Jaguares overcome lacklustre Bulls for first win of the season
ByReuters
Published 24/02/2019 at 00:15 GMT
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Two tries in the last 20 minutes handed Argentina's Jaguares their first win of the new Super Rugby season with a 27-12 victory over South Africa's Bulls after a scrappy contest played out in heavy rain on Saturday.
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The Bulls led 12-9 when flyhalf Handre Pollard converted his fourth penalty on the hour mark but replacement Rodrigo Bruni went over off the catch-and-drive and winger Bautista Delguy scored on the overlap to secure the victory.
The result was a tonic for the ambitious Argentines, who lost 25-16 at home to the Lions last weekend, and a disappointment for the visitors, who smashed the Stormers in their opener.
That 40-3 win was the biggest in the first round of fixtures but the Bulls looked a different side as they struggled to get a handle on the powerful Jaguares, who finished runners-up to the Lions in the South Africa conference last year.
The Pretoria-based Bulls started brightly but their early confidence was shattered when Jaguares centre Matias Orlando pounced on a Pollard handling error to race the length of the pitch for the opening try after 17 minutes.
Springbok flyhalf Pollard's place-kicking kept the visitors in a tight contest, however, and he reduced the deficit to 7-3 at halftime before inching the Bulls ahead from the tee after 60 minutes.
The home side came racing back, though, with loose forward Bruni grounding the ball off the back of a rolling maul from an attacking lineout four minutes later.
Jaguares flyhalf Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, who converted all three tries, kicked his second penalty after 67 minutes to extend the lead further before Delguy added a gloss to the scoreline.
The final try, as with the first, came from a turnover with Delguy racing over in acres of space seven minutes from the final whistle. (Reporting by Andrew Downie, editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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