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Jaguares announce Super Rugby squad heavy with young talent

By Alex Shaw
Joaquin Diaz Bonilla of the Jaguares (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

The Jaguares have signed off from 2018 by announcing their squad to play in the 2019 season of Super Rugby.

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The Argentinean-based franchise made the playoffs of the competition for the first time earlier this year and, for the most part, they have been able to keep the band together for another crack at the southern hemisphere’s most-prized club competition.

Nicolás Sánchez (RPI – 85) is one of the key losses, with the influential fly-half heading to Stade Français, whilst experienced operator Juan Martín Hernández has retired, leaving the side’s fly-half options in a bit of disarray. Former Argentina U20 Domingo Miotti has been called up from the Argentina XV and will be in the mix with Santiago González Iglesias (70) and Joaquín Díaz Bonilla (42) for the 10 jersey.

Another prominent former Argentina U20 in Gaspar Baldunciel has been promoted at hooker, as new head coach Gonzalo Quesada seeks to find his long-term successor to Agustín Creevy (80).

The biggest influx of players, however, comes from the 2018 Argentina U20 side, where seven players have found their way into Argentina’s premier club side, including Lucio Sordoni (58), Mayco Vivas, Santiago Carreras and Santiago Grondona, all of whom toured Europe with Los Pumas in November.

Sordoni won his first two international caps on that tour and the tighthead prop will be hoping to establish himself in a Rugby World Cup year, whilst Vivas (loosehead prop), Carreras (full-back) and Grondona (flanker) will all be hopeful of making a number of appearances in the upcoming season.

The youngest member of the squad is Ignacio Mendy at 18 years of age, with the back having played at the U20 level with Argentina back in May, as well as having represented Argentina on the HSBC World Sevens Series this year.

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The youthful side will be supplemented by established performers at the Super Rugby level, such as Emiliano Boffelli (79), Pablo Matera (74), Marcos Kremer (56) and the exciting half-back duo of Tomás Cubelli (51) and Martin Landajo (62).

Full squad: Javier Diaz, Santiago Garcia Botta, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Mayco Vivas, Gaspar Baldunciel, Agustin Creevy, Diego Fortuny, Julian Montoya, Santiago Medrano, Enrique Pieretto, Lucio Sordoni, Juan Pablo Zeiss; Matias Alemanno, Tomas Lavanini, Franco Molina, Lucas Paulos, Guido Petti; Santiago Grondona, Marcos Kremer, Tomas Lezana, Pablo Matera, Rodrigo Bruni, Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Javier Ortega Desio; Gonzalo Bertranou, Tomas Cubelli, Martin Landajo, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Domingo Miotti; Santiago Chocobares, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Bautista Ezcurra, Ignacio Mendy, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando; Emiliano Boffelli, Sebastian Cancelliere, Bautista Delguy, Ramiro Moyano, Santiago Carreras, Juan Cruz Mallia, Joaquin Tuculet.

Watch: Exceptional Stories: Ian McKinley.

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Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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