Pumas bring Boland back down to earth
MATCH REPORT: The Pumas recorded their first victory in the 2026 Currie Cup season after they edged Boland 20-15 in a hard-fought Round Three encounter in Wellington on Sunday.
Flyhalf Nevaldo Fleurs produced a man-of-the-match performance for the visitors. He contributed 15 points, which included a try.
For Boland, it was their first defeat of the campaign after they recorded victories over the Bulls and Stormers XXIII.
The visitors opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a penalty goal from Fleurs.
Things got a bit awkward for Boland a few minutes later after Kwanda Dimaza was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head tackle.
Despite being a man down, Boland were causing all sorts of problems for the Pumas, and they were rewarded for their enterprise in the 25th minute with Xavier Mitchell collecting a ball from a cross-kick to score the opening try,
However, the Pumas were back in front in the 29th minute when Thomas Bursey collected a loose ball from a kick before running in for the five-pointer. Fleurs made it a five-point lead with the conversion.
Boland received their second yellow card in the 36th minute, and this time it was shown to James Tedder for a high tackle.
Things got even better for the Pumas at the start of the second half with Fleurs gliding through Boland’s defence to score his team’s second try.
Boland stayed in the fight with a converted try from Dayan van der Westhuizen after a powerful driving maul.
The home side also received a huge advantage when Pumas lock JJ Scheepers was shown a yellow card for cynical play.
The Pumas were under constant pressure inside their own 22 for large periods, but they weathered the storm and they eventually extended their lead with a penalty goal from Fleurs.
After turning down several kickable penalty opportunities, Boland decided to go for poles in the 78th minute and this time Jayden Bantom reduced the Pumas’ lead to five points.
It was too little, too late for the home side, with the Pumas holding on for the win.
The scorers:
For Boland:
Tries: Mitchell, Van der Westhuizen
Con: Tedder
Pen: Bantom
For Pumas:
Tries: Bursey, Fleurs
Cons: Fleurs 2
Pens: Fleurs 2
Yellow cards: Kwanda Dimaza (Boland, 15′ – foul play, high tackle); James Tedder (Boland, 36′ – foul play, high tackle); JJ Scheepers (Pumas, 60′ – deliberate knock-on)
Teams:
Boland: 15 James Tedder, 14 Xavier Mitchell, 13 Lunathi Nxele, 12 Jurick Lewis, 11 Jayden Bantom, 10 Chris Smit, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Thurlow Marsh (captain), 7 Kwanda Dimaza, 6 Gift Dlamini, 5 Marlyn Williams, 4 Jeandré Leonard, 3 Dayan van der Westhuizen, 2 Llewellyn Classen, 1 Mthokozisi Gumede.
Replacements: 16 Darnell Osuagwu, 17 Dewald Maritz, 18 Heiko Pohlmann, 19 Johnré Stopforth, 20 Taine Booysen, 21 Godlen Masimla, 22 Ashlon Davids, 23 Domenic Smit.
Pumas: 15 Jaycee Nel, 14 Alfonso Isaacs, 13 Sango Xamlashe (vice-captain), 12 Wian van Niekerk, 11 Banie Britz, 10 Nevaldo Fleurs, 9 Thomas Bursey, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Ruwald van der Merwe, 6 Ntsika Fisanti, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 JJ Scheepers, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Chyle van Zyl, 1 Etienne Janeke.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Henning Campher, 17 Kudzwai Dube, 18 Junior Banda, 19 Stephan Krugel, 20 Thabo Ndimande, 21 Russwill Fredericks, 22 Troy Delport, 23 Darren Adonis.
Referee: Morne Ferreira
Assistant referees: Dylen November, Zoe Naude
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen
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