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'I want them to play those type of teams' - Reds coach Thorn weighs in on Jaguares debate

Ramiro Moyano of the Jaguares. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

If the Jaguares are a national team in all but name that’s fine with Queensland Reds coach Brad Thorn.

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Former Wallaby captain Phil Kearns created a stir in the aftermath of the Argentinean team’s win over the NSW Waratahs last week, saying they should be booted out of Super Rugby.

Kearns argued the Jaguares made a mockery of the competition with a line-up boasting 20 of 23 players that have represented the Pumas in Test rugby.

That strength came to the fore again on Saturday as the Jaguares called on an experienced selection of reserve forwards to charge to a 34-23 win over the Reds at Suncorp Stadium.

Rather than cry foul, Thorn believes his less experienced players can only benefit from testing themselves against such a strong opposition.

“Taste that level .. embrace it,” the ex-All Black said.

“I want them to play those type of teams. You don’t want those good sides like the Crusaders going anywhere.

“Stay there, remain excellent teams and then, for us, let’s get a feel for that. Okay, that’s what it is, that’s where that level is – awesome, let’s work our butts off and get smarter and get better.

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“Next time or whatever, let’s rumble and see where it gets us … you want a tough competition.”

Reds captain Samu Kerevi also threw his support behind keeping the finals-bound Jaguares competing in Super Rugby.

“We fell short there but that’s fine,” Kerevi said.

“You don’t want those type of teams going away, you want to mix it with them. It’s an awesome challenge out there.

“Falling short? It sucks. Losing sucks but we’ll work again and come back next week.”

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Flankly 2 hours 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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