Pumas red hot in the Joburg cold

THE Steval Pumas ran in 10 tries to one as they claimed a comprehensive 64-8 (halftime 31-3) victory in their SuperSport Rugby Challenge encounter against the Windhoek Draught Welwitschias at a wet and cold Bill Jardine Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The bonus point victory sees the Pumas climb to third position on points difference on the North conference, but condemns the Welwitschias to a fourth match in a row where they have shipped at least 50 points.

Poor tackling from the Namibians as well as yellow cards in quick succession to Gino Wilson and Daryl de la Harpe contributed to the Pumas crossing the line five times in the first half to open up a 31-3 lead.

It seems churlish to point to refereeing errors when a match is so one-sided but the Welwitschias can rightly feel aggrieved at two decisions that went against them in the first stanza.

Despite the high swinging arm, De la Harpe’s sending off seemed harsh given the fact that Puma’s scrum half Reynier van Rooyen was ducking when he gathered the ball.

The sending off only added insult to injury as only a few minutes earlier, Pumas fly half Kobus Marais was the beneficiary of some leniency when his double movement before dotting down went unpunished.

Nonetheless, none of that should take anything away from the Pumas’ performance.

They were simply in another league with Van Rooyen providing spark whenever he touched the ball.

The pivot acted as the perfect fulcrum between an energetic backline and a powerful pack and played the role of orchestrator to perfection with sniping runs and fast line breaks.

A break is only as good as the support it receives and in Ruwellyn Isbell the Pumas had a winger that offered scything lines whenever a teammate managed to break a tackle and contributed with two tries of his own.

The visitors from north of the border would bag a try late in the match when Lesley Klim collected a cross field kick, but it was mere consolation as the Pumas hit back with man-of-the-match Brian Shabangu and Sias Eberhsohn pushing the try tally into double figures.

The men in pink will face much stiffer opposition in this competition and will not have learned too much from this morale boosting win.

They travel to Kempton Park next week to take on the Valke who are also the Welwitschias’ next opponents after the Namibians’ will enjoy a much needed break with a bye. – supersport.com

Steval Pumas: 64 (31)

Tries: Ruan Nel (6′), Frank Herne (17′), Ruwellyn Isbell (24′, 48′), Kobus Marais (28′), Carel Greef (35′), Emile Temperman (56′), Devon Williams (62′), Brian Shabangu (73′), Sias Ebersohn (78′)

Conversions: Kobus Marais (3), Sias Ebersohn (4)

Windhoek Draught Welwitschias: 8 (3)

Try: Lesley Klim (70′)

Penalties: Theuns Kotze (1)

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