Pumas do the Cheetahs double
The Pumas continued their remarkable Currie Cup form with an impressive 31-17 Round Five win over the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
It was remarkable for two reasons – it was their first away win of the season and it completed a season double over the Cheetahs.
The Pumas also outscored the Cheetahs by three tries to two, to ensure they stay in the play-off race – with the competition at the halfway stage.
There is no doubt the Pumas are on fire in this year's Currie Cup competition.
The team from Nelspruit still find themselves among the top teams on the log after producing a well-rounded performance to beat a Cheetahs side that itself has been gaining good momentum in recent weeks.
The Cheetahs put the Pumas under pressure from the get-go, with a botched kick-off leaving the hosts in the visitors' half.
A penalty brought much-needed relief for the Pumas and they in turn produced a stellar start to underline that running rugby would be the order of the day.
Equally matched on attack and defence, it was the scrums that separated the sides, with the Pumas dominating this facet of play from the start. They drew momentum from it, but good defence by the Cheetahs denied them.
The Pumas drew first blood in the 18th minute when centre Hennie Skorbinski rounded off a well-planned attack to score. Flyhalf Justin van Staden converted to give the visitors a seven-point lead after a hard-fought opening 20 minutes.
Van Staden kicked a number of useful penalties shortly afterwards to stretch the lead to 13 points after the Cheetahs infringed in the breakdown area. The Cheetahs are dangerous from turn-over possession, as centre JP du Plessis' try in the 32nd minute showed.
Giving away possession, the Pumas paid the price with Du Plessis sprinting down the touchline to dot down for the home side. Flyhalf Pieter-Steyn de Wet converted.
This reduced the points deficit to six, but Van Staden opened it up again as the Cheetahs' discipline again came up short. At half-time the visitors led 16-7.
The Pumas started the second half with as much ambition as they had shown in the first, but the Cheetahs also seemed more motivated, no doubt after a stern talking-to from coach Rory Duncan at the break.
The Pumas continued their dominance of the scrums and forced several penalties that allowed them to relieve some of the pressure applied by the Cheetahs.
But the hosts kept on coming, with scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius scoring from the breakdown area after beating at least five Pumas' defenders. De Wet kicked the conversion to reduce the visitors' lead to two points.
The Cheetahs' deficit opened to five points when Van Staden kicked another penalty in the 58th minute. De Wet countered with a three-pointer of his own, bringing the hosts within two points of the visitors once more.
Some aerial ping-pong followed before Pumas' wing Rosco Spekman stepped through the Cheetahs' defenders in the 72nd minute to score. Replacement flyhalf JC Roos kicked the conversion.
Cheetahs' wing Rayno Benjamin's yellow card five minutes from full-time did not do his side any favours, and the Pumas' replacement lock Marius Coetzer crossed for a final try. Roos failed to convert, but the try put the result beyond doubt.
Man of the match: Rayno Benjamin, one of the few Cheetahs not to harm his reputation, had his moments. Clayton Blommetjies started well, but then went to sleep. No.8 Renaldo Bothma and lock Lubabalo Mtyanda again had 'giant' performances. However, our award goes Pumas wing Rosco Speckman – who scored a vital try and was involved in much that was good about the visitors' performance.
The scorers:
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Du Plessis, Pretorius
Cons: De Wet 2
Pen: De Wet
For the Pumas:
Tries: Skorbinski, Speckman, Coetzer
Cons: Van Staden, Roos
Pens: Van Staden 4
Yellow card: Rayno Benjamin (Free State Cheetahs, 76 – professional foul, cynically killing the ball)
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Rayno Benjamin, 13 Phillipus du Plessis, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Pieter-Steyn de Wet, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Jean Cook, 7 Neil Claassen, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Henco Venter, 3 Rudolph Botha, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Kevin Stevens.
Replacements: 16 Abraham le Roux, 17 George Marich, 18 Werner Lourens, 19 Vincent Jobo, 20 Shaun Venter, 21 Willie du Plessis, 22 Joubert Engelbrecht.
Pumas: 15 John-Wessel Bell, 14 Jerome Pretorius, 13 Jacobus Jonker, 12 Hennie Skorbinski, 11 Rosco Speckman, 10 Justin van Staden, 9 Dylon Frylinck, 8 Renaldo Bothma, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 6 Corne Steenkamp (captain), 5 Lubabalo Mtyanda, 4 Frikkie Spies, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 Corne Fourie.
Replacements: 16 Frank Herne, 17 Dee-Jay Terblanche, 18 Marius Coetzer, 19 Jaco Bouwer, 20 Reynier van Rooyen, 21 Juan-Claude Roos, 22 Coenie van Wyk.
Referee: Craig Joubert
Assistant referees: Gerrie de Bruin, Jaco Kotze
TMO: JJ Wagner
