The Pumas u/20 rugby team lost their final pool match in the SA Rugby U/20 Shield competition.

Had the Pumas won the game against the Valke u/20s, they would have qualified for the final.

The match was played at White River Rugby Club on Saturday.

The Valke won 33-22.

The Mpumalanga u/20s were their own worst enemy on the field. After dominating play for the first 20 minutes, they fell apart as the Valke upped their game.

It was a remarkable performance by the visitors. Their physicality and precision were too much for the home team to handle.

Bernick Bezuidenhout scored for the Pumas u/20s in the ninth minute, and then Jererome Ngwenya scored from a blindside move after a scrum on the 5m line for a 10-0 lead.

The Pumas seemed firmly in control of the match. But the Valke were ready for a fightback.

Francois Beukes put the first points on the board for the Valke when he scored a try off a maul in the 28th minute. Divan du Toit kicked the conversion.

The Pumas hit back with a try, also from a maul, by James Coetzee. Bezuidenhout kicked the conversion for a 17-7 lead.

The Valke raised their game and the Pumas were under pressure in their own 22m area.

Eddie Evans scored and shortly afterwards, Beukes claimed his second try for the Valke u/20s. Du Toit slotted the conversion for Evans’ try.

The Valke held a 19-17 lead at half-time.

Riekerd Bornman scored a try early in the second half when the Valke attacked from inside their own half. Du Toit added the extra two points.

Another Evans try, converted by Du Toit, extended the Valke’s lead to 33-17.

The Pumas threw everything at the Valke in the final 15min of the match.

Vuyelwa Khoza went over in the left corner for the Pumas late in the game.

The final score, 33-22 to the Valke, was a fair reflection of the game.

The Valke increased the tempo of the match when needed. They played intelligent rugby with which the Pumas could not cope.

The Pumas made too many unforced errors. They played with a lot of heart, but this was not enough to win the game.

The final of the SA Rugby u/20 Shield will be played between the Valke and Border at the North-West University Vaal Campus on Saturday May 27 at 15:00.

• In the second match of Saturday afternoon, Ehlanzeni faced Gert Sibande in a Mpumalanga Regional Amateur Challenge 2022 game.
The home team outclassed the visitors to win 53-17. The half time score was 36-7 in favour of Ehlanzeni.

Points scorers
Ehlanzeni
•Tries: Jaice Terblanche (2); Mark Pretorius (2); Marcelino Marais; Neo Mavundla; Divan Cronjé; Morné Pretorius; Junior Kotze
• Conversions: Robbie Malan (3); Ruben Behrens (1)
Gert Sibande
• Tries: Dillon de Beer; Nthutheko Moyane; Dewald Zondach
• Conversions: Nicky van Rensburg (1).