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Jaguares put crownless Kings to the sword

The 73-27 victory was as much a celebration of the Jaguares' attacking endeavour as it was an indictment of the Kings' capitulation.

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As the 15-try haul – 11 to the Jaguares and four to the Kings – can attest to, defence was not always at a premium.

Many were expecting a comfortable match for Jaguares and their first try came inside two minutes – when the ball found its way to centre Hernández, who showed his class on the wing to chip over and ground. Sánchez coolly slotted the conversion.

After an Elgar Watts penalty, a smart line off a ruck from Cordero saw him race over for a 14-3 lead and then on 16 minutes, No.8 Senatore joined the fun with his team's third try, this after a Sánchez snipe. The latter added the conversion and suddenly the scoreline was 21-3.Jaguares put crownless Kings to the sword

The holes were opening in the Kings' defence and Sánchez was their fourth try-scorer as the lead grew to 25 points with 18 minutes played.

Fortunately for the Kings they halted the momentum when flank Cloete went over via a driving maul on 26 minutes. But their reprieve was short-lived as inspirational Jaguares captain and hooker Creevy did the same soon after to take the scoreline out to 33-8 in Buenos Aires.

There was still more to come before the interval too as a lovely pass from Sánchez set up Montero for the score on the left wing. However this time it was the Kings who hit back when an intercept from Watermeyer of Boffelli's pass near halfway saw him make it 40-15.

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Things did not improve for the Kings immediately after the turnaround when wing Luzuko Vulindlu was yellow carded for taking out Boffelli in the air. And two minutes later that offence was compounded when Alemanno powered over for a converted effort that took it to 47-15.

Again the Kings did respond, this time through Bholi, but one sensed they were tiring and so it proved as Boffelli's try on 50 minutes was the catalyst for more scores coming, the next from Landajo before Senatore grabbed his brace off the back of a scrum for 68-22.

The international No.8 was now sniffing a possible hat-trick at Vélez Sarsfield and he didn't have to wait long to seal his treble as once again flyhalf Sánchez was the Jaguares' provider, setting up Senatore with a well-timed flat pass for an easy run-in wide on the left.

Surprisingly though it was to be the Kings who had the final say when Sykes powered over with two minutes remaining for his side's fourth try to salvage some pride for the visitors, who will head home licking their wounds.

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Man of the match: You can nominate all the Jaguares players, such was their dominance. However, No.8 Leonardo Senatore, with three tries, and flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez, with 23 points, get our award jointly.

The scorers:

For the Jaguares:

Tries: Hernandez, Cordero, Senatore 3, Sánchez, Creevy, Montero, Alemanno, Boffelli, Landajo

Cons: Sanchez 9

For the Southern Kings:

Tries: Cloete, Watermeyer, Bholi, Sykes

Cons: Watts 2

Pen: Watts

Yellow card: Luzuko Vulindlu (Southern Kings, 41 – foul play, playing a man in the air)

Teams:

Jaguares: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Tomás Lezana,  5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Santiago García Botta.

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Jerónimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.

Southern Kings: 15 Jaco Van Tonder, 14 Lukhanyo Am, 13 Stefan Watermeyer, 12 Shane Gates, 11 Luzuko Vulindlu, 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Ntando Kebe, 8 CJ Velleman, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Chris Cloete, 5 JC Astle, 4 Steven Sykes (captain), 3 Tom Botha, 2 Edgar Marutlulle, 1 Schalk Ferreira.

Replacements: 16 Martin Ferreira, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 Jacobie Adriaanse, 19 Stefan Willemse, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 James Hall, 22 Louis Fouche, 23 Leighton Eksteen.

Referee: Stuart Berry

Assistant referees: Federico Anselmi, Juan Sylvestre

TMO: Santiago Borsani

Jaguares put crownless Kings to the sword

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