SKY SPORT
Crusaders claim third straight title.
The Crusaders sprayed champagne as the Jaguares spilled tears.
Emotions ran high in the Jaguares changing shed on Saturday night as they were forced to accept their dream run into the Super Rugby final had ended with a shattering 19-3 defeat to the Crusaders on Saturday night.
PHOTOSPORT
The Jaguares, pictured trying to stop No 8 Kieran Read, could not stop the Crusaders charging to their 10th title after they lost the Super Rugby final 19-3.
While the Crusaders celebrated the title three-peat by bellowing out their team song and drenching each other with booze, the Jaguares players wept with disappointment and frustration.
Jaguares coach Gonzalo Quesada left little doubt as to how much his team were hurting following the loss in Christchurch as he described the scenes inside the team's inner sanctum at Orangetheory Stadium.
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"I think like, you guys (the media), everyone must imagine the guys should just be proud and be just happy to be here," Quesada said.
"(But) the dressing room is really sad and terrible. The guys are in tears because they went through a hell of a season.
"They put in a lot of commitment there."
The Jaguares travelled almost 10,000km to get to Christchurch, defying everyone's - bar their most loyal supporters' - expectations by qualifying for the final.
But they stumbled at the last hurdle; unable to unlock the Crusaders' defence, their only points coming from a penalty kicked by Joaquin Diaz Bonilla.
The Jaguares also conceded penalties at vital moments and were unable to execute on several occasions when they made line breaks.
As Quesada watched his players weep, he knew they had given their utmost to try and tropple the most successful team in the competition.
"I told them 'sometimes we win, sometimes we lose'. The main goal we gave ourselves this season, we achieved it.
"I think maybe in a couple of hours their spirits will be higher, but it is good to know there is no mediocrity either. If we were just happy to be in the final - it is not in their mind.
"I think they are going to realise, little by little what they did, and hopefully they will be happy later."
As the only team from Argentina the Jaguares' organisation has largely been successful in contracting the bulk of the international squad that will play in the Rugby Championship and World Cup later this year.
The team's copped criticism from former Wallaby-turned-commentator Phil Kearns this year, but surely few others could begrudge the Jaguares' their success since joining the competition in 2016.
A win for the team would have also boosted the profile of rugby immensely in football-mad Argentina.
And Quesada admitted one of his main objectives during the build-up was temper his players' emotions by not burdening them with expectation.
"I tried to hide that as much as I could from the players. I hide it from myself, too. But I think it was something quite historical.
"No-one could imagine something like this a couple of years ago. Even at the beginning of the season when we lost a couple of key players, too."
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