It took 100 minutes of absolute attrition and guts, but eventually the Airlink Pumas won the 2026 SA Cup final 38-35 against the Suzuki Griquas on Saturday night, May 23.

It was a nail-biting match in Kimberley that will long be remembered by the fans of both teams. It was a game that could have gone either way until the 99th minute.

The bodies and minds of the players in both teams were pushed beyond the limit. The Pumas won by just three points through sheer determination.

The Pumas scored first thanks to quick thinking by Thomas Bursey. He tapped a penalty and off-loaded to Ntsika Fisanti who scored. Nevaldo Fleurs kicked the conversion.

The Griquas hit right back with a try from Cameron Hufke after the ball went down the back line. George Whitehead added the two points.

At 7-7 after nine minutes it seemed this final was to be a humdinger, but what played out over the next 90 minutes on the field is the stuff movies are made of.

The Pumas took almost total control of the match, dictating the tempo and forcing the Griquas into repeated unforced errors. Under pressure, the Griquas battled to come up with a plan B.

The Pumas stole a Griquas line-out on the home team’s 22m line and Jay-cee Nel finished off in the right corner. Fleurs slotted the conversion from a difficult angle.

Wian van Niekerk then barged over for a try, with the boot of Fleurs once again accurate on the conversion.

The Pumas held a 21-7 lead.

In the 33rd minute Dylan Maart was shown a 20-minute red card after a dangerous takeout in the air on Ludi Msenge.

The Pumas scored again just before half-time. Fleurs jinked through a gap in the Griquas’ defence and passed to Nel to score the try. Fleurs was successful with the conversion kick.

The half-time score was 28-7 in favour of the visitors. The Pumas were sublime in the execution of their game plan and the Griquas looked a shadow of the team that had, so far, dominated the 2026 competition.

But the Griquas were far from done. They came out in the second half breathing fire. The home team played to their strengths, softening the Pumas up with their forwards and dominating the breakdown.

Lourens Oosthuizen went over to score a try from a five-metre tap penalty shortly after the restart. Whitehead kicked a deadeye conversion.

The Griquas stamped their authority on the match and suddenly the Pumas were under pressure.

Fisanti was yellow-carded in the 59th minute for a cynical foul to stop a Griquas maul.

The Griquas’ Caleb Abrahams scored a try off an attacking scrum and Whitehead took the score to 28-21 in the Pumas’ favour.

Tiaan Lange scored from an attacking maul with the Pumas having no answer to the home team’s forward domination. Whitehead evened the score at 28-28 with six minutes to play.

The final whistle sounded and the game was headed to extra time – two 10-minute periods.

The Pumas hit first in extra time. Replacement fly half Danrich Visagie cut through the Griquas to score a try. He added the two points and five minutes later another three from a penalty goal.

The Pumas led 38-28 at the break.

Just after the restart the Griquas scored, again off a maul with Lange having ball in hand. Whitehead kicked the conversion between the uprights. The Griquas trailed by three.

For the next seven minutes it was pure guts on the field. The Griquas were looking dangerous but the Pumas held on.

In the final minute, Griquas had an attacking line-out throw. Despite being outlifted, Mylani Ngobeni somehow managed to steal the ball out of Albert Liebenberg’s grasp for the Pumas. It was a split-second of never-say-die moment that summed up the Pumas 100 minutes of rugby.

The ball was bashed up and recycled and Conor van Eden kicked it into touch to end the battle and the war.

The Pumas had won by three points.

The Mpumalanga team will now turn their attention to the Toyota Challenge. The matches will be played at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.

Toyota Challenge fixtures (kick-off times are preliminary):
Friday, June 5
• 13:30 Airlink Pumas vs Black Lion (Georgia)
• 15:30 Suzuki Griquas vs Romania A
• 18:00 Toyota Cheetahs vs Lusitanos Cartrack (Portugal)
Wednesday, June 10
• 13:30 Suzuki Griquas vs Black Lion
• 15:30 Airlink Pumas vs Lusitanos Cartrack
• 18:00 Toyota Cheetahs vs Romania A
Sunday, June 14
12:00 Suzuki Griquas vs Lusitanos Cartrack
14:00 Airlink Pumas vs Romania A
16:30 Toyota Cheetahs vs Black Lion.