Pumas keep play-off hopes alive
MATCH REPORT: The Pumas kept their hopes of reaching the Currie Cup play-off alive with a 45-10 bonus-point win over the Lions on Wednesday.
On the back of a win over the Western Province, the Pumas were fully aware of the importance of this fixture and delivered another incredible performance.
*To recap all the action CLICK HERE!!!
The hosts outscored their opponents seven tries to two in very humid conditions in Nelspruit.
The result means the Pumas retain leapfrog to fourth on the log, pending the result between the Sharks versus Griquas.
The Lions remain at the bottom with their two points.
The Lowvelders shot out of the blocks and were ruthless as they wrapped up the four-try bonus point and snuffed out any hopes the Lions had of breaking their duck in just 28 minutes.
The shell-shocked visitors finally got a foothold in the fixture two minutes before half-time, hooker Jacque-Lois du Toit scoring from a driving maul to give them the faintest of silver linings to look at pushing on from trailing 5-26 at the break.
They did that to an extent but the hosts dotted down three more times to build on their 37-11 win over Western Province and move into fourth place on the log for the time being.
With Jimmy Stonehouse’s troops boasting over 400 caps, their grizzled experience and rugged physicality were simply overwhelming in what could be described as a mismatch of men against boys, with Mziwakhe Nkosi’s side having an average age of just 22 years.
The Pumas asserted their dominance from the opening scrum in the second minute, driving the visitors back at the rate of knots. It looked ominous for the under-fire men from Johannesburg when the home team marched over for their first try in short order through hooker Eduan Swart.
Shane Kirkwood came close to doubling the lead with a pick and go, but no conclusive evidence of a grounding materialised. If Swart’s maul try looked effortless, the second was child’s play as Sebastian de Klerk waltzed over following another dominant scrum. Eddie Fouche successfully added the conversion on this occasion to make it 12-0 after 15 minutes.
A cracking kick-return from fullback Tapiwa Mafura, who caused the Lions all sorts of problems, got the rampant hosts right back in the red zone and loosehead prop Corne Fourie wormed his way over for a converted try.
It took 24 minutes for the Lions to finally work their way into the attacking 22 only for the industrious Swart to clamp onto the ball to win a penalty. The Pumas went right back to business with Tinus de Beer scoring the bonus-point try before the Lions finished the half on a positive note through Du Toit.
The much-needed score galvanized the Lions, who had the better of the first 15 minutes after the interval and finally managed to string together some phases.
However, they couldn’t crack the resolute defence whereas the Pumas converted both of their chances, Devon Williams scoring a scorcher and captain Willie Engelbrecht also getting onto the scoresheet.
A silky try by Sasko Ndlovu after some deft handling showed the potential the Lions possess as they were rewarded for their improved vigour in the second stanza but the men in pink one-upped them one last time with some ridiculous handling seeing Alwayno Visagie having the final say.
Man of the match: There were loads of standout performers for the Pumas, and the likes of Sebastian de Klerk, Ignatius Prinsloo and Corne Fourie all deserve a mention. However, our nod goes to Pumas fullback Tapiwa Mafura, who was simply outstanding and made a couple of lethal runs and carries.
The scorers:
For Pumas:
Tries: Swart, De Klerk. Fourie, De Beer, Williams, Engelbreght, Visagie
Cons: Fouche 5
For Lions:
Tries: Du Toit, Ndlovu
Teams
Pumas: 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Alwayno Visagie, 12 Eddie Fouche, 11 Jade Stighling, 10 Tinus de Beer, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Anele Lungisa, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Shane Kirkwood, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Ignatius Prinsloo, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Llewellyn Classen, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Etienne Janeke, 19 Darrien Landsberg, 20 Phumzile Maqondwana, 21 Giovan Snyman, 22 Ali Mgijima, 23 Devon Williams.
Lions: 15 Vaughen Isaacs, 14 Boldwin Hansen, 13 James Mollentze, 12 Tyler Bocks, 11 Zeilinga Strydom, 10 Luke Rossouw, 9 Jurich Claasens, 8 Jarod Cairns, 7 Lindo Ncusane, 6 Sasko Ndlovu, 5 Connor van Buuren, 4 Peter-John Steenkamp, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (captain), 2 Jacque-Lois du Toit, 1 Kayden Kiewit.
Replacements: 16 Dameon Venter, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Chergin Fillies, 19 Junior White, 20 MJ Pelser, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 James Tedder, 23 Ngia Selengbe.
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant referees: Ashleigh Murray-Pretorius, Local
TMO: Quinton Immelman