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Jaguares make solid start in first 'Currie Cup' appearance since 2013

Jaguares wing Bautista Ezcurra, on display for Argentina against the Barbarians. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)

The second-string Jaguares have picked up where the first choice team left off in Super Rugby, with a solid start to their Currie Cup First Division campaign.

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The Jaguares travelled to Potchefstroom to take on the Boland Cavaliers over the weekend for their second match of the season and emerged with a comfortable 54-17 victory.

The Cavaliers finished 5th in last year’s competition but were top of this year’s table after the opening round last week. Still, the loss will come as a surprise to few.

The First Division, despite its name, is actually the second tier of South Africa’s traditional Currie Cup competition.

In last week’s fixture, the Jaguares narrowly beat the Griffons 50-43.

The last time an Argentinian team took part in the competition was back in 2013, when the Pampas XV were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the then-Vodacom Cup.

Although the Jaguares share a name with the beaten Super Rugby finalists, the personnel differs considerably between the sides. Most of the Super Rugby team’s players are now in camp with the national squad, which makes the Currie Cup team the second-tier of Argentinian players.

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There have been calls to introduce a second Argentina-based side to Super Rugby in the near future, given the growing strength of the country. There are many factors that will likely prevent a new team anytime in the near future, but the Jaguares participation in the Currie Cup will at least allow the next generation of players to get some professional game-time against reasonable opposition.

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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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