JOHANNESBURG – Wing Ramiro Moyano scored a hat trick of tries to help the Jaguares register a comfortable 41-14 bonus-point win against the Cheetahs in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Moyano scored two first-half tries to go with another in the second period to play a big part in the Argentine side recording their third win in four matches, having also beaten the Kings and Lions.
In all they scored five tries on the night, while the Cheetahs – hit hard by injuries – managed just two.
The Cheetahs were outplayed for most of the encounter, but showed good fighting spirit in a better second 40 minutes, but they never came close to actually upsetting Agustin Creevy’s men.
The visitors were on the back foot from the off, with the home team’s fast-paced, in-your-face game unsettling the visitors, just as they’d done the week before against the Lions.
Swinging the ball from left to right and back again, the Jaguares were on the board after a sweeping move after just seven minutes, wing Moyano showing great power to bust two tackles and go in at the corner.
Flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez slotted the conversion and added a three-pointer soon after to put the hosts 10-0 up, and that became 17-0 after 22 minutes when lock Matias Alamano finished off after a lineout drive.
The Cheetahs though, while outplayed, also had their moments, and in the 27th minute, centre Michael van der Spuy found a gap in the Jaguares’ backline after a period of good pressure by his team to get his team’s first points of the match with a well-taken try.
But from the restart it was that man again Moyano – he also terrorised the Lions last Saturday – who finished off a scintillating passage of play by the hosts after the ball had gone through several hands and after a few quality offloads.
Hernandez’s conversion made it 24-7, and that’s how it stayed until the halftime break.
The Jaguares then stretched their lead to 20 points with a further Hernandez penalty soon after the resumption of play, but they would not have matters their own way in the final half-hour of the match.
The Cheetahs dominated proceedings in the second period, with their tactic to not kick the ball working a treat.
1st Vodacom Super Rugby try for Joseph Dweba. CHE 14 - JAG 27
7min to go. #VodacomSuperRugby #BeAFan pic.twitter.com/O0atE7CNaQ
— Toyota Cheetahs (@CheetahsRugby) March 18, 2017
They asked plenty of questions of the home team’s defenders, and had it not been for their ill-discipline and some shoddy handling errors, they may well have scored a few more tries than they did.
The Cheetahs had plenty of possession and territory, but they only managed one try in the half, scored as late as the 73rd minute by replacement hooker Joseph Dweba, after a lineout drive.
It came when the Jaguares were down to 14 men after Santiago Iglesias was sin-binned for a high tackle.
But just when it looked like the Cheetahs would finish with a flourish, the Jaguares scored a third try through Moyano – his hat trick – and then in the dying seconds referee Paul Williams, who enjoyed a solid outing, awarded the home team a penalty try after a driving maul was brought down illegally.
Points-Scorers
Jaguares 41 – Tries: Ramiro Moyano (3), Matias Alamano, Penalty Try. Conversions: Juan Martin Hernandez (3). Penalty: Hernandez (1).
Cheetahs 14 – Tries: Michael van der Spuy, Joseph Dweba. Conversions: Niel Marais (2).