The Jaguares will face an Aussie team for the second time in its history
The Form
After a tough win against the Sunwolves, the Jaguares will play the Western Force, a side that fights to survive.
The Jaguares returned to victory after the intense South African tour and now have the obligation to be the protagonists at home facing a franchise with few Wallabies in their squad.
The Force has lost its last three games and are not in a comfortable position in the Australian Conference.
Aussie rugby is facing an unprecedented crisis, being crushed by their lifelong rivals, the Kiwis, round by round and with no team proving capable of competing for the title – the situation is hopeless.
Tomas Lavanini – the bad boy is back
Teams
Los Jaguares
Some big news is that the powerful bad boy, Tomas Lavanini, 2.01 meters and 130 kilos, will return to big rugby from the bench after recovering from surgery to his ACL joint when he was injured in the Rugby Championship last year.
Other dominant players on the bench will be hooker Julian Montoya and the powerful winger Manuel “The Panther” Montero.
In the backs Martin Landajo will play his first starting game in 2017. He injured himself just before the season started and was on the bench against the Sunwolves in Round 11.
Matías Moroni and Jerónimo De la Fuente will return to the backline instead of Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias and Matias Orlando. Bautista Ezcurra is going to replace Emiliano Boffelli at the wing.
Richie Arnold – twin brother of Wallaby Rory will team with Adam Coleman
The Force
Head coach Dave Wessels has made some changes – the biggest ones being that he has rested Wallabies Matt Hodgson and Tatafu Potoa-Nau from the matchday 23. He is also starting the veteran ex-Springbok, Peter Grant, at fullback.
Heath Tessmam will start at hooker and captain the side, and loose-head prop Francois van Wyk will play his first starting game in the current season. Locks Adam Coleman (2.04 m) and Richie Arnold (2.08 m) combine to form one of the tallest lock combinations in Super Rugby.
The back row will be completely new: Ross Haylett-Petty, Onehunga Havilili and Richard Hardwick will replace Hodgson, the Fijian no.8 Isi Naisarani and Brynard Stander.
In the backline the Fijian winger Semisi Masirewa and Grant will be the only new faces.
Juan Leguizamon – will lead the Jaguares’ back row
Key points
The breakdown battle:
This will be a key point in the game if the inexperienced Force backrow can dispute the breakdown against an international trio.
Veteran test player Juan Leguizamon will be leading the loosies and will be assisted by the tough Bayonne player Benjamin Macome, who has appeared in the Rugby Championship – and will replace Leonard Senatore.
The other Jaguares’ backrower is young international Tomas Lezana, who keeps his place from last week.
The line-out:
The Force will take advantage of their height advantage to win in this part of the game, bearing in mind that the Jaguares have not been accurate in this set piece.
Prediction
The Jaguares have the obligation to win this game as they are an international Tier 1 team, while the Force is a team that struggles to survive.
They will not be able to count on their best players due to the rotation that their head coach has made, and have players injured, such as Wallabies Dane Haylett-Petty and Ben McCalman.
Jaguares by 15
Francois van Wyk (tackler) – gets his first start of the year
The Teams
Jaguares
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Batista Ezcurra, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Benjamin Macome, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Tomás Lezana, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (c), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements:
16 Julían Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Felipe Arregui, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 23 Manuel Montero
Western Force:
1. Francios van Wyk,2. Heath Tessmann (c) ,3. Tetera Faulkner,4. Richie Arnold,5. Adam Coleman,6. Ross Haylett-Petty,7. Onehunga Havili,8. Richard Hardwick,9. Ian Prior,10. Jono Lance,11. Alex Newsome,12. Billy Meakes,13. Curtis Rona,14. Semisi Masirewa,15. Peter Grant
Replacements:
16. Anaru Rangi,17. Pek Cowan ,18. Shambeckler Vui,19. Lewis Carmichael,20. Brynard Stander,21. Isireli Naisarani,22. Mitchell Short ,23. James Verity-Amm
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