The St.George Queensland Reds have been defeated 43-27 by the Jaguares in a bruising encounter at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires.
After Queensland raced to a 24-7 lead in the first-half, last year’s runners-up ran in five unanswered tries in a dominant second-half performance to seal a 16-point win.
Chris Feauai-Sautia crossed for a double in the loss, while Liam Wright and Tate McDermott also found the line for tries.
Reds head coach Brad Thorn said: "The guys will be disappointed with the loss as they know played a lot of good Rugby.
"It's been a solid first three weeks - down in Canberra and then a round the world trip. Every game I think there's been times when we've led and probably the first two games, we were our own worst enemy, but tonight I thought the guys played outstandingly well and there was a lot to like.
"That second half - I think it ended in a 15-3 penalty count. It was 15-2 with a penalty at the end. That's a tough one to contend with in a game of Rugby. It was frustrating, but it is what it is.
"We just want to keep on improving and getting better. I think last year we dropped our first three as well, but by mid-season we were equal with the Rebels on top of the conference, so we're not fazed," said Thorn.
After dominating possession early, Queensland opened the scoring in the 11th minute, James O’Connor combining with McDermott to send his scrumhalf across the line for his second try of the season. Jock Campbell converted to give Queensland a 7-nil lead.
Queensland had their second in the 18th minute, captain Wright crossing when Taniela Tupou broke the line and found Henry Speight on his inside, who then linked with the supporting Wright to score. Campbell again converted to put the score out to 14-nil.
The hosts hit back with a Julian Montoya rolling-maul try in the 25th minute, before Feauai-Sautia scored to again stretch Queensland’s lead.
Feauai-Sautia found the line on the back of a well-worked set-play starting from within the Queensland half, with Campbell slicing through the defence after a neat Speight offload before passing to Feauai-Sautia who dashed 20-metres to score and finish the sequence.
Feauai-Sautia soon had another, Hunter Paisami busting the line with a bulldozing carry before McDermott lofted a pass over the defence from close to the line to give his winger space to score and Queensland a 24-7 lead after 36-minutes of play.
Emiliano Boffelli crossed for the Jaguares’ second five-pointer after the first-half siren, bringing the score to 24-12 at the break.
The home side carried their momentum into the second-forty, Montoya crossing for his second try in the 44th minute and Domingo Miotti slotting a penalty soon after to cut the Queensland lead to just two-points.
Queensland put the score out to 27-22 in the 52nd minute with a 20-metre Campbell penalty-goal, before Wright was shown a yellow-card in the 62nd minute to reduce the Reds to 14-men.
The Jaguares quickly made the most of their advantage, a pair of rolling maul tries delivering Montoya his third five-pointer of the match and Santiago Socino his first as the Jaguares raced to a 36-27 lead.
With momentum on their side, the hosts scored a sixth try, as Tomas Cubelli crossed in the 70th minute to give the Jaguares an unassailable 43-27 advantage.
The Reds return to Suncorp Stadium next round for their first home game of 2020 when they take on the Sunwolves on February 21 at 6:15PM AEST. Tickets available via http://bit.ly/31YgEpf.
