Team of the Week

Our first weekly selection with the Jaguares available! They’ve returned to action at an opportune time as well, with Pro D2, Guinness Pro 12, and Greene King IPA Championship all on a bye week, and Top 14 not quite at a full complement. As such there’s more than a fair share of Argentinians in this week’s offering.

1 – Marcos Ayerza (Leicester) Tigers earned a big win at home against Saracens and the veteran loosehead was a big part of it. Got the slight edge on his old mate Juan Figallo in the scrum, defended well, and even fired off an ambitious pass that nearly ended in a score.

2 – Agustín Creevy (Jaguares) Will be bitterly disappointed not to come away from the maiden Super Rugby voyage on home territory with a win, but can consider his own contribution a positive one. Came up with a try in the opening quarter and proved a menace at the breakdown with a couple key turnovers.

3 – Juan Pablo Orlandi (Pau) Perhaps not the most active participant around the pitch but he’s there to do a job in the scrum and he did that well. The result was a massive victory over Castres that pushes Pau nine points clear of Agen and relegation.

4 – Cam Dolan (Cardiff Blues) Not an ideal second row partnership but you have to reward good form. Earned a rare start for the Blues and stood out with his work rate and good work at the lineout.

5 – Mariano Galarza (Gloucester) Played well despite the rest of his forward pack being soundly beaten by the Irish. Got in a few solid carries and his defense and lineout work was accurate as usual. One of the few not to give away a dumb penalty.

6 – Pablo Matera (Jaguares) Must regret his loose pass after a massive line break early on. Otherwise the flanker had a very good game, physical in attack and defense.

7 – Andrew Durutalo (Sunwolves) The team was outclassed but the American flanker was the best player on the park for the home side. Carried, tackled, offloaded, even got up for a couple lineouts. Off to an impressive start in his Super Rugby career.

8 – Leonardo Senatore (Jaguares) Controlled the ball well at the back of the scrum, and played his usual role as a link man. Covered a lot of ground in defense, both as a front line tackler and as an extra body on kick coverage.

9 – Martín Landajo (Jaguares) His outstanding Super Rugby form continues with another high tempo performance at the heart of the Argentine attack. Scored a try in his last act of the game to get the crowd back into it and lift spirits.

10 – Nicolás Sánchez (Jaguares) Like Matera, he’ll rue an errant pass from Landajo’s quick tap that might have otherwise led to a try. Otherwise he had a fine game, varying his attack and kicking three penalties and a conversion.

11 – Matt Evans (Cornish Pirates) A disappointing end to a promising British & Irish Cup campaign as the Pirates were soundly beaten by London Welsh. We’ll forgive a yellow card in the dying minutes as Evans did his best throughout and scored a try in the losing effort.

12 – Juan Pablo Socino (Newcastle) Another whose team came away with less than they needed as the Falcons came up short against Bath. Fared better individually with a key line break and some strong tackles in the midfield.

13 – Ciaran Hearn (London Irish) While the Falcons floundered, the Exiles kept their Premiership hopes alive with a gigantic win over Gloucester. Held the fort on defense and made a couple half breaks with ball in hand, and one clean bust through the line.

14 – Santiago Cordero (Jaguares) The signature footwork was on display throughout with a couple little breaks and a couple big ones. With Nehe Milner-Skudder now injured Cordero could be the most dangerous attacker one-on-one in Super Rugby.

15 – Joaquín Tuculet (Jaguares) Countered well and put himself in good positions to support the attacks out wide. Always looked for the offload and showed his class under the high ball.