Five months ago Eddie Fouche suffered serious hip and knee injuries in an Unlocked match against the Stormers. Tonight he scored all of the New Nation Pumas’ 22 points to beat the Toyota Cheetahs 22-15 in a Preparation Series match at the same Mbombela Stadium. 

Fouche kicked five penalties, four which were 40-plus metres, scored a try and kicked the conversion.  It was his third match since recovery; he started two and came on as a reserve in one.

It was a scrappy match with both teams making too many unforced errors and giving away unnecessary  penalties. But it was brutal and thrilling until the final whistle.

It was a hot evening and the players were pushed to their physical limit.

The first half was a battle of the kickers with Ruan Pienaar slotting a penalty and Rhyno Smith a 52-metre drop goal for the visitors and Fouche slotting four penalities for the home team.

The best of these was a massive kick by Fouche from just over the halfway line on 34 minutes.

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The first half was a stop-start affair. With the numerous penalties and frequent stops for injuries, the game never flowed. The half-time score was 12-6 in favour of the Pumas.

Pienaar took just seven minutes in the second half to ensure that his team drew level with the Pumas, with two penalty kicks.

A infringement on 66 minutes by the Pumas, and Frans Steyn’s boot, gave the lead to the Cheetahs for the first time. The veteran utility back had just come on as a replacement centre and booted the ball from 60 metres out, and the Gilbert floated over the cross bar with space to spare.

Then, with ten minutes left he Pumas took a quick tap penalty in a position from which Fouche would have stroked the ball over the uprights. The attack went through various phases with Fouche stealing the last few centimetres to cross the try line. He slotted the conversion of his own try.

Four minutes later he kicked the penalty to give his team a seven-point lead.  The Pumas held out for the last five minutes, despite the Cheetahs throwing everything at them.

It was a deserved and hard-fought win. The Pumas played with 14 men from the 49th to the 59th minute after Morgan Naudé committed a foul.

The match never produced entertaining rugby. But it was relentless and the best team won.