The Airlink Pumas claimed their first victory of the 2026 Carling Currie Cup with a hard-fought 20-15 win over the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers in Wellington on Sunday, August 2.

Nevaldo Fleurs contributed 15 of the visitors’ points.

Disciplined response

The Kavaliers struggled with accuracy and discipline throughout the contest, conceding 12 penalties in the first half and losing two players to the sin bin – Kwanda Dimaza was yellow-carded early in the match, while James Tedder also spent time off the field after a high tackle.

Despite their difficulties, the men from Wellington took the lead midway through the first half when Xavier Mitchell finished off a well-taken cross-kick from Chris Smit.

However, the visitors responded through scrumhalf Thomas Bursey after capitalising on a loose ball from a high kick to carry a 10-5 advantage into the break. Fleurs, who added the conversion to an earlier penalty goal, scored a converted try early in the second half to push the visitors further ahead.

Dayan van der Westhuizen’s converted try then narrowed the gap to 17-12, but Fleurs gave his team an eight-point lead with his second penalty goal 10 minutes from time, before a late penalty goal from Jaydon Bantom ensured the hosts grabbed a losing bonus point from the contest.

Log standing and next fixture

The Airlink Pumas are sixth on the eight-team log table after the weekend’s matches. They have seven points.

The Mpumalanga team will face the bottom-of-the-table Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, August 8 at 15:05.