Nickname(s) The Jaguares Top scorer Nicolás Sánchez (123) Arena/Stadium José Amalfitani Stadium Location Buenos Aires, Argentina Captain Agustín Creevy | CEO Greg Peters Founded 2015 Coach Raúl Pérez Union Argentine Rugby Union League Super Rugby | |
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Ground(s) Estadio José Amalfitani (Capacity: 49,540) Most caps Santiago García Botta and
Guido Petti (13) 2016 3rd (Africa 2 Conference)
5th (South African Group)
13th (overall) Profiles | ||
The Jaguares are a professional rugby union team based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were founded in 2015 and are the first Argentine team to play in SANZAAR's Super Rugby competition, participating from the 2016 Super Rugby season onwards.
Contents
History
Following on from impressive performances by Argentina in international rugby union competitions, such as a third-placed finish in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the governing body of rugby in Argentina, the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR), campaigned for inclusion in SANZAR's Tri Nations competition. In 2011, it was announced that the competition would be expanded to include Argentina, which resulted in the competition being rebranded as The Rugby Championship and Argentina competed in the competition for the first time in 2012.
However, there was no professional league in Argentina per rules of the Argentine Rugby Union. The UAR launched a team called the Pampas XV that participated in the South African Vodacom Cup competition from 2010 to 2013, winning the competition in 2011 with an 11-match unbeaten run. The team withdrew from the competition at the end of 2013 due to financial considerations, but was relaunched to participate in the Pacific Rugby Cup from 2014 onwards. They won the competition in 2014 and 2015 (as the rebranded World Rugby Pacific Challenge).
Despite the performances of the Pampas XV, the UAR still campaigned to have teams included in the Super Rugby competition. Since SANZAR sold the existing Super Rugby package to its broadcasters for the period 2011–15, it meant that no changes to the format would be permitted until the 2016 season.
In 2013, SANZAR CEO Greg Peters announced that Super Rugby would be expanded in the 2016 season, adding that South African franchise the Kings would be one of the expansion teams. In early 2014, SANZAR confirmed that Super Rugby would be increased from 15 to 18 teams starting from the 2016 season, with an Argentinian team getting one of the additional spots. It was confirmed that the team would be based in Buenos Aires and that they would participate in the South African Conference. Japan was granted the license for the 18th franchise in October 2014 and the new expanded format and three new teams were formally approved by the SANZAR Executive Committee in November 2014.
Season summaries
The following table summarises the Jaguares' results in their Super Rugby seasons:
Kit history
The Jaguares have played in the following kits since their inception:
Name and colours
The name was initially scheduled to be revealed at the end of July 2015, before being postponed to after the 2015 Rugby World Cup. On 16 December 2015, it was announced that the team would be known as the Jaguares. The name Jaguares was chosen to represent cunning, skill and power. According to the Jaguares official website: "Their sharp instinct and their intelligence make the Jaguares the ideal symbol for our team." The name is also a tribute to the crest of the Argentine Rugby Union, which appears on the jerseys of all Argentina national teams, and as a direct Spanish translation to the nation side Jaguars.
Curiously enough, the chosen name Jaguares is the direct Spanish translation to Jaguars, an English word that saw its origins in the South American languages Tupi, Guaraní, Spanish and Portuguese. Being its Spanish version Yaguares or Yaguaretés written always with Y, the first appearances of the word written with a J were after transliterations to Saxon languages, mainly English as in Jaguar.
Stadium
The Jaguares are based in Buenos Aires and their home ground is the 49,540-capacity Estadio José Amalfitani.
Current squad
The UAR announced a 44-man training squad ahead of the 2017 Super Rugby season:
Staff
The following coaching team was announced by the Argentine Rugby Union for the 2016 Super Rugby season: