14-man Steval Pumas fall to Boland
Playing the majority of their Currie Cup fourth round match with 14 men, the Steval Pumas couldn’t prevent the Boland Cavaliers from running out to a 25-22 victory in Wellington on Friday, having to settle for two bonus points instead. Despite outscoring the hosts by four tries to three, several missed kicks and handling errors compounded the problems for the Mpumalanga side.
The visitors dominated both possession and territory in the opening stages, with hooker Frankie Herne crossing for the opening try in the 8th minute. Francois Brummer couldn’t convert, and a penalty from opposing flyhalf Theuns Kotze was followed by a converted try from fullback Adriaan Carelse to give Boland a 10-5 lead.
Fisher saw red in the 26th minute for leading with his elbow when carrying the ball up field, knocking out Boland’s Gerhard van Wyk.
Kotze kickeda towering drop goal on the stroke of halftime to extend the lead to 13-5.
The Steval Pumas began the second half strongly, with a wonderful spell of offloading leading to an unconverted try by captain Renaldo Bothma. Showing some good ball retention, the team went through all of 30 phases a few minutes later, culminating in Leighton van Wyk stretching over to give the Steval Pumas a 17-13 lead with Brummer’s conversion.
Marnus Schoeman was unlucky to have the ball ripped from his hands after a stellar defensive turnover on his own try line, as Shaun Adendorff went over for Boland. Replacement wing Robbie Louw followed up with a try in the 72nd minute. Substitute Steval Pumas scrumhalf Kevin Luiters showed some nifty footwork to snipe through the Boland defence with two minutes to go, but the home side managed to hold out for the win.
“We missed far too many opportunities again, especially in the first half, and it was never going to be easy to play with a man down. The second half was a much better display and I thought the guys showed a lot of heart. Unfortunately, things aren’t going to get any easier with the Bulls, Western Province and the Cheetahs up next, so we have to find a way to step up our game,” said Steval Pumas coach MJ Mentz.
SCORERS:
Pumas: Tries: Frankie Herne, Renaldo Bothma, Leighton van Wyk, Kevin Luiters
Conversions: Francois Brummer
Cavaliers: Tries: Adriaan Carelse, Shaun Adendorff, Robbie Louw
Conversions: Theuns Kotze (2)
Penalties: Kotze
Drop goal: Kotze
Photo: Caption
Emile Temperman of the Pumas on the attack during the Currie Cup premier division match between the Boland Cavaliers and The Pumas held at Boland Stadium, Wellington, South Africa on the 2nd September 2016
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