South American Jaguars

For the Argentine franchise that competes in Super Rugby, see Jaguares (Super Rugby).

South America

Full name	South America XV
Unions	Sudamérica Rugby
Nickname(s)	Jaguars
Founded	1980 (1980)
Region	South America
Coach(es)	Daniel Hourcade
Team kit
First match
Boland Cavaliers 12–42 South America (12 April 1980)
Largest win
NE Cape 3–72 South America (17 March 1982)
Largest test win
South Africa 12–21 South America (3 April 1982)
Largest test defeat
Argentina 78–15 South America (6 August 2011)

The South American XV (sometimes known as CONSUR XV and formerly as South American Jaguars) is a rugby union team made up from the national rugby sides in the Sudamérica Rugby (CONSUR) rugby federation.

The squad was first formed in 1980 to compete against South African teams, despite of the ban imposed to that country in repudation of apartheid. Over the eight test matches played, seven of them were won by the Springboks and only one was won by the Jaguars. This single victory came at Bloemfontein in 1982.

In 2011, a new South America XV was formed to face the Argentine side before they trip to New Zealand to play the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

History

First team: the 1980s

The South American side entering the field with Hugo Porta leading the team. They beat South Africa 21–12

The side was formed in 1980 after an invitation from the SARU to the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) to play a series of games there as a way of counteracting its sporting isolation which was due to the country's apartheid policies.

The team that toured was mainly made up of Argentina players and included a few Uruguayan, Chilean, Paraguayan, Brazilian and even Spanish players. The team was named "Sudamérica XV", wearing a white jersey with blue, red and gold stripes. The badge included a puma, a condor and a jaguar, representing Argentina, Chile and Paraguay respectively. Rodolfo O'Reilly was appointed as coach.

Boys from other countries knew that (South America XV) was a facade, and, although they played some matches in the tour, it were the Pumas who played the tests

— Rodolfo O'Reilly remembering his days as coach of South American Jaguars in an interview with Argentine newspaper La Gazeta.

The Jaguars was a 'shadow' Argentine national team, not officially recognized by the UAR as a stratagem to elude the prohibition of the Argentine government that since the early 1970s forbade any official relationship between any Argentine sport federation and South African and Rhodesian ones, due to the apartheid politics of those countries. This ostracism had started in 1971 when the Argentine government forbade the Pumas to play a match in Rhodesia during the tour in South Africa.

First kit (1980)

In March 1973, the Argentine government and the UAR had a great conflict: the government contested to UAR the permit given to San Isidro Club to visit South Africa, and forced the federal committee of UAR to resign. A new committee was elected on 24 April 1973. In November the government also forbade all visits to South Africa by any Argentine team and any visit of a South African team into Argentina. This ban remained until 1991.

The only victory of South America in a test match came in 1982, when they beat South Africa 21–12, with all points scored by captain Hugo Porta. It also became the first win of an Argentine side over South Africa so all the players on the field were from that country.

In 1984 the Argentine Government forced the UAR to forbid the use of any Argentine emblem by the players. As a result, the body decided not to send any representative to South Africa, declining the invitation. Nevertheless, the players accepted the invitation, being part of the South American Jaguars that toured that year. That tour was the last, with the Jaguars being dissolved.

Rebirth

South America playing Uruguay in 2019

In 2011, the side played one match against Argentina, in San Juan as part of their 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-ups. Argentina won 75-15.

The team reassembled in 2013, and played England on 2 June 2013 at Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo as a warm-up match for the English before playing 2 tests against Argentina.

The team competed at the 2015 Urucup, with players from the Argentine Pladar Litoral plus three guests from Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela.

In November 2018, South American XV toured Chile and Paraguay to play the respective national teams. In August 2019, the team played Uruguay.

Test results

Summarised list of matches played by the South American side (only considered "tests" are included):

Date	Venue	City	Home team	Score	Away team	Character
26 April 1980	Wanderers Stadium	Johannesburg	South Africa	24–9	South America	Tour to South Africa
3 May 1980	Kings Park Stadium	Durban	South Africa	18–9	South America
18 October 1980	Wanderers Club	Montevideo	South America	13–22	South Africa	Tour to South America
25 October 1980	Prince of Wales Country Club	Santiago	South America	16–30	South Africa
27 March 1982	Loftus Versfeld	Pretoria	South Africa	50–18	South America	Tour to South Africa
3 April 1982	Free State	Bloemfontein	South Africa	12–21	South America
20 October 1984	Loftus Versfeld	Pretoria	South Africa	32–15	South America	Tour to South Africa
27 October 1984	Newlands	Cape Town	South Africa	22–13	South America
6 August 2011	Bicentenario	San Juan	Argentina	78–15	South America	VISA Cup
2 June 2013	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	South America	21–41	England	Tour to Argentina
31 May 2014	Ateneo Inmaculada	Santo Tomé	Argentina	40–0	South America	Copa Banco Santa Fe
8 March 2015	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	Uruguay B	18–21	South America	Urucup
11 March 2015	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	Argentina U-20	29–20	South America	Urucup
14 March 2015	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	Uruguay U-20	16–43	South America	Urucup
10 November 2018	Municipal Stadium	La Pintana	Chile	21–38	South America	Tour to South America
17 November 2018	Héroes de Curupaytí	Asunción	Paraguay	22–73	South America
24 August 2019	Estadio Charrúa	Montevideo	Uruguay	24–20	South America	Warm-up match