The Jaguares secured a hard-fought 20-15 victory against the Brumbies in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

This is the Jaguares’ third consecutive win and keeps them in third position in the South African conference and in the hunt for the playoffs ahead of the fourth and fifth-ranked Stormers and Lions respectively.

In an action-packed first half, the teams exchanged tries inside the first six minutes, with wing Sebastian Cancelliere touching down for the home side, and the Brumbies getting a quick reply from hooker Folau Fainga’a.

Fullback Tom Banks put the Australian side ahead midway through the first half with a well-worked try in the corner, with flyhalf Christian Lealiifano converting. But the scores were level again after half an hour when centre Matias Orlando worked his way downfield, and the try was awarded following some deliberation with the TMO.

The Jaguares then seized the momentum when Cancelliere forced his way through a clutch of defenders and reached the Brumbies line, where Agustin Creevy went over from a ruck. Domingo Miotti missed the conversion and then Lealiifano kicked a penalty on the stroke of half-time to cut the Jaguares’ lead to 17-15 at the break.

Jaguares v Brumbies | Super Rugby 2019 Rd 11 Highlights
After an open first half, a gutsy @JaguaresARG side took the only points of the second to hang on against @BrumbiesRugby in Buenos Aires. #SuperRugby #JAGvBRU pic.twitter.com/CI0CVts7m8

— Super Rugby (@SuperRugby) April 28, 2019

The second half was an ill-tempered affair, with a few scuffles breaking out. Miotti had reinstated the Jaguares’ five-point lead with a penalty on the hour mark, but that would prove to be the only points of the half.

When the hosts’ Marcos Kremer was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul, the Brumbies had a chance to hit back. But they failed to capitalise on the man-over advantage and were made to rue that missed opportunity as the Jaguares shut up shop with some strong defending when they returned to their full complement to see out the result.

Jaguares – Tries: Sebastian Cancelliere, Agustin Creevy, Matias Orlando. Conversion: Domingo Miotti. Penalty: Miotti.
Brumbies – Tries: Tom Banks, Folau Fainga’a. Conversion: Christian Leali’ifano. Penalty: Leali’ifano.

Jaguares – 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Santiago Carreras, 10 Domingo Miotti, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Tomás Lezana, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Subs: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Rodrigo Bruni, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallía.

Brumbies – 15 Tom Banks, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Tom Wright, 11 Toni Pulu, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 9 Matt Lucas, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Tom Cusack, 6 Jahrome Brown, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper.
Subs: 16 Connal McInerney, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Leslie Lealuaialii-Makin, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Murray Douglas, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Irae Simone, 23 Andy Muirhead.

Photo: @JaguaresARG/Twitter