De Bruin: Beating Jaguares away is going to be a huge challenge
ONE man doesn’t make a rugby team – especially not the Jaguares who are packed with Test stars – but the Lions will be a happy bunch knowing that flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez is no longer part of the Buenos Aires-based team.
The 30-year-old, who played for the Jaguares since their inception in 2016, tormented opposition teams in the past, among them the Lions, but he is now employed by French side Stade Francais and won’t play in this year’s Super Rugby competition, which gets underway this weekend.
And first up for the Jaguares in Buenos Aires are the Lions, the three-time runners-up and a team who have yet to win in Argentina. Warren Whiteley and his crew have lost all three games in Buenos Aires, but will hope it is fourth time lucky on Saturday.
Not having to face the tricky Sanchez in the No 10 jersey will serve as a further confidence booster for the Lions, and it is something that has not escaped coach Swys de Bruin’s mind.
“Look, we haven’t won there before, so we know it’s going to be a huge challenge,” said De Bruin ahead of the teams’ meeting on Saturday.
“The Jaguares are basically the Argentina national team, so it makes them a Test side. They’ve played a lot together over the last year, as the Jaguares and Pumas, so they have continuity and consistency, and that makes them a very dangerous side.
“The only real good thing for us is Sanchez isn’t playing for them anymore. He’ll have to be replaced, which won’t be easy.”
The options at flyhalf to be considered by new coach Gonzalo Quesada, himself a former No 10 and a man who has played and coached in France, are regular centre Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Domingo Miotti and Joaquin Diaz Bonilla. And it’s not only at flyhalf where the Jaguares will have a new man in charge, scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli is also set to make his debut for the team at No 9. The 68-Test player is fit again after sitting out the entire 2018 season with a neck injury and will be keen to make an impression for the Jaguares, having previously played in the competition for the Brumbies.
The No 9-10 combination could well be the only new-look one for the Argentines who otherwise are set to play a familiar looking team in Saturday’s clash. All the big stars of last season’s run to the quarter-finals will be in action again this year, among them exciting backs Bautista Delguy, Matias Orlando, Matias Moroni, Emilliano Boffelli, Ramiro Moyano and Joaquin Tuculet.
De Bruin, who was part of the Barbarians coaching team that faced the Pumas at Twickenham last November, said the Jaguares (with the same players in the mix) would be tough to break down. “The team we’ll be up against this weekend will be similar to that side (who played against the Barbarians)” said the Lions coach.