Isbel and team thrashes Valke
Winger, Ruwellyn Isbel equalled a 40-year-old record, dotting down five tries for the iCollege Pumas in their 54-7 victory over the Hino Valke in the SuperSport Challenge fixture at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
Isbel’s 25 points equals former South Eastern Transvaal winger Dirk Pretorius’ record when he scored the same number of tries against the South Western Districts.
It was the Pumas’ second consecutive 54 in two matches after defeating the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias with a similar score-line the previous weekend.
Hooker Marko Janse van Rensburg opened the scoring and from then on it was pretty much the Isbel show.
Flyhalf Chris Smith converted six of the tries with captain Hennie Skorbinski and JP Lewis also contributing to the try tally.
Three teams – the Toyota Free State XV, Pumas and DHL Western Province – remain undefeated after four matches.
The Pumas will take on the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this coming weekend. The Pretoria-based team defeated the Xerox Golden Lions 27-20.
“It was a good effort from the players in wet conditions with some great touches. Ruwellyn scoring five tries was really great to see and the kick execution by Chris and the aerial skills shown by Ruwellyn for one of his tries was exceptional.
“Our maul stoppage was good and our first maul try was very well executed,” said coach of the Pumas, Brent Janse van Rensburg.
“However, we left a fair amount of points on the field due to impatience in contact and had we just looked after the ball better and not forced passes in contact, I think we would have scored quite a few points more. Our focus now must be shifted quickly onto the challenging match against the Bulls this weekend.”
