The Pumas laid waste to the Bulls in their opening round clash of the Currie Cup at Loftus Versfeld, with the rampage from the reigning champions ending with the final score of 63-15 yesterday.

The huge win for the men from Mbombela was a clear message that they want more than just domestic competition and speaking post-match, coach Jimmy Stonehouse told reporters: “Except for the motivation [winning the Currie Cup and a result like this brings], we hope there’s a big, big sponsor that will come aboard.

“But we’re really grateful for the guys helping us currently. Just bringing the community together [since last year’s title win] has been fantastic. Winning last year and a result like this really helps the team with their belief.

Watch: Highlights: Pumas raid Loftus

He added: “I told them [on Sunday] morning: if you can beat the Bulls here in their own backyard, people sit up and take notice. The bigger unions notice you because you’re competing at their level.

“As a union, we have our backers who are happily on board and we always hope we can convince others to experience the value we can offer to them.

“But we’ll always struggle in terms of keeping our players if we aren’t participating in an international competition where we can present ourselves and offer a bigger challenge to the players. That’s one of our biggest issues.”