Super Rugby Preview – Stormers vs Jaguares

In the latest round of Super Rugby the Stormers play host to Los Jaguares on Friday. For the Argentine side it is the second of as many matches in the current tour of South Africa. It falls six days after their prior fixture which saw them losing a high scoring match against the Lions.

The Cape Town franchise have named a side featuring four changes to that which faced and defeated the Sharks on the road in Durban. Among these is Steven Kitshoff with the Springboks prop set to make his first appearance of the season.

Kitshoff will play at loose head, joining fellow Springboks prop Frans Malherbe in a formidable combination. Scare Ntubeni also comes into the side to complete the starting front-row at hooker.

The additional changes come at N8 and fullback respectively. Starting at the back of the scrum will be Juarno Augustus while speedster Dillyn Leyds will start at the back.

Gonzalo Quesada, meanwhile, has gone for nine changes. His line-up reflects the strongest available side which sees no places for the injured Emiliano Boffelli, Marcos Kremer, and Matías Orlando. They remain in South Africa but unfit to play.

Ramiro Moyano starts this week in place of Boffelli and will reunite with Bautista Delguy who comes in for Sebastián Cancelliere. Joaquin Tuculet completes the back-three and will captain the side from fullback.

In for Kremer is Tomás Lezana who earns his first start of the season. He is to join Pablo Matera and Javier Ortega Desio who also both return after having been rested against the Lions. They replace Juan Manuel Leguizamón, and Rodrigo Bruni respectively.

In the second-row Matías Alemanno makes way for Tomás Lavanini to join the permanent starter Guido Petti. They play behind Mayco Vivas, Julián Montoya, and Santiago Medrano which sees Juan Pablo Zeiss, and Enrique Pieretto out of the run-on side with the former missing out altogether. The final change comes at scrum-half where Tomás Cubelli replaces Martín Landajo.

Los Jaguares have played the Stormers on four prior occasions in Super Rugby. The first three times all saw the Stormers claiming victory. The first match was a low scoring 13-8 match in Buenos Aires in 2016. The two other matches were both in Cape Town with the Stormers winning 32-25 in round two of 2017 and 28-20 in round one of 2018.

The most recent match-up, however was a Jaguares victory. The Argentine side claimed a 25-14 victory in Buenos Aires last June. They did so immediately after the shocking home June Internationals performances against Wales, and Scotland.

Based on form and selections Friday’s clash is a very even match-up. Despite home advantage though this is a match in which the Stormers enter as underdogs. Los Jaguares are expected to win by 8 points.

TEAMS

STORMERS
15 Dillyn Leyds, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 SP Marais, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt.), 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Justin Phillips, 22 Ruhan Nel, 23 Damian Willemse

JAGUARES
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Mayco Vivas.

Replacements: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Juan Cruz Mallía, 23 Sebastián Cancelliere.

Date: Friday March 15
Kick:Off: 2:10pm (Argentina)
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa)
TMO: Christe du Preez (South Africa)