Pumas hope Jaguares can add bite as they bid to end 35-year losing run

Super Rugby’s Jaguares, made up almost exclusively with players from Argentina’s national team, have enjoyed big success in Australia this season.

Now the Pumas will attempt to do the same when they play the Wallabies on Saturday in a Rugby Championship match on the Gold Coast south of Brisbane and end a 35-year losing streak. The Pumas and Wallabies first met in a Test match in 1983, and Argentina won 18-3 in Brisbane. But the visitors lost 29-13 in Sydney the following week and the national side have not won in Australia since.

The Pumas, like the Wallabies with a 1-2 record so far in the tournament, have the best chance to end the drought when former Wallabies scrum coach Mario Ledesma, who coached the Jaguares this season, leads Argentina into Saturday’s match.

Ledesma, who played 84 Tests for Argentina over 16 years, was announced as the new Argentina coach in August, replacing Daniel Hourcade. Gonzalo Quesada will coach the Jaguares in 2019 Super Rugby.

The Ledesma-coached Jaguares beat the Melbourne Rebels and ACT Brumbies in their away matches this season while also beating the New South Wales Waratahs in Buenos Aires to qualify for the play-offs for the first time in franchise history.

Theonlymatchtheydropped against Australian opposition was to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

Every member of the starting Pumas team that lost 46-24 to New Zealand last weekend, and six of the seven players who came off the bench, played for the Jaguares this season. 0 Mario Ledesma: Will lead Argentina into Wallabies Test.