Jimmy wants Pumas to ditch 'small team' syndrome

INTERVIEW: Wily Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has elevated his team's status to 'major' ahead of the Currie Cup Final.

The defending champions travel to Bloemfontein on Saturday to tackle the Cheetahs in another intriguing Final - which most 'pundits' see as a 'big city' team (Cheetahs) against a 'small town' outfit (Pumas).

However, Stonehouse sees it very differently.

Despite the obvious transport challenges - a four-hour bus trip to Johannesburg, a flight to Bloemfontein and an eight-hour bus ride back to Nelspruit - he does not see his team as a 'minnow'.

"The cost factor plays a big role," Stonehouse told @rugby365com, adding that departing on the Saturday straight after the game also allows the players to get back home sooner - instead of spending another night in a hotel.

Despite still not being favourites, the amiable Pumas coach said he does not see his team as having a 'lesser' status than their rivals.

"I know that nobody is giving us a chance," he said of the bookmakers' odds that only give the visitors a 26 percent chance of a win and a handicap of at least seven points.

"I told the players they must stop talking about [us as] a small union.

"You give yourself a mental disadvantage, starting to think everyone is better than you.

"The fact that we are not playing in Europe, we want to sit back and say we are a smaller union.

"Of course, we have less money and fewer competitions we play in.

"But we have the quality players in demand by the so-called 'bigger' unions," he said of former Pumas players like Tapiwa Mafura, Daniel Maartens and Jeandre Rudolph - who regularly feature in the Cheetahs' matchday squad.

"They are now in that 'big' team and playing in a European competition," he told @rugby365com.

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"With the guys currently in our team, it is just a matter of time then they are also picked up by the so-called big unions.

"That is why I told them to stop talking about [being at] a small union.

"You go to a 'big' union, but it is the same player.

"You can't suddenly be a small [minnow] player."

He admitted being written off does have its advantages, but said the player must accept that they are the equal of the Cheetahs.

In their last 10 encounters, the teams are level at five wins each - with the Pumas winning three of their last five encounters.

Their Currie Cup pool matches this year are one each - the Pumas winning 61-21 in Bloemfontein in March and the Cheetahs winning 29-14 in the return match in Nelspruit earlier this month.

"The players know exactly what awaits them in Bloemfontein," the coach said.

"It is important that we play with conviction and don't get caught up in the pre-match hype."

Stonehouse expects a typical physical approach from the Cheetahs and said that while the 'pundits' may make the Nelspruit team the underdogs, he doubt the Cheetahs would underestimate them.

@king365ed

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