ARGENTINA JAGUARES 41, URUGUAY 10

International Friendly warm-up played 6 April

This is not regarded as a test match for Uruguay as the referee was not neutral. This was a warm-up game for both sides. They will play in the World Cup Qualifying CONSUR A tournament. The winner will qualify for a play off home/away series of the loser of the USA/Canada series. If Argentina Jaguars win then the second team will go through.

Details

Jaguars: 1 - Ignacio Saenz Lancuba, 2 - Mauricio Guidone, 3 - Thomas Giraldón, 4 - Cesar Fruttero, 5 - Thomas Borghi, 6 - Francisco Panessi (captain), 7 - Ignacio Fantin, 8 - Santiago Rocchia; 9 - Peter Imhoff , 10 - Sebastian Poet; 11 - Villaluenga Macario, 12 - Ramiro Finco, 13 - James Craig, 14 - Dan Isaack, 15 - Joaquín Paz. Entered: 16 - Gonzalo Manso, 17 - Roberto Tejerizo, 18 - Andres Alvarado, 19 - Fidel Lamy, 20 - Juan Lafontana, 21 - Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 - Ramiro Camacho and 23 - Thomas Carrio. Coaches: Mauricio Reggiardo and Martin Gaitan.

Uruguay: 1 - Rodolfo de Mula, 2 - Arturo Avalo, 3 - Oscar Duran, 4 - Mathias Palomeque, 5 - Alejandro Nieto, 6 - Juan Manuel Gaminara, 7 - Diego Magno, 8 - Santiago Vilaseca; 9 - Alejo Duran, 10 - Mathias Arocena, 11 - Leandro Leiva, 12 - Andres Vilaseca, 13 - Santiago Gibernau, 14 - Francisco Bulanti; 15 - Gaston Mieres. included: Juan Diego Ormaechea, Juan De Freitas, Federico Favaro, Nicolas Klappenbach, Francisco neighbor, Francisco Jiménez Federico Mujica. Trainer: Paul Lemoine.

Below is the summary of the meeting:

Prime Time: 12 'Mathias Criminal Arocena (U), 13' try Villaluenga Macario (J), 17 ', Finco Ramiro try, converted by Sebastian Poet (J), 27', Sebastian criminal Poet (J) , 32 ', penalty try, converted by Mathias Arocena (U). Subs: 30 ', sin bin Francisco Panessi (J), 32', sin bin Thomas Borghi (J). Partial Result: Jaguars 15 - Uruguay 10.

Second Time: 4 ', Villaluenga Macario try, converted by Sebastian Poet (J), 28' Gonzalo Manso try, converted by Sebastian Poet (J), 30 ', Finco Ramiro try, converted by Sebastian Poet (J) , 37 ', try Fruttero Caesar (J). Subs: 17 ', sin bin Alejandro Nieto (U), 23', sin bin Leandro Leiva (U). Bottom Line: Jaguars 41 - Uruguay 10.

Tennis: Charrua Stadium, Montevideo, Uruguay. Referee: Joaquin Montes (Uruguay)

Thanks to http://www.uar.com.ar/noticias/noticias.asp?idinfo=1735

IRB NATIONS CUP RUGBY: Tournament Begins

10.06.2011
Argentina Jaguars v Portugal in Bucharest (IRB Nations Cup)

Briefly
Portugal scored some good win in this years European Nations Cup, Division 1A competition. They will be looking to improve upon those displays and win well against the Argentina Jaguars. The Jaguars are virtually the Argentina ‘B’ side but are always a handful.

Previous Encounters
21.11.2009 Jaguars 24-13 in Lisbon
24.06.2006 Jaguars 34-29 in Lisbon (IRB Nations Cup)

Prediction: Jaguars by 5 points

Teams

Portugal Squad
Eduardo Acosta (GD Direito)
António Aguilar (GD Direito)
Antonhy Alves (Montaban, France)
Laurent Balangue (Colomiers, France)
Pedro Cabral (CDUL)
João Correia (gd direito)
Manel Costa (Belenenses)
Rui D’Orey (GD Direito)
Michael Dias (uwic uni)
Bernardo Duarte (Agronomia)
Adérito Esteves (GD Direito)
Gonçalo Foro (CDUL)
João Júnior (CDUL)
Jacques le Roux (Agronomia)
Pedro Leal (GD Direito)
Francisco Mira (Agronomia)
Carl Murray (CDUL)
Juan Murre (El Salvador)
Frederico Oliveira (CDUL)
João Paiva (Agronomia)
Rui Rodrigues (AC Coimbra)
Francisco Serra (AC Coimbra)
Juan Severino (Agronomia)
Pedro Silva (Belenenses)
Luis Sousa (GD Direito)
Vasco Uva (GD Direito)
Head Coach: Errol Brain

Argentina Jaguars

German Araoz (Jockey Club) Prop
Andres Bordoy (La Rochelle, France) Prop
Gastón de Robertis (Regatas de Bella Vista) Prop
Francisco Gomez Kodela (Belgrano) Prop
Bruno Postiglioni (La Plata) Prop
Mauricio Guidone (La Plata) Hooker
Felipe Aranguren  (CUBA) Lock
Santiago Guzmán (Tucumán RC) Lock
Hugo Schierano (Tala) Lock
José Luis Basile (Tala) Flanker
Nicolas Centurion (Universitario) Flanker
Tomas De La Vega (CUBA) Flanker
Tomás Leonardi (SIC Isidro) Flanker
Ignacio Pasman (Champagnat) Flanker
Martín Landajo (Club Atlético de San Isidro) Scrumhalf
Santiago Mendez (SIC Isidro) Scrumhalf
Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias (Asociacion Alumni) Flyhalf
Benjamín Madero (SIC Isidro) Flyhalf
Tomás Rosati (Belgrano) Flyhalf
Lisandro Gomez Lopez (La Tablada) Centre
Maximiliano Nannini (Duendes) Centre
Belisario Agulla (Hindu) Wing
Mauro Comuzzi (Pucara) Wing
Fernando Dario Luna (Cordoba Athletic) Wing
Román Miralles (Duendes) Fullback
Joaquin Tuculet (Los Tilos) Fullback

Head Coach: Daniel Hourcade

TEST RUGBY MATCHES: The Big Games 30 October

30.10.2010
Australia 26, New Zealand 24 in Hong Kong (Bledisloe Cup)
Samoa 13, Japan 10 in Tokyo
Argentina A 32, Russia 6 in Moscow

Briefly
Australia ended a nightmare run of losses against New Zealand when they won with a last minute try and conversion. It also ended New Zealand's run of fifteen test match wins in a row. Australia now head to Europe with some confidence while New Zealand will wonder how they managed to lose this test. Down 0-12 after an Aussie onslaught at the start of the game they came back 17-12 then went up 24-12 before the Wallabies clawed their way back.

Japan managed to lose to a well below strength Samoa side in Tokyo. I'm not sure whether it means that Samoa has an amazing pool of talented players or that Japan was just awful. Samoa was missing up to ten players from the team that won the Pacific Nations Cup, and who had lost to Japan at that tournament.

The Argentina Jaguars finished their two match tour of Russia with another convincing win. Russia still has a lot of work to do before they will be anywhere near competitive at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

INTERNATIONAL TEST RUGBY: IRB Nations Cup

Results in from Bucharest

15.06.2010
Italy A 21, Georgia 3
Namibia 23, Scotland 20
Romania 24, Argentina A 8

Points After Round 2

'So we are confronted by the weird situation of the possiblity that a team will win all its games, but still finish second - a reflection of the crazy format that the IRB persist with.
1. Italy A: 8 (+20)
2. Namibia: 8 (+7)
3. Romania: 5 (+12)
4. Georgia: 4 (-17)
5. Scotland A: 2 (-4)
6. Argentina A: 1 (-18)'

And the scenario..

Round 3 Sunday

Georgia v Namibia
Italy A v Romania
Argentina A v Scotland A

'So to win the tournament:
Italy A: Must win over Romania, which you'd think would be enough considering their high point difference. Bonus point win would almost guarantee the trophy.
Namibia: Must either thrash Georgia, or hope that Romania cause Italy A problems, or both. Realistically, this will be a very tight encounter and a narrow win is probably all that Namibia could get out of this - so they need Italy A to slip up.
Romania: Must beat Italy A by five points or more to finish above them. Also, they will need Georgia to beat Namibia, but not thrash them. A bonus point win would be golden for Romania.
Georgia: Must beat Namibia by scoring four tries by eight points or more. Realistically, they need to win this by 30 points or more and hope that Romania only narrowly beat Italy A. They need and absolute miracle.'

Thanks to 'Natal' at http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3498&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=75

TEST RUGBY: IRB Nations Cup, Day 2

IRB Nations Cup-Bucharest
Italy A v Georgia
Scotland A v Namibia
Romania v Argentina A

Previews
After a first day of upsets, the second day of this tournament will see some interesting contests.

Italy A v Georgia

Both Italy A and Georgia won on the first day. Italy A defeated the much fancied Argentina Jaguars whilst Georgia defeated last year's tournament winner Scotland A. There will not be a lot between these two teams but I suspect Italy A has the edge.

Prediction: Italy A by 3 points

Scotland A v Namibia

Namibia caused a major upset on day 1 by defeating hosts Romania. They could one step further against a Scottish side reeling from a one point loss on day 1.

Prediction: Namibia by 5 points

Romania v Argentina A

This could be the cracker of a match on the day. Both side were on the favourites lists before the tournament started, whilst today one of these teams will, unless there is a draw, have suffered two defeats. I suspect Argentina A will just edge out the home side.

Prediction: Argentina A by 1 point

INTERNATIONAL RUGBY RESULTS; IRB Nations Cup Day 1

In Bucharest

11.06.2010
Namibia 21, Romania 17
Italy A 22, Argentina A 20
Georgia 22, Scotland 'A 21

Briefly
Upsets all round in my book. Well, lets say all my predictions were WELL out!

Namibia fought hard to win against Romania, the host nation. Italy A edged out the Jaguars, whilst Georgia, with a below-strength side, defeated last years tournament winner Scotland 'A'

This sets up a most interesting competition from this point.

TEST MATCH RUGBY: IRB Nations

11.06.2010
Italy A v Argentina A

Venue: Bucharest

Referee:

Preview
It is quite likely that one of the finalists for this tournament could could from one of these teams. Both are strong squads, especially the Italians who have a number of test caps among them.

Prediction: Italy A by 5 points

Teams

Argentina A
15. Joaquin Tuculet
14. Belisario Agulla
13. Gabriel Ascarate
12. Nicolas Sanchez
11. John Imhoff
10. Santiago González Iglesias
9. Nicolás Bruzzone
8. Macoma Benjamin
7. Agustín Guzmán
6. Bruno Rodrigo
5. Agustin Smidt
4. Carlos Caceres
3. Guillermo Roan
2. Alvaro Tejeda
1. Matías Narváez
Replacements
16. Esteban Bustillo
17. Nahuel Chaparro
18. Pasman Ignacio
19. Paul Colacrai
20. Landajo Martin
21. Thomas Rosati
22. Francisco Merello
Coaches: Daniel Hourcade and Raul Perez

Adapted from http://www.rugbyfun.com.ar/nota.asp?not_codigo=69634

Italy A
15 Andrea MARCATO (Benetton Treviso, 16 caps)
14 Tommaso BENVENUTI (Benetton Treviso)
13 Andrea PRATICHETTI (Femi-CZ Rovigo)
12 Alberto SGARBI (Benetton Treviso, 5 caps)
11 Samuele PACE (MPS Viadana, 3 caps)
10 Luciano ORQUERA (Brive, 14 caps)
9 Fabio SEMENZATO (Benetton Treviso)
8 Jaco ERASMUS (MPS Viadana, 3 caps)
7 Francesco MINTO (Banca Monte Parma)
6 Robert BARBIERI (Benetton Treviso, 7 caps)
5 Enrico PAVANELLO (Benetton Treviso, 8 caps)
4 Antonio PAVANELLO (Benetton Treviso, 5 caps)
3 Pedro DI SANTO (Benetton Treviso)
2 Carlo FESTUCCIA (Racing-Metro Paris, 47 caps)
1 Matteo MUCCIGNAT (Benetton Treviso)
Replacementsa
16 Davide GIAZZON (Banca Monte Parma)
17 Andrea DE MARCHI (Femi-CZ Rovigo)
18 Massimiliano RAVALLE (Femi-CZ Rovigo)
19 Agustin CAVALIERI (Carrera Petrarca Padova)
20 Silvio ORLANDO (Benetton Treviso, 14 caps)
21 Giulio TONIOLATTI (Futura Park Rugby Roma, 5 caps)
22 Roberto QUARTAROLI (Banca Monte Parma, 3 caps)
Head Coach: Gianluca Guidi

Adapted from http://www.federugby.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1648:nazionale-a-domani-esordio-in-irb-nations-cup&catid=110:italia-a&Itemid=416

CONSUR A RUGBY RESULT

23.05.2010
Argentina A 48, Chile 9 in Santiago.

Test Match: Argentina Jaguars visit Portugal

21.11.2009
Argentina 'A' v Portugal

Venue: Estadio Universitario de Lisboa

Referee:

Preview
The IRB's programme to foster international rugby contacts for tier 2 nations sees Argentina 'A' making a tour of Europe. They have already played Georgia, losing 22-24. This being the last match of their tour.

Portugal has selected a stronger side than that that played Namibia (lost 9-12) earlier in the month. A number of France-based players are playing, including Beca and Rubela who will be making their test debuts if they play. Also returning is 35 year old veteran Portela, who last played in Portugal's 2007 Rugby World Cup team.

Portela last played for Portugal at the 2007 World Cup. Image thanks to www.fpr.pt

Argentina 'A' has selected a team fairly different to that which lost by 2 points to Georgia last weekend. Looks like everybody gets a run.

Francisco Albarracin training for Argentina 'A'. Image thanks to www.uar.com.ar

Previous Encounter
14.06.2006 Argentina 'A' 34-29 in Lisbon (IRB Nations Cup)

GWC Rugby Rankings do not apply.

Prediction: Argentina 'A' by 5 points

Teams

Argentina ‘A’ Squad
Gastón De Robertis
Matías Cortese
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Hugo Schierano
Tomás Roan
Rodrigo Bruno
Agustín Guzmán
Leonardo Senatore, Capt.
Francisco Albarracin
Santiago González Iglesias
Francisco Merello
Miguel Avramovic
Juan Pablo Estelles
Belisario Agulla
Joaquín Tuculet
Replacements
Álvaro Tejeda
Juan Gómez
Mariano Galarza
Rodrigo Baez
Martín Landajo
Nicolás Sanchez
Gabriel Ascárate
Coaches: José Orengo and Raúl Pérez

http://www.uar.com.ar/noticias4.asp?notcod=20091119170728

Portugal Squad
Eduardo Acosta (GD Direito) Age 31, 10 tests
Aurelien Beco (Limoges, France) 23, New Cap
Pedro Cabral (CD University Lisboa) 26, 22
João Correia, Capt. (GD Direito) 28, 46
Thomaz Da Costa (Lourdes, France) 25, 1
David dos Reis (Nimes, France) 32, 3
Gonçalo Foro (CD University Lisboa) 27, 17
Tiago Girão (CD University Lisboa) 24, 20
João Junior (CD University Lisboa) 23, 6
Pedro Leal (GD Direito) 25, 34
David Mateus (OS Belenenses) 29, 32
Diogo Mateus (OS Belenenses) 29, 65
Juan Murre (Auch, France) 29, 16
Salvador Palha (GD Direito) 25, 11
Duarte Cardoso Pinto (AEIS Agronomia) 27, 41
Miguel Portela (GD Direito) 35, 57
Emmanuel Rebelo (Dijon, France) 28, New Cap
Jorge Segurado (GD Direito) 25, 6
Francisco Serra (Académica) 23, 1
Juan Severino (AEIS Agronomia) 27, 24
Pedro Silva (OS Belenenses) 24, 8
Gonçalo Uva (GD Direito) 24, 41
Vasco Uva (GD Direito) 26, 56
Head Coach: Tomaz Morais

Back in- Murre, dos Reis, Beca (debut), Rebelo (debut)-all France-based, Portela (veteran, returning), Serra. Still no Spachuck

Out of squad (from v Namibia)
Hugo Valente (OS Belenenses)
João Uva (OS Belenenses)
Frederico Oliveira (CD University Lisboa)
Lourenço Kadosh (AEIS Agronomia)
Sebastião Cunha (OS Belenenses)
Pedro Carvalho (GD Direito)
António Aguilar (GD Direito)

http://www.fpr.pt/noticias/noticia.asp?opm=25&id=7708&id2=25

Test Rugby: Argentina Jaguars Ready to Pounce in Georgia

14.11.2009
Argentina 'A' v Georgia in Tblissi

Venue: Estadio National Dinamo de Tbilisi.

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Preview
The Argentinian Jaguars visit Georgia to help celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the Georgian rugby union. That was back in the Soviet Union era. Georgia played its first international rugby match in 1991.

This will be the first time that an Argentinean side has visited Georgia and only the second time senior men's teams from Argentina and Georgia have met on a rugby field.

The Jaguars have had a busy year and now arrive in Europe to play a test against Georgia, and then two against Portugal. They have had successes against Namibia at home (twice), against Chile and Uruguay to take the CONSUR A title, then Uruguay again (twice) and now to Europe.

This will be Georgia's first test since they contested the Churchill Cup back in June. With some 16 top players not available, Georgia struggled. I'd expect the team to be near full strength, and that they will test the 2009 Jaguars.

Georgians prepare in the National Stadium, Tblissi. Image thanks to www.uar.com.ar

Previous Encounter
11.09.2007 Argentina 33-3 in Lyon (World Cup, Pool D)

GWC Rugby Rankings do not apply

Prediction: Nothing in it. Georgia by 3 points

Teams

Argentina 'A'
15 Martín Bustos Moyano
14 Belisario Agulla
13 Miguel Avramovic
12 Matías Viazzo
11 Tomás De Vedia
10 Ignacio Mieres
9 Martín Landajo
8 Leonardo Senatore (Capt.)
7 Rodrigo Bruno
6 Ignacio Pasman
5 Mariano Galarza
4 Tomás Roan
3 Juan Gómez
2 Álvaro Tejeda
1 Pablo Henn
Replacements
16 Matías Cortese
17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
18 Hugo Schierano
19 Agustín Guzmán
20 Francisco Albarracín
21 Santiago González Iglesias
22 Francisco Merello
Coaches: José Orengo and Raúl Pérez

http://www.uar.com.ar/noticias4.asp?notcod=20091112134157

Georgia Squad
Irakli Abusseridze
George Chkhaidze
Levan Datunashvili
Revaz Gigauri
Akvsent Giorgadze
Mamuka Gorgodze
Davit Kacharava
David Khichaguishvili
Merab Kvirikashvili
Guia Labadze
Irakli Machkhaneli
Lasha Malaguradze
Irakli Natriashvili
George Nemsadze
Davit Qubriashvili
Bidzina Samkharadze
Goderdzi Shvelidze
Sandro Todua
Makho Urjukashvili
Rati Urushadze
Ilia Zedguinidze
Tedo Zibzibadze
Head Coach: Tim Lane

http://www.rugbyrugby.com/news/story_131109180318.php, and thanks to ‘scorpion’ at http://www.fira-aer-rugby.com/forum2007/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2784&start=390

More Test Rugby This Weekend

31.10.2009
Sweden v Netherlands in Trelleborg (ENC 2B)
Denmark v Hungary in Odense (ENC 3B)

01.11.2009
Uruguay v Argentina 'A' in Cordoba

Briefly
Part of of this rugby weekend sees a continuation of the European Nations Cup and two South American nations warm up for their November ventures.

The Netherlands are undefeated in their division (their only recent loss was a shock 3-6 to Lithuania and a World Cup exit). The Netherlands won their first round game against Sweden by 12 points and they should prevail away.

Hungary regained the advantage in their division when they defeated Slovenia earlier in the month. Denmark lost to Norway by 7 points away on the same day and could well struggle against the visiting Hungarians.

Uruguay will play a home-away series against the USA in November, the claiming the second America's spot at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. They begin that campaign against Argentina 'A' (or the Jaguars if you prefer) in Cordoba Sunday. Argentina 'A' tour Europe during the November window along with the full Argentine side, the Pumas.

The full November window begins on November 7. How I will be able to keep up with it all I just do not know. Keep watching this space to see how well I do!