Pumas too good for ill-disciplined Griquas
MATCH REPORT: The Pumas started their 2025 Currie Cup campaign with a 49-28 bonus-point win over Griquas at the Mbombela Stadium on Friday.
The hosts outscored their opponents by six tries to three during the 80 minutes.
Griquas showed plenty of fight in the match, but their discipline was a big problem. They had three players yellow-carded in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
The visitors also had some late changes to their matchday squad, and they ended up with a seven-one split between forwards and backs on the bench.
It was an awful start for the home side as they gave away a penalty right after the kick-off, which George Whitehead converted into three points for Griquas.
However, the Pumas responded almost immediately when Heinz Bertram charged down a Whitehead kick before Sango Xamlashle picked up the loose ball and ran in for the opening try in the third minute.
Griquas showed patience with ball in hand after that, and they were rewarded when Gustav Erlank was put into space to score a five-pointer in the 12th minute.
However, their lead didn’t last long as the home side bounced back a couple of minutes later with flyhalf Danrich Visagie slicing through the Griquas defence to score a try after some silky handling by his teammates.
Visagie took a little too long with his conversion attempt, and the two points were scratched off by the shot clock.
Griquas eventually regained the lead in the 23rd minute after Whitehead landed a three-pointer before the flyhalf made it a four-point lead in the 25th minute after his side won a scrum penalty.
The home side inched closer with a couple of Visagie penalties before the visitors silenced the crowd again when Griquas crossed the whitewash again.
However, the Pumas had the final say in the first half when replacement hooker Eduan Swart went over for a five-pointer after a powerful driving maul.
Visagie converted the score to make it 25-23 to the Pumas at the break.
It was a chaotic opening few minutes to the second half for Griquas when they lost their halfbacks, Abrahams and Whitehead, to yellow cards.
With the pressure mounting, the Pumas extended their lead to five points with another Visagie penalty.
Not long after that, the Pumas made the two-man advantage count as they found acres of space in Griquas’ defence and Wian van Niekerk was on hand to run in for the bonus-point score in the 52nd minute.
Things went from bad to worse for Griquas in the 54th minute when Gurswin Wehr became the third player to be yellow-carded for cynical play.
Griquas finally came alive in the closing stages of the game and with a bit of momentum on attack, Mnombo Zwelendaba crashed over for a try in the 71st minute before Whitehead missed the conversion.
But it wasn’t enough as the Pumas scored another two tries in the final minutes,
The first was scored by replacement JJ Scheepers before wing Darren Adonis finished the game in style after collecting the ball from a kick-pass and sprinting in for the five-pointer.
Man of the match: The award goes to Pumas scrumhalf Ross Braude, who was a livewire on the field. He kept the Griquas’ defenders guessing with his decision-making on the field.
The scorers:
For Pumas:
Tries: Xamlashle, Visagie, Swart, Van Niekerk, Scheepers, Adonis
Cons: Visagie 5
Pens: Visagie 3
For Griquas:
Tries: Erlank, Abrahams, Zwelendaba
Cons: Whitehead 2
Pens: Whitehead 3
Yellow cards: Caleb Abrahams (Griquas, 44′ – cynical play, deliberate knockdown); George Whitehead (Griquas, 46′ – repeated infringements, offside); Gurswin Wehr (Griquas, 54′ – cynical play, deliberate knockdown); JJ Scheepers (Pumas, 77′ – cynical play, offside)
Teams:
Pumas: 15 Tino Swanepoel, 14 Lindi Msenge, 13 Sango Xamlashle, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Darren Adonis, 10 Danrich Visagie, 9 Ross Braude, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Kwanda Dimaza, 6 Ntsika Fisante, 5 Jeandré Leonard, 4 Heinz Bertram, 3 Sampie Swiegers, 2 Eduan Swart, 1 Etienne Janeke
Replacements: 16 Darnell Osuagwau, 17 Stephan de Jager, 18 Dewald Maritz, 19 JJ Scheepers, 20 Andre Fouché, 21 Russwell Fredericks, 22 Wian van Niekerk, 23 Stephan Coetzee
Griquas: 15 Cameron Hufke, 14 Dylan Maart, 13 Mnombo Zwelendaba, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Gurswin Wehr, 10 George Whitehead, 9 Caleb Abrahams, 8 Gustav Erlank, 7 Carl Els, Jac van der Walt, 5 Albert Liebenberg, 4 Malembe Mpofu, 3 Cebo Dlamini, 2 Tiaan Lange, 1 Leon Lyons
Replacements: 16 Gustav du Randt, 17 Eddie Davids, 18 Ntobeko Shezi, 19 Derik Pretorius, 20 Lourens Oosthuizen, 21 Phumzile Maqondwana, 22 Marco de Witt, 23 Thomas Bursey.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Hernus Coetzee (South Africa), Phumzile Mbewu (South Africa)
TMO: Cwengile Jadezweni
Photo by Johan Orton/Gallo Images
