Golden Lions squeak past the Steval Pumas

With both sides eager to make the most of their first chance to prove themselves in a match situation this year, the first 15 minutes remained scoreless, before the Lions’ Gerdus van der Walt went over in the 19th minute for a converted try.

The Pumas replied with two penalty kicks from Kobus Marais, but there was no further scoring in the first half as the Lions went into the change room with the slimmest of leads.

Marais was on song with the boot again to take the Pumas ahead after 51 minutes, and five minutes later Devon Williams extended his side’s lead with a beautiful running try, converted by Marais.

The Lions fought back hard and closed the gap to two points going into the last quarter, with a five pointer by Jarryd Sage and Siya Masuku converted the try taking the score to 16-14.

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An unconverted Lions try by Masuku in the 66th minute proved to be the decisive moment. A rainy last ten minutes dampened the flow of the game and the visitors held out for victory against a worthy opponent in the Pumas.

Pumas coach Brent Janse van Rensburg said that some uncertainty was to be expected from the first match of the season.

“We didn’t quite execute everything that we wanted to and it was a bit of a scrappy affair, but we aren’t too concerned about it. At the end of the day it was a closely fought match. We’ve now got a good idea of the things to work on for next week and going into the SuperSport Challenge, but we feel like we’re starting to build some good momentum to take forward,” said Janse van Rensburg.

Next up for the Pumas is another warm-up match against Western Province at Newlands Saturday.

The men from Mpumalanga will have another opportunity to further their preparations for the SuperSport Challenge at the end of April.