Argentina's second franchise gets cut as Jaguares find new home
Perhaps the biggest losers from the relatively sudden reformating of Super Rugby are Argentina and, more specifically, the Jaguares.
Alongside Japan’s Sunwolves, the Jaguares joined Super Rugby in 2016 as the competition’s first Argentinian representation. While it took a couple of seasons for the players to adjust to Super Rugby, the Jaguares achieved a second-place finish in 2019, highlighting the obvious potential the Americas have to offer the rugby world.
In the post-COVID world, however, the Jaguares suddenly found themselves without a home.
In 2022, New Zealand and Australia will join forces to create a new competition which will see the 10 Australiasian sides joined by Moana Pasifika and a Fiji XV.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s four Super Rugby teams will compete with the best sides from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy in a revised PRO14 competition, with the inaugural event coined the Rainbow Cup.
Before COVID reared its head, SANZAAR had already announced the culling of the Sunwolves while the Cheetahs and Kings, who were cut from Super Rugby following 2017, are the other casualties of the new competition structures in the Southern Hemisphere, with their places in the PRO14 being ceded to the stronger South African teams.
It’s the loss of the Jaguares that will have most rugby stakeholders across the world shaking their heads, however. Having made the World Cup knockout stages on three consecutive occasions from 2007 to 2015, the Jaguares’ addition to Super Rugby was long overdue and after finally starting to realise their potential, their future was suddenly stolen from them.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Argentinians, however, with the side now set to compete in the Super Liga Americana de Rugby, as reported by A Pleno Rugby.
The SLAR was set to kick-off their inaugural season in 2020 right when the severity of the coronavirus pandemic became apparent, and just one round of the South American competition was able to be completed.
The Jaguares will now compete alongside teams from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay under the guise of the Jaguares XV – the same team that went undefeated in South Africa’s Currie Cup Division 1 in 2019.
Pumas coach Mario Ledesma has said that he 'couldn't be prouder' of his players who placed second in the Tri Nations after an impressive campaign. #TriNations #AUSvARGhttps://t.co/YO96a21SRd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 6, 2020
While it’s good news for the Jaguares brand, it’s a disappointing turn of events for Los Ceibos, the Cordoba-based Argentinian side who were a part of last year’s competition, who have been replaced.
The level of competitiveness is also naturally a step down from Super Rugby and many of the Jaguares players have signed for overseas clubs. Captain Jeronimo de la Fuente, as well as Emiliano Boffelli, Bautista Delguy, Marcos Kremer and Guido Petti, have shifted to France while Agustin Creevy, Santiago Carreras, Matias Orlando and Matias Moroni will play their rugby in England.
There will still be some Argentinian representation in Super Rugby, however, with Julian Montoya, Santiago Medrano, Tomas Lezana, Tomas Cubeli and Domingo Miotti putting pen to paper for the Western Force.
The Force were brought into 2020’s Super Rugby AU competition, alongside Australia’s four existing Super clubs, and will again compete in the 2021 iteration.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments