Craven Week: Border edge Pumas
Comments
0
Border did just enough to beat the Pumas 32-28 in a classic Craven Week game in Stellenbosch which could have gone either way.
The Eastern Cape side outscored the Pumas by five tries to three in a match between two very evenly matched teams which saw the lead change hands regularly throughout.
The match got off to a tense start, with both teams showing some early nerves before Pumas flyhalf Wessel Muller opened the scoring with an early penalty.
That gave the Pumas some confidence and it did not take long for them to produce the first try of the game, with inside centre Cyprian Nkomo picking the ball up off his bootlaces to cap off a flowing counter-attack.
Border got on the scoreboard through a penalty from scrumhalf Josh Allderman, and they had the lead soon afterwards when flank Heinrich Nieuwenhuizen barged his way over from close range after an impressive run from fullback Bulele Sotyelelwa had put them in the 22.
The conversion from Allderman put Border 10-8 up after a breathless opening 15 minutes, and the end-to-end dogfight continued with both teams willing to run the ball from deep inside their own territory.
The Pumas scrum was dominant, and it put them in position for the next try when a deep kick from a scrum put Border wing Thaki Boloko under pressure. His clearance kick was charged down and his opposite number Mlondi Mnisi was on hand to score the try which saw the lead change hands again as Pumas went 15-10 ahead.
Border responded with a try from outside centre David Brits who dotted down in the corner to level the scores at 15-15 after an entertaining first half.
Sense prevailed at half-time and the Pumas changed into a pink strip, which made telling the teams apart much easier, and they claimed the lead back early in the second half when Muller slotted his second shot at goal.
However, they did not have it for long as Border showed good patience in the 22 to eventually put big lock Daniel Froneman over for a try which put them 22-18 up.
The team from the Eastern Cape had their tails up and launched themselves at the Pumas defence once more, with Nieuwenhuizen crashing over for his second try to put them out of range at 27-18.
However, Pumas were right back in it when flank JC Pretorius ran a great line and showed incredible pace to cut through the Border defensive line and score in the corner.
That put the match right in the balance again with the Pumas trailing 27-25 with just 15 minutes to play.
The Mpumalanga outfit got their noses in front again with another penalty from Muller, but Border refused to lie down and their backline produced the goods once again with wing Thaki Boloko getting over in the corner to see them edge in front once more.
The closing stages of the match were frantic with neither side holding anything back, and it was Border who were able to hold on for the win.
Man of the match: There were impressive candidates on both sides, Pumas centre Cyprian Nkomo and flank JC Pretorius both had outstanding games, while for Border centre David Brits showed some class but our award goes to flank Heinrich Nieuwenhuizen who scored two tries.
The scorers:
For Pumas:
Tries: Nkomo, Mnisi, Pretorius
Cons: Muller 2
Pens: Muller 3
For Border:
Tries: Nieuwenhuizen 2, Brits, Froneman, Boloko
Cons: Allderman 2
Pen: Allderman
Teams:
Pumas: 15 Telvin Mhlongo, 14 Mlondi Mnisi, 13 Siyabonga Khalishwayo, 12 Cyprian Nkomo, 11 Mfundu Ndhlovu, 10 Wessel Muller, 9 Gideon Van der Merwe, 8 Marnus Van der Merwe, 7 Mpumelelo Mathias, 6 JC Pretorius, 5 Vusi Mkhonza, 4 Coenie Kruger (captain), 3 Hloni Mphuthi, 2 Armand Adlem, 1 Steven Pieterse.
Replacements: 16 Pieter Bekker, 17 Stephan de Jager, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 Marius Verwey, 20 Chrisjan Steynberg, 21 Ruben Roodt, 22 Fana Ngwenya.
Border: 15 Bulele Sotyelelwa, 14 Tristian Coetzer, 13 David Brits, 12 Sango Xamlashe, 11 Thaki Boloko, 10 Courtney Winnaar, 9 Josh Allderman, 8 Hanru Sirgel, 7 Nico Grobler, 6 Heinrich Nieuwenhuizen, 5 Daniel Froneman, 4 Kwanda Dimaza, 3 Lutho Selem, 2 Bubule Gongqa, 1 Cole van Tonder.
Replacements: 16 Leon Lyons, 17 Daniel Voigt, 18 Siyanda Am, 19 Gerhard Broodryk, 20 Siyamthanda Mgubo, 21 Yaw Penxe, 22 Michael Botha.
Referee: Fernando Uithaler
Assistant referees: Sindile Ngcese, Renier Vermeulen
TMO: Jaco Pretorius
ADVERTISEMENT
