The Avbob Griquas Women buried their Pick n Pay Women’s Super League 2 bogey in gutsy fashion at Mbombela Stadium on Friday, outplaying the Hollywood Foundation Pumas Women 31-25 in a pulsating final.

The Pumas had home-ground advantage and had defeated Griquas 67-29 in the opening round of the competition, entering as defending champions and undefeated in this year’s campaign.

Pumas led 17-14 at the break, but the Northern Cape team delivered a much more clinical second-half performance, with their bench making a significant impact.

Griquas’ victory – their first title in the provincial women’s game – came on the back of making the most of the important moments in the match, while the Pumas will look back at the loss of their provincial crown knowing that they came close, but were beaten by a team that wanted it more.

Early exchange of tries

The opening five minutes were lively with both teams having early attacking probes, but both were guilty of losing possession at crucial times.

The home side scored first when Skhulile Mabuza charged through the Griquas defence and, after a few rucks, fullback Alicia Mahlalela scored in the corner for a 5-0 lead. Griquas hit back immediately. A break by fullback Inga Qogi opened the Pumas’ defensive line, and the hosts went off their feet trying to stop the recycled possession and were penalised. Griquas tapped and shortly thereafter centre Sibabalwe Jobo crashed over. Qogi converted to put Griquas in the lead at 7-5.

The Pumas came back immediately with a brilliant solo effort by inside centre Pauline Sianga, who took the restart, sold an outrageous dummy and ran 60m to score.

The host team’s 10-7 lead was good value as they started building attacking momentum, and a try by prop and team captain Mbali Mzizi did not come as a surprise. A good offload resulted in the third try of the match for the Pumas. The conversion was successful, extending the lead to 17-7 after 30 minutes.

Griquas pulled one back close to the half-time whistle, with captain Jennielee van Nel finishing off good supporting play after flyhalf Juanine Jacobs broke through. Qogi converted to make it a three-point game at the break.

Griquas take control

Griquas started strongest in the second half and managed to fix the poor handling that dogged their first-half attack.

Hooker Lindokuhle Sinaze scored a fine try after a superb supporting line gave her open space. She raced to the corner to put Griquas back in the lead at 19-17.

When Griquas scored again, it became clear the match was going down to the wire.

A Pumas high tackle handed Griquas a penalty that they tapped. The ball was kept alive through numerous phases before Van Nel scored her second try. Qogi kicked the conversion for a 26-17 lead after 55 minutes.

However, the Pumas responded as expected from a defending champion. They attacked relentlessly with good interplay between backs and forwards, and Mahlalela scored her second try with a clever inside-out dart to cut the lead to four points.

Dramatic finish

An intervention from the bench upped Griquas’ game. Replacement centre Tyrell Wilson added massive thrust with her straight running and forced errors in the Pumas’ defence, resulting in penalties for the visitors.

From a tap penalty, Wilson worked her way over the line and, with just over 10 minutes to go, Griquas’ lead was extended to 31-22.

The home side’s ace kicker, winger Sandisile Mkhabela, cut three points off that lead with a well-taken, long-range penalty goal to leave the match finely poised at 31-25.

The final 10 minutes were as dramatic as the previous 70, but Griquas’ rush defence did enough damage to the Pumas’ attacking effort, and when referee Angie Bezuidenhout called time, history was made.

The Pumas Women have grown in stature over the past two seasons, with their back-to-back finals appearances attesting to this.

Before Friday’s defeat, they last lost a competitive match on August 2, 2025, when they fell 37-19 away to the SWD Eagirls, ending an eight-match winning WSL 2 streak.

This season, they scored 61 tries and conceded 21 in eight matches.

The top try scorers in the competition, both with 10, were the Pumas’ Megan Guambe and Alicia Mahlalela.

The top points scorer was the Mpumalanga team’s Sandisile Mkhabela on a whopping 61.

Tries: Mbali Mzizi, Alicia Mahlalela (2), Pauline Sianga Conversions: Sandisile Mkhabela Penalty goal: Mkhabela.

The CEO of the Mpumalanga Rugby Union, Marius van Rensburg, writes:

Four years ago, we started putting a proper structure in place for women’s rugby in Mpumalanga. At the time, our senior women’s team was bottom of the log.

We knew, however, that if we wanted to build something sustainable, we had to start at the beginning – with our young girls.

Through our development programmes, we have created a pathway for girls from as young as 10 years old, progressing through our U16 and U18 programmes, where they participate in the SARU Youth Weeks, and ultimately for our senior women’s team.

The hard work and commitment have started to pay off.

Last year, the Pumas Women achieved something that had never been done before – they won the Women’s Super League 2 for the first time in Mpumalanga rugby history.

This year, they have continued to make us proud. They went unbeaten through the pool stages and qualified for a second consecutive final. We lost to the AVBOB Griquas, but that does not take away from what these incredible women have achieved. We remain extremely proud of them.

But now we face a major challenge.

Every year, many of our players receive offers from other unions and universities because we simply cannot afford to offer any bursaries, study opportunities or employment to keep them in Mpumalanga.

And when we lose these players, we are often forced to start the development process all over again.The heartbreaking part is that many of these ladies want to stay in Mpumalanga. Some have parents and families they need to look after, and they want to build their lives here in the province. But without opportunities for education or employment, they are left with very few options.

This is my plea to the people and businesses of Mbombela and Mpumalanga: please help us help our own.

We have talented, committed young women who want to represent their province and build their future here.

If your business can assist one of these players with a bursary, tertiary education, training opportunity, internship or employment, it could change the course of that young woman’s life – and help us keep our talent in Mpumalanga.

Women’s sport is a priority for the Mpumalanga Rugby Union.

Let’s work together to build a sustainable future for women’s rugby, create opportunities for our players, and give these incredible women the support they deserve.

If you or your business can assist, please contact me directly on 082 960 1732.