Pumas bash out a second win
Comments
0
In a hard-fought battle in Nelspruit it was the Pumas who were able to absorb pressure and turn the tide to beat the Griquas 33-15 on Firday.
It was a tight contest to begin, with there only being a solitary point between the teams at half-time, and although the Griquas had the large majority of possession, it was the Pumas who were more clinical.
The Pumas absorbed much of the Griquas attack and when they had a chance to attack they took full advantage – scoring four tries
The Griquas on the other hand could not seem to find that last pass as the ball often fell out of the hands at critical moments.
The Pumas opened their account in the second minute as flyhalf Justin van Staden slotted a 50 metre penalty to give his side a 3-0 lead.
Griquas broke the Pumas defence in the 29th minute, as flank Marnus Schoeman burst over from a rolling maul for the visitors.
Fullback Francois Brummer could not convert, but it gave Griquas a 5-3 lead.
Van Staden responded for the hosts with a penalty to regain the lead at 6-5.
The Pumas continued the scoring as wing Jerome Pretorius dotted down for his side's first try of the match, but Van Staden missed the conversion.
Griquas responded in kind with a try through flyhalf Dean Grant as he darted past a couple of Pumas defenders.
Brummer converted to help his team to a 12-11 lead.
After the interval, Pretorius grabbed his second five pointer of the evening, but Van Staden again missed the conversion as the Pumas led 16-12.
Grant replied for Griquas with another penalty to close the gap to one point.
Pumas eighthman Renaldo Bothma scored a try on the hour mark.
Van Staden converted to put the hosts in front by eight points.
Pumas replacement flyhalf JC Roos nailed a penalty in the 68th minute to stretch the Pumas lead to 11 points.
The bonus point try followed for the home team as captain Corne Steenkamp rounded of a driving maul right before the hooter sounded and claimed a hard-fought victory for the Pumas.
Man of the Match: There were a number of stand out performances from both teams. Marnus Schoeman impressed in his ball carrying – as did Bothma and even more so in his defence, the Griquas debutant flyhalf Grant looked silky in attack – bit a little weary in defence – Johnathan Francke looked good on return from his red card against the Sharks. However, it was the work of Vincent Koch that was most impressive
Scorers:
Pumas:
Tries: Pretorius 2, Bothma, Steenkamp
Cons: Van Staden, Roos
Pens: Van Staden 2
Griquas:
Tries: Schoeman, Grant
Con: Grant
Pen: Grant
Teams:
Pumas: 15 Heinrich Steyl, 14 Ruwellyn Isbell, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Jerome Pretorius, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Reynier van Rooyen, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Corné Steenkamp (captain), 5 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 4 Frikkie Spies, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Corné Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Frankie Herne, 17 DeJay Terblanche, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Dylon Frylinck, 21 JC Roos, 22 Rosko Specman.
Griquas:15 Francois Brummer, 14 Ederies Arendse, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Wayne Stevens (captain), 11 PJ Vermeulen, 10 Dean Grant, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Carel Greeff, 7 Ruaan Lerm, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Jaco Nepgen, 4 Jonathan Adendorf, 3 Ewald Van Der Westhuizen, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacments: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Maks Van Dyk, 18 Hugo Kloppers, 19 RJ Liebenberg,20 Abrie Griesel, 21 Gideon La Grange, 22 Neil Marais.
Referee: Quinton Immelman
Assistant Referee: Jaco van Heerden, Sieg van Staden
TMO: Johan Greeff
ADVERTISEMENT
