Unstoppable Pumas dominate Griquas
During the 2013 Currie Cup season only two teams played 80 home minutes against Griquas without conceding a try: the Blue Bulls in a 15-9 win in at Loftus in August, and the Steval Pumas at Mbombela Stadium on Friday night.
The Griquas scored tries in their away games against the Sharks, Cheetahs, Western Province, and the Lions.
Also the Griquas beat the eventual Currie Cup Premier Division champions the Sharks in Durban in August, but could not beat the First Division champions, Steval Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.
Although much does change in the course of a Currie Cup season, these facts indicate how special the Pumas’ performance was on Friday night.
They snatched destiny in their own hands and lifted their game in the second half to beat Griquas and claim a deserved place in the Currie Cup Premier Division.
The Pumas won 33-15 and outscored Griquas three tries (one a penalty try) to none.
In the 76th minute of the game Pumas wing, Rosco Spekman scored a match-defining, season-defining try.
He poached the ball after Griquas’ Springbok Willie le Roux lost control of it and ran 50 metres to score the try that took the game past the point of no return for
Griquas.
The Mbombela fans went wild. The Steval Pumas outclassed Griquas in every aspect of the game in the second half. They scrummed with ferocity, tackled with precision, and attacked with passion. They stole a Griquas lineout.
They were superb. Despite playing with 14 men for 10 minutes, after Renaldo
Bothma executed dangerous tackle, the Steval Pumas went into half time with a
16-12 lead. Gouws Prinsloo put the visitors 3-0 up early in the third minute.
Two minutes later Coenie van Wyk collected a kick, broke through the Griquas
defence and passed to Stefan Watermeyer to score. JC Roos added the two points
and also kicked two first-half penalties.
Pumas lock, Rudi Mathee was stretchered off the field after a Griquas boot accidently made contact with his face. There was a lot of blood. He was replaced by Eduan van der Walt. Prinsloo nailed three more penalties for Griquas.
A 30th minute Rocco Jansen try was referred and disallowed after the TMO ruled Prinsloo had knocked on when starting the move. With five minutes of play left in the first half, Roos kicked a drop goal after a sustained period of attack in the Griquas 22-metre area.
The first 40 was played at a frantic pace. The two teams threw everything at each
other, much to the delight of the 6 531 spectators.
With both teams making use of the width of the field, the rugby was exhilarating.
Griquas had the better of the set pieces in the first half even though the Pumas held a slender lead. Like the 80 minutes in Kimberley, the Pumas scrum battled against the
Griquas raw power. It seemed Griquas were going to step up a gear and the Pumas
were going to be in big trouble.
Then something remarkable happened. The Steval Pumas found an inner strength and lifted their game to a level with which the Griquas could simply not cope. The second half belonged to one team – the Steval Pumas.
They were awarded a penalty try after Jean Stemmet deliberately knocked the ball from a Pumas hand. The Pumas had a huge overlap with only Stemmet in defence. The TMO ruled a try would have been scored. Roos converted for a 23-12 lead. Stemmet was yellow carded.
After kicking two goalable penalties into touch and not capitalising on the resulting possession because of the do-or-die Pumas tackling, Griquas’ Prinsloo slotted a three pointer.
A Roos penalty, after the Pumas destroyed the Griquas scrum, took the score to 26-15. Then Spekman weaved his magic and put the result of the game beyond question.
The fans erupted and a final penalty, which Roos missed, made no difference.
The celebrations had started.
During a injury break midway through the second half the Griquas players stared at one another, hands on their hips, shell shocked. They had no plan B, C or D against the onslaught of the Pumas.
The second half was the best 40 minutes of rugby the Steval Pumas played all
season.
Every player shone, not one starter or replacement had a poor game. Faf de Klerk among the backs, and Renaldo Bothma among the forwards, did dazzle, but this was an almighty team effort.
Next season The Sharks, Western Province, Cheetahs, Lions and Blue Bulls await the Steval Pumas. The fans’ heroes will be ready for them.
