Jaguares shock Bulls at Loftus to record a double over the former champions
The Jaguares showed remarkable maturity, tenacity and composure to record their first ever Super Rugby win in Pretoria when they outlasted the Bulls 20-22 at Loftus.
The Jaguares were trailing 20-10 but when Bulls flanker Tim Agaba was yellow-carded in the 71st minute for an illegal clean-out, debutant Domingo Miotti scored a late brace and a conversion to help the South Americans collect their first season double against the Bulls.
The Bulls only had themselves to blame as their season is showing signs of unravelling. It was their second consecutive home defeat.
The seeds of an inconsistent game were laid when Manie Libbok missed a routine third minute penalty.
They dominated large stretches of the first half but only had three penalties to show for their endeavour.
Ever since their unexpected home hammering against the Chiefs two weeks ago, Pote Human's side dispensed with style and relied on substance.
However, the Bulls at times tried to force the right to go wide without the necessary hard yards.
The soft surface didn't make their lives easier and negated their scrum dominance despite Brendan Pickerill's inconsistent officiating.
Such was the Bulls' dominance, the Jaguares' 27th minute try through loose-forward Pablo Matera from a line-out was against the run of play.
Libbok and Ruan Steenkamp missed the crucial tackle that led to the five-pointer. The Bulls then camped in the Jaguares' 22 but with no further reward.
Libbok was again deserted by luck in the 38th minute when the ball knocked out of his hands in the process of scoring a try.
The Bulls scored a very good try through left-wing Jade Stighling in the 43rd minute with Burger Odendaal again having a telling influence in the build-up.
However, their inability to string together cohesive periods of play kept them in a vulnerable position.
They couldn't even utilise their one-man advantage after Jaguares prop Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro was yellow-carded in the 47th minute.
While Libbok and Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias traded penalties, the erratic nature of the game became the focal point.
The Jaguares stayed in the game and when Agaba was yellow-carded in the 71st minute, they showed the Bulls how to use an upper hand.
Miotti's two tries in the 73rd and 75th minute turned the match on its head while Conraad van Vuuren's 77th minute sin-binning summed up the Bulls' muddled and disappointing outing.