Hoërskool Middelburg played host to the grand finale, where our young local heroes squared off against the Eastern Province Elephants.

A successful penalty attempt from the halfway line put the game beyond doubt, as the Pumas held on for the final few minutes to secure a 39 – 32 victory.

The Pumas were at one stage 24 – 11 behind, they, however, used a handful of their nine lives to ensure the Elephants wouldn’t expand on their lead.
A late first-half rally managed to cut the Elephant’s lead to three.

Both teams headed into the break with a sense of confidence, although momentum was on the Pumas side.

As the second half approached, you could feel the atmosphere tighten, the boisterous crowd was quiet and the tension was palpable, both teams had everything to lose.
The score stood at 24 – 21 in favour of the Elephants, but the Pumas clawed their way back from the brink.

With the second half underway, the Pumas stepped up their intensity, contesting every ruck as if it were their last, committing to every tackle, holding on to opposition players as if it were a matter of life and death, but for the Pumas, it mattered more than that, it was the chance for every player in the squad to write their name in rugby folklore.

The Pumas managed to grab hold of the lead, but there was still an elephant in the room, the Eastern Province side scored, to retake the lead with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.

A quick response was necessary, the Pumas were behind by one point and time was against them, but they knew they would have at least one more chance to steal the game, and the Shield along with it.

The Elephants put up a meagre defence of their slim lead, with the Pumas jotting the ball across the touchline with little resistance, but a missed conversion gave the Elephants hope.
All they needed was one try, just one try to jot their names down in the history books, the pressure was on for both teams.

Fighting to gain mere centimetres, the Pumas stood firm, like a boxer swerving and manoeuvring their way out of every punch their opponent threw their way.
The Pumas used their cat-like reflexes to not get hit, to not let the Elephants get even a sliver of a taste of victory, the Pumas would simply not let their opposition score.

After their steadfast resilience, the Pumas delivered the knockout blow, as the referee awarded the Pumas a penalty, the easy decision would be to kick the ball out of play and wind the clock down with a lineout, but Russwill Fredericks had other plans.

The Pumas fly-half had put in a man-of-the-match display, scoring 23 of his team’s 36 points, and now standing near the halfway line, Russwill trusted his ability and opted for a penalty attempt.

Russwill had composure and confidence to spare, as his 50-metre kick casually sailed through the middle of the uprights.

The Pumas could now breathe, this meant that the best the Elephants could hope for was a draw in regular time, but the match would finish 39 – 32 in favour of our boys in pink.
There was no huff and no puff left in the Elephants’ trunks, as the Pumas earned a deserved victory.

Celebrations ensued, with the coaching staff and players jumping wildly into each other’s arms. Only they knew the effort and sacrifice each member of the team had dedicated to this unbelievable season, the Pumas earned the trophy.

The Pumas are champions and Middelburg is smiling.

The try scorers are as follows: Russwill Fredericks (2x), Seyabonga Ngobeni, Jan Joubert and Vuyelwa Khoza.

Penalties and conversions: Russwill Fredericks (4x penalties, 2x conversions) and Jan Joubert (1x penalty).