CANBERRA – Argentina's Jaguares won back-to-back for the second time in Australia with a spirited 25-20 Super Rugby victory over the Brumbies on Sunday.
The Jaguares, with Pumas fly-half Nicolas Sanchez running the show, triumphed on their first visit to Canberra and have now won five of their last six matches against Australian opposition.
They overcame the Waratahs and Rebels on last year's tour to Australia.
The Jaguares, who beat the Rebels in Melbourne 25-22 last week, led 13-0 early on and won the big moments of the contest as the Brumbies clawed back to trail 20-17 with 15 minutes left.
The win took the much-improved Jaguares to fourth in the South African conference, just two points behind the third-placed Coastal Sharks.
"It was a really tough game for us: we wanted to win our first two games in Australia and we did it and it's a great start to the tour," said Jaguares skipper Pablo Matera, his arm in a sling.
"Now we head to New Zealand for games against the Blues and Chiefs and we're after more wins."
The Jaguares used their vast playing experience to compensate for the loss of left-winger Emiliano Boffelli to a yellow card for tackling opposite number Henry Speight in the air midway in the 47th minute.
There was no damage done during Boffelli's spell in the sin bin and centre Jeronimo De La Fuente scored a crucial try off a Sanchez pass to give the visitors a 20-10 lead.
Winger Chance Peni gave the Brumbies hope when he crashed over for a try with 15 mintes left to have his team trailing by three points, but Boffelli sealed the game with a smartly-taken taken try nine minutes from time.
The game was held up for several minutes near full-time when winger Ramiro Moyano hit his head awkwardly while making a tackle and was taken from the field on a medi-cab.
The Brumbies claimed a losing bonus point with a Wharenui Hawera penalty goal in stoppage time to remain in third place in the Australian conference.
The Brumbies' defeat completed a miserable weekend for Australian teams, with the NSW Waratahs, Melbourne Rebels and Queensland Reds all losing to overseas teams.