Steval Pumas vs Xerox Golden Lions 23 July 2017

Jul 20 • General News • 1357 Views • Comments Off on Steval Pumas vs Xerox Golden Lions 23 July 2017

Match: Steval Pumas vs Xerox Golden Lions

Venue: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit

Date: 23 July 2017

Kick-off: 14:30

Let the games begin: Steval Pumas vs Xerox Golden Lions

Steval Pumas’ coach Brent Janse van Rensburg has said that the Currie Cup Premier Division will present exciting new opportunities for his side, ahead of their first match of the competition against the Xerox Golden Lions this Sunday.

In the SuperSport Rugby Challenge, the Steval Pumas’ only played two out of nine games on their home turf of Mbombela Stadium, the venue for this weekend’s massive clash. The Currie Cup will see the Steval Pumas playing half of their group games at the stadium.

Janse van Rensburg said that his team has learnt lessons from their performances against the Xerox Golden Lions in the SuperSport Challenge. The Steval Pumas came out on the losing side of two hotly-contested matches in the group stage before going down 35-25 to the Xerox Golden Lions in the quarter-finals.

“We came up short against the Lions a few times, but we did more than enough to show that we could have got winning results. We have systems in place to contain them. Lessons were definitely learned and this week poses a big opportunity for us,” said Janse van Rensburg.

In team news, much excitement awaits as young prop Pieter Scholtz makes his Pumas debut in the number 3 jersey. Scrumhalf Stefan Ungerer has been included on the bench after signing from the Eastern Province Kings.

“It’s great for us to have some new guys in the squad and it always injects new energy. There is some healthy competition for places which always challenges everyone to be the very best they can be. From a tactical standpoint, it gives us new options to pick players,” said Janse van Rensburg.

The coach explained that the Steval Pumas have been working on multiple options to effectively counter the Xerox Golden Lions fast style of play.

“We’ve worked through all of these options and the players have been put through their paces. We just have to execute our systems really well and every player has to ensure his individual prep this week is executed on the field. If we can do that, I think we’re in with a good chance,” Janse van Rensburg said.

The match against the Xerox Golden Lions kicks off at 14:30 at the Mbombela Stadium. Tickets cost R40 for adults and R10 for kids. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office at Mbombela Stadium and at Computicket.