Pumas U21 defeat Valke U21 in Kempton Park

Pumas U21 secured a 47-26 victory over Valke U21 in Round 2 of the SA Rugby U21 Shield at Bernard Stadium on August 29.

Valke suffered their second loss of the tournament following an 83-24 defeat against Limpopo U21 at Chris Wild Stadium on August 22.

“I believe we played well; we played the majority of the rugby, but we couldn’t finish when we got into their 22-metre area,” said Valke U21 Head Coach Alvandre Maart.

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“The Pumas scored four tries out of our mistakes; however, we were good when we kept the ball. We want to improve; we need to sort out our lineouts and first-time tackling; we gave them easy tries. We need to keep believing in the process and keep working hard.”

Both teams started strong; however, the Pumas dominated Valke, capitalising on their mistakes to increase their chances of creating a large gap for Valke to fill. However, Valke did not back down from a challenge.

Valke pushed hard to catch up to the Pumas, and regardless of their mistakes, they picked themselves up and fixed them right there on the field to prevent the Pumas from taking advantage.

“It is our first game of the season, so there is obviously a lot of work still and individual errors that we need to fix,” said Pumas U21 Head Coach Jacques Momberg.

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“It was good to see the boys play. It is difficult in this league because you always have to travel, and it is a short league as well, with only four games, semi-finals, and finals.

“I am happy about the win; I am happy about the five points. However, there is a lot of work to be done, especially fixing the individual errors for our next game.”

In the second half, Valke found their footing while still falling behind, giving it their all to make the competition tough for the Pumas. Their opponents did not relax, maintaining possession despite Valke’s attempts to push them out of the game.

Regardless of all the power Valke put in, the Pumas gave them a run for their money and did not make the game easy for them. The Pumas defeated Valke 47-26 at full-time, making this the second loss for Valke.

“We made about four mistakes that they capitalised on, and they were just better in that moment,” said Valke U21 Captain Divan Brits.

“We know what to improve on, and the team responded well and brought in what we want to improve for the next game that’s ahead of us. Firstly, we give thanks to the Lord for giving us the opportunity and talents to play the game.

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“I am proud of the guys and even though we were with our backs in the corner, we still kept fighting to get out of that corner and that is character, and that’s the attitude we want going into the next week, and we are hungry for the bounce back and just to showcase what we are capable of.”

Valke remain adamant that they will bounce back and improve.