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Jaguares appoint new head coach
By Peter Thompson
Mario Ledesma will leave his role as Australia scrum coach to take charge of Jaguares after the final Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand.
Ledesma was recruited by Michael Cheika two years ago and signed a contract until after the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Australia will now have a void to fill after the former Argentina hooker took up the opportunity to return to his homeland to succeed Raul Perez at Buenos Aires-based Super Rugby franchise Jaguares.
Wallabies head coach Cheika said: "Argentina gave us a gift when they gave us Mario Ledesma.
"In 2014 when we went on the tour, when I first took over, we got our scrum pummelled by the English in one game and if you're a good person when you get a gift, you should always give one back.
"Now we're giving a gift back because Mario Ledesma is a good man, he's a great coach and as much as I'm sad that he's leaving, personally as his friend and from a rugby point of view [it's good].
"Not only is he improving himself by having this position, which is what we want our people to do, but also he's coming back to his family who he hasn't seen for many, many years.
"It's going to be a great thing for Argentinian rugby and hopefully the Jaguares will do very well except when they play against the Australian teams."
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To be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
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