Leonardo Senatore scored three of the Jaguares 11 tries while flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez scored a try and converted nine out of the eleven tries.

Sanchez scored 23 points in the match and had a hand in several of the Argentina side’s tries. Sanchez would have kicked 10 conversions but one of his kicks hit the posts.

The Jaguares made 12 changes for the match as they had just returned from a four match tour of New Zealand and Japan but got off to a quick start and scored their first try in the second minute of the match.

They contined to score at the rate of a point a minute until the final 10 minutes when the match had already been convincingly won. They led 40-15 at half time.

The Southern Kings also crossed for four tries in the match which would have earned them a bonus point under the old rules. A total of fifteeen tries were scored in the match.

The last Kings try was scored by captain Steven Sykes in the closing minutes.

The result is a massive turn around for the Jaguares who lost 36-28 to fellow Super Rugby newcomers the Sunwolves in Japan last Saturday.

“It was good to win playing good rugby,” said scrum-half Martin Landajo, one of many Argentine internationals in the Jaguares squad.

“This is a long tournament and we have some catching up to do.

“Our ambitions include getting the ball wide and it worked sometimes tonight — on other occasions we were not successful.”

Veteran centre Juan Martin Hernandez, one of several stars who left European clubs to play for the Jaguares, grabbed his own kick ahead and dotted down.

A penalty from Kings fly-half Elgar Watts offered a brief respite for the Port Elizabeth-based outfit before winger Santiago Cordero scored a second home try on nine minutes.

Senatore got his first, and the third of the match, on 15 minutes.

The Kings’ woes increased just a minute into the second half when winger Luzuko Vulindlu was sin-binned for a dangerous challenge.

Having scored 68 points with 16 minutes to go, the Jaguares looked capable of beating the season-best 92 of the Cheetahs against the Japanese Sunwolves.

But they managed only one more try, leaving the Kings to score one of the best of the match as skipper and lock Steven Sykes finished off a sweeping movement.

Senatore (3), Hernandez, Cordero, Agustin Creevy, Manuel Montero, Sanchez, Matias Alemanno, Emiliano Boffelli and Landajo were the Jaguares try scorers.

Chris Cloete, Stefan Watermeyer, Thembelani Bholi and Sykes crossed the try-line for the Kings with Watts converting two and kicking a penalty

The Jaguares have a bye next week in Round 11 and the Southern Kings fly back to South Africa as they host the Blues in Port Elizabeth.

Final Score Jaguares 73 (40)  Kings 27 (15) 

Scorers

Jaguares
Tries – J.Hernández, S.Cordero, L. Senatore 3, N.Sanchez, A.Creevy, M.Montero, M. Alemanno, E.Boffelli, M. Landajo
Pen –
Con – N.Sanchez 9
Drop –
Cards –

Kings
Tries – C.Cloete, S.Watemeyer, T.Bholi, S,Sykes
Pen – E.Watts
Con -E.Watts 2
Drop –
Cards –  L.Vulindlu (40th min yellow)

Match Officials
Referee: Stuart Berry
Assistant Ref 1:Federico Anselmi
Assistant Ref 2:Juan Sylvestre
TMO :Santiago Borsani

Teams

Jaguares

1- Santiago G.Botta , 2- Agustín Creevy (C) , 3- Matías Alemanno, 4-Matías Alemanno , 5-Tomás Lavanini , 6- Tomás Lezana , 7- Javier Ortega Desio, 8- Leonardo Senatore , 9- Martín Landajo , 10-Nicolás Sánchez , 11- Manuel Montero , 12- Juan Martín Hernández , 13-Matías Moroni, 14-Santiago Cordero , 15- Emiliano Boffelli

Replacements : 16-Julián Montoya , 17- Facundo Gigena , 18-Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro , 19-Guido Petti , 20- Facundo Isa , 21- Gonzalo Bertranou , 22-Jerónimo de la Fuente , 23- Lucas González Amorosino

Southern Kings

15. Jaco Van Tonder , 14. Lukhanyo Am , 13. Stefan Watermeyer , 12. Shane Gates (VC) , 11. Luzuko Vulindlu , 10. Elgar Watts , 09. Ntando Kebe , 08. CJ Velleman , 07. Thembelani Bholi , 06. Chris Cloete , 05. JC Astle , 04. Steven Sykes (C) , 03. Tom Botha , 02. Edgar Marutlulle , 01. Schalk Ferreira

Replacements : 16. Martin Ferreira , 17. Justin Ackerman , 18. Jacobie Adriaanse , 19. Stefan Willemse , 20. Aidon Davis , 21. James Hall , 22. Louis Fouche , 23. Leighton Eksteen