The dog-eat-dog nature of the South African conference means that the Sharks have to beat the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Friday to keep their play-off hopes alive.
The Sharks are a point behind the South American side and there are no games in hand.
Each game now is of serious significance as the Jaguares have not only won five games on the bounce‚ but have to face South African opposition in order to qualify for the play-offs.
They have a return game against the Sharks on July 14 but Friday's fixture will have a long-lasting impact on the conference.
A Jaguares win will not only lessen their -17 points difference‚ but will leave the South African chasing pack with a lot to do.
A win will move Jaguares five points clear and if a bonus point is accrued in the process‚ the Jaguares will sit pretty and not have to worry about Saturday's events in Cape Town and Pretoria until they head to the latter city to face the Bulls on July 7.
They will host a travel-averse Stormers side on June 30‚ their last round-robin home game of the tournament.
While they haven't done very well against South African opposition when travelling this season‚ the opposite has been applicable at home.
They lost to the Stormers and the Lions in the first two rounds of the tournament but belted the Bulls (54-24) last week and put 49 points past the Lions on March 24.
As losses to the Reds‚ Crusaders and Hurricanes would attest‚ the Jaguares aren't invincible at home.
Against the Reds‚ they lost a game that was winnable while they were outplayed by the New Zealand log leaders.
However‚ they more than made up for those aberrations with a four-match winning streak in Australia and New Zealand.
They haven't surrendered that momentum even though the Sharks have been successful on their previous two visits to Argentina's capital city.
Having seen off three of the four New Zealand sides‚ the Sharks a dangerous outfit and one that could possible throw a serious spanner in the Jaguares' works but their inconsistency is the main reason as to why they've struggled to keep their head above water from a play-off perspective.
The Sharks have kept an unchanged side from the one that beat an unexpectedly competitive Chiefs side in Durban on the weekend
The Jaguares have made one change from the unit that made mince-meat of the Bulls with Ramiro Moyano replacing Sebastian Cancelliere at left wing while Juan Manuel Leguizamon swaps places with Leonardo Senatore on the bench.
Teams:
Jaguares – 15 Emiliano Boffelli‚ 14 Bautista Delguy‚ 13 Matias Orlando‚ 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente‚ 11 Ramiro Moyano‚ 10 Nicolas Sanchez‚ 9 Gonzalo Bertranou‚ 8 Javier Ortega Desio‚ 7 Marcos Kremer‚ 6 Tomas Lezana (c)‚ 5 Tomas Lavanini‚ 4 Guido Petti‚ 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro‚ 2 Agustin Creevy‚ 1 Santiago Garcia Botta.
Subs: 16 Julian Montoya ‚ 17 Javier Manuel Diaz‚ 18 Santiago Medrano‚ 19 Matias Alemanno‚ 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon‚ 21 Martin Landajo‚ 22 Bautista Ezcurra‚ 23 Juan Cruz Mallia.
Sharks – 15 Curwin Bosch‚ 14 Sbu Nkosi‚ 13 Lukhanyo Am‚ 12 André Esterhuizen‚ 11 Lwazi Mvovo‚ 10 Rob du Preez‚ 9 Louis Schreuder‚ 8 Dan du Preez‚ 7 Jean-Luc du Preez‚ 6 Philip van der Walt‚ 5 Ruan Botha (c)‚ 4 Tyler Paul‚ 3 Thomas du Toit‚ 2 Akker van der Merwe‚ 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Franco Marais‚ 17 Juan Schoeman‚ 18 Ross Geldenhuys‚ 19 Stephan Lewies‚ 20 Jacques Vermeulen‚ 21 Cameron Wright‚ 22 Marius Louw‚ 23 Makazole Mapimpi.
Sharks have their backs against wall in Buenos Aires
Image: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
The dog-eat-dog nature of the South African conference means that the Sharks have to beat the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Friday to keep their play-off hopes alive.
The Sharks are a point behind the South American side and there are no games in hand.
Each game now is of serious significance as the Jaguares have not only won five games on the bounce‚ but have to face South African opposition in order to qualify for the play-offs.
They have a return game against the Sharks on July 14 but Friday's fixture will have a long-lasting impact on the conference.
A Jaguares win will not only lessen their -17 points difference‚ but will leave the South African chasing pack with a lot to do.
A win will move Jaguares five points clear and if a bonus point is accrued in the process‚ the Jaguares will sit pretty and not have to worry about Saturday's events in Cape Town and Pretoria until they head to the latter city to face the Bulls on July 7.
They will host a travel-averse Stormers side on June 30‚ their last round-robin home game of the tournament.
While they haven't done very well against South African opposition when travelling this season‚ the opposite has been applicable at home.
They lost to the Stormers and the Lions in the first two rounds of the tournament but belted the Bulls (54-24) last week and put 49 points past the Lions on March 24.
As losses to the Reds‚ Crusaders and Hurricanes would attest‚ the Jaguares aren't invincible at home.
Against the Reds‚ they lost a game that was winnable while they were outplayed by the New Zealand log leaders.
However‚ they more than made up for those aberrations with a four-match winning streak in Australia and New Zealand.
They haven't surrendered that momentum even though the Sharks have been successful on their previous two visits to Argentina's capital city.
Having seen off three of the four New Zealand sides‚ the Sharks a dangerous outfit and one that could possible throw a serious spanner in the Jaguares' works but their inconsistency is the main reason as to why they've struggled to keep their head above water from a play-off perspective.
The Sharks have kept an unchanged side from the one that beat an unexpectedly competitive Chiefs side in Durban on the weekend
The Jaguares have made one change from the unit that made mince-meat of the Bulls with Ramiro Moyano replacing Sebastian Cancelliere at left wing while Juan Manuel Leguizamon swaps places with Leonardo Senatore on the bench.
Teams:
Jaguares – 15 Emiliano Boffelli‚ 14 Bautista Delguy‚ 13 Matias Orlando‚ 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente‚ 11 Ramiro Moyano‚ 10 Nicolas Sanchez‚ 9 Gonzalo Bertranou‚ 8 Javier Ortega Desio‚ 7 Marcos Kremer‚ 6 Tomas Lezana (c)‚ 5 Tomas Lavanini‚ 4 Guido Petti‚ 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro‚ 2 Agustin Creevy‚ 1 Santiago Garcia Botta.
Subs: 16 Julian Montoya ‚ 17 Javier Manuel Diaz‚ 18 Santiago Medrano‚ 19 Matias Alemanno‚ 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon‚ 21 Martin Landajo‚ 22 Bautista Ezcurra‚ 23 Juan Cruz Mallia.
Sharks – 15 Curwin Bosch‚ 14 Sbu Nkosi‚ 13 Lukhanyo Am‚ 12 André Esterhuizen‚ 11 Lwazi Mvovo‚ 10 Rob du Preez‚ 9 Louis Schreuder‚ 8 Dan du Preez‚ 7 Jean-Luc du Preez‚ 6 Philip van der Walt‚ 5 Ruan Botha (c)‚ 4 Tyler Paul‚ 3 Thomas du Toit‚ 2 Akker van der Merwe‚ 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Franco Marais‚ 17 Juan Schoeman‚ 18 Ross Geldenhuys‚ 19 Stephan Lewies‚ 20 Jacques Vermeulen‚ 21 Cameron Wright‚ 22 Marius Louw‚ 23 Makazole Mapimpi.
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