ASKED whether he was concer ned about the improvements made by a Jaguares side which is virtually England's World Cup pool opponents, Argentina, under another name, Eddie Jones went on the offensive.
He said: “Do you think if England were playing Super Rugby we'd be in the final? I guarantee we would be, so the answer is no.
Arg entina are a very good team, but Jaguares doing well in Super Rugby is not enough to convince me that they are better than that.”
He continued: “We'll take them seriously, play them with respect. They are a good World Cup side. Traditionally they play their best in World Cups.
“It's interesting now that because they've got so much exposure in other competitions whether the World Cup still has as much focus for them as previously – but that's not for me to worry about.”
On the evidence of this hard-fought loss by the Jaguares in Christchurch to a Crusaders side stacked with All Blacks, Jones has plenty to mull over before England meet Argentina in Japan in a game which will be crucial to their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage.
The way in which they frequently stretched a Crusaders outfit that not only enjoyed home advantage, but have dominated this competition over the last three years by winning their third successive title yesterday, posted a warning to England that a quarterfinal place will not be served up on a plate.
A New Zealand side that frequently run riot ball-inhand was held to one try by Test hooker Cody Taylor, and uncharacteristically had to rely on the goal-kicking of fly-half Richie Mo'unga to pull clear of a tenacious Jaguares team which failed to finish three clear try-scoring opportunities.
In the end the experience of the Crusaders told, and with Mo'unga's unerring marksmanship in kicking five from five off the tee, the Jaguares were unable to claw their way back into the game after turning around 10-3 adrift.
It was evident from the outset that this would be an arm-wrestle with the Jaguares' line-speed and organisation in defence, as well as the accuracy of their chop-tackling, disrupting the Crusaders attack.
After repelling the early Crusaders forays, and with their scrum much improved on their quarterfinal showing against the Chiefs, the Jaguares took the lead thanks to an early penalty by fly-half Joaquin Diaz Bonilla.
However, with 24 minutes on the clock an exchange of kicks between Diaz Bonilla and Crusaders scrum-half Bryn Hall saw the Jaguares fly-half choketackled before openside Matt Todd ripped the ball free.
This allowed All Black No.8 Kieran Read to flick the ball out to Crusaders captain Sam Whitelock, and the lock galloped down the tramline into the Jaguares 22 before passing inside to Taylor. The hooker rode Tomas Cubelli's cover tackle before reaching out to touch down for the only try of the match.
However, with powerhouse flanker Pablo Matera and hard-running centres Jeronimo de la Fuente and Matias Orlando making inroads, the Jaguares came within a whisker of taking the lead four minutes before the interval. Their best chance of the match came when Matera sucked in two Crusaders tacklers before his brilliant off-load sent winger Matias Moroni racing for the try-line. Just as he was about to go over a double tackle by David Havili and Hall dislodged the ball as Moroni tried to ground it, and the chance went begging.
By contrast, when Mo'unga was presented with a penalty opportunity after a break-out by the impressive Hall, he nailed it to give the Crusaders their half-time cushion.
Immediately after the break Matera and Moroni combined again, but the winger's inspired chip and catch was foiled again on the line, this time by Crusaders centre Jack Goodhue.
The home side were also denied a second-half driving maul try when the TMO confirmed that Todd was held up over the line, but the Crusaders applied enough territorial pressure to squeeze three more penalties from the Jaguares.
Mo'unga put these away for a Crusaders victory that reflected their greater big match experience, but was not as comfortable as the scoreline indicated.
As for the Jaguares, the suggestion by Jones that this tilt for the Super Rugby title could disrupt their World Cup focus is wishful thinking. It will have sharpened it, and England have had due warning.
