Pumas downed by Lions in Johannesburg

The Airlink Pumas and the Fidelity ADT Lions had their claws out in the second cat fight between the two sides on Friday 28 April.

On this occasion, it was the Lions who showed their dominance in only their third win of the 2023 Carling Currie Cup. They beat the defending champions 26-10.

Both the Pumas and the Lions were off to a shaky start but that soon ended for the Johannesburg outfit when Manie Rass jogged over for his first try of the match in the 11th minute. Gianni Lombard easily added the extras.

Soon after, another unanswered try followed for the home side with Lions scrumhalf, Morné van den Berg, scoring a try.

The first points on the board for the Mpumalanga side came through the kicking boot of Tinus de Beer as he slotted over a penalty with less than 20 minutes to go in the half.

The hosts roared into a dominant lead soon after with Van den Berg adding another five-pointer to his name to establish a 21-3 lead at half time.

The second half kicked off with try scorer, Van den Berg, undoing his first-half heroics by receiving a yellow card for foul play. Fullback Andries Coetzee stepped in as scrumhalf for the 10 minutes Van den Bergh spent in the sin bin.

Despite numerous attacking efforts by the Pumas, hoping to use their one-man advantage to add some much-needed points, unforced errors crept into their game costing them at crucial times. Not to take anything away from the Lions’ defence, but Jimmy Stonehouse’s charges were their own worst enemy.

Deep into the second half, Rass secured his second try which could have been the final nail in the coffin for the Pumas, however, replacement flyhalf Brandon Thomson managed a try after the hooter which served as the Pumas’ last breath. He converted his own try, bringing their tally up to 10.