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From Bloemfontein babystep to Super Rugby final... Mathias Orlando on living Jaguares' crazy dream these past 41 months

Jaguares' Matias Orlando has been living the dream during the Argentine club's four seasons in Super Rugby (Photo by Amilcar Orfali/Getty Images)

February 26, 2016, remains a date ingrained in Matías Orlando’s mind. That was the Friday evening in Bloemfontein when the Jaguares set out on the compelling journey that has now culminated in Saturday’s Super Rugby final appearance in Christchurch.

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The thought of reaching a showpiece decider 41 months later against defending champions Crusaders was something that would have sounded extremely far-fetched on that nervous night of baptism in the tournament.

No-one knew how they would go, least of all themselves. But the resilience that has allowed them to thrive and prosper over time was glimpsed in that memorable debut, Nicolas Sanchez landing the decisive goal nine minutes from time that was just about enough to clinch a maiden 34-33 win. 

“I remember the first match in Super Rugby with Cheetahs where we started to get into an unknown world,” remembered Orlando all these years later after arriving in New Zealand to prepare for the tournament finale.  

“We didn’t know what it was about. We started something new and lived a different experience. There were many frustrations along the way and four years later we are about to play the final. It is very crazy and we are living it in an incredible way.

“We are here because it is what we wanted and what we dreamed. We achieve the purpose we seek, to work day by day in search of something and achieve it. It has not been easy to get here and we do not want to miss this opportunity.”

It was Tuesday when the Argentine franchise touched down in Christchurch fresh from their home semi-final win last Friday over the Brumbies that was their seventh victory on the bounce this season. 

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Dethroning the Crusaders, though, is their litmus test. “They are very consistent and they don’t lose their hunger,” acknowledged Orlando. “Every year they show that they want to be the best and they achieve it. 

“We are prepared to play this game. We do not come to cast a shadow over them. We are hungry to win this game. We do not play finals every day. As a team, we want to play good rugby and send the message so that Argentine rugby feels represented by us.”

WATCH: Crusaders forward Matt Todd explains how the New Zealand franchise will cope with its injuries going into the Super Rugby final

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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