The Airlink Pumas kicked into high gear against the Vodacom Bulls on Saturday August 9, dominating the Pretoria side on home turf to rise to the top of the Carling Currie Cup table.

Following a regrettably disappointing performance against the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in the second round of this year’s Carling Currie Cup, the Pumas would have been chomping at the bit to right their wrongs in the Jacaranda City last week. It looked set to be a typically tough trip to Loftus though, as the Bulls enjoyed sizeable victories against the DHL Western Province and Hollywoodbets Sharks in the first two rounds.

The Pumas had also only won one of their last five Currie Cup games against the Bulls, which meant they had their work cut out for them.

With an early kick-off at 15:00, the men from the Lowveld broke the deadlock through a Danrich Visagie penalty, before the hosts responded with a try to take a 7-3 lead.

This would, however, be the only reason for the supporters in blue to cheer for the remainder of the game. The Pumas regained the lead just before the break when Eddie Swart touched down, taking a slender three-point lead into half-time. At this point, the game was still very evenly poised and could have gone either way in the second period.

But, the men in pink seemed to find another gear that left the Pretorians blue and bruised. Basking in the Highveld winter sun, the Pumas turned up the heat and took the Bulls to the slaughter with 31 unanswered points in the second half.

Pumas skipper Willie Engelbrecht extended their lead when he powered over the line, and just six minutes later Tiaan de Klerk added another five-pointer after a piece of brilliance from Pumas scrum half Ross Braude, who put De Klerk through to score. More quick-thinking from Braude in the 63rd minute saw him score a try of his own that arguably put the game to bed, as it left the Bulls with an escarpment-sized mountain to climb.

They would stage no comeback, as Hanno Theunissen and André Fouche added late tries for the men from Mpumalanga to finish the game in style with a 41-7 triumph. It marked a refreshing return to form for the Lowvelders, who are now top of the Currie Cup table after three matches, joined by the Cheetahs (second), and surprise package of the Currie Cup so far, the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers (third) on 11 points.

The Bulls (fourth), Fidelity ADT Lions (fifth) and Suzuki Griquas (sixth) are all on 10 points which leaves the Currie Cup wide open after the first three rounds.

The Pumas’ next challenge will be against the Lions, who they tackle this Saturday, August 16, at 14:00 at Nelspruit Rugby Club.

The Pumas’ point-scorers were:
Tries: Eddie Swart, Willie Engelbrecht, Tiaan de Klerk, Ross Braude, Hanno Theunissen, Andre Fouche.
Conversions: Danrich Visagie (4).
Penalty goal: Visagie.