Pumas put youthful Bulls to the sword

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The Pumas ended their season on a high with an excellent display of attacking rugby seeing them beat a young Bulls team 44-14 in Nelspruit on Sunday.

The result saw the Pumas end their domestic campaign with their third win of the season, after home and away wins over Griquas.  However, this is a win that will mean something special for Jimmy Stonehouse’s team, as they finally managed to grab the scalp of one of the bigger unions, after coming so close to doing so against the Stormers in Super Rugby Unlocked.

Following an exhausting derby win over the Lions in midweek, Bulls coach Jake White named a youthful team with several players either making their first senior appearance or first start in the Currie Cup. It is for this reason that the Bulls won’t be too perturbed by the end result, as their thoughts would have always been on the semi-final against the Lions in just under a couple of weeks’ time.

Still, the Pumas deserve credit for taking the game to the Bulls from the off, as the home side raced into a 31-0 lead in the opening 30 minutes, thanks to tries from wings Etienne Taljaard and Luther Obi as well as loose-forwards Willie Engelbrecht and Daniel Maartens, while flyhalf Devon Williams went over for a sensational score for the first of his brace of tries.

The Bulls managed a response through tries from hooker Joe van Zyl and debutant centre Dawid Kellerman, but the result was all but put to bed when Williams went over for his second try in the 63rd minute.

Pumas – Tries: Devon Williams (2), Daniel Maartens, Willie Engelbrecht, Etienne Taljaard, Luther Obi. Conversions: Ginter Smuts (4). Penalties: Smuts (2)
Bulls – Tries: Joe van Zyl, Dawid Kellerman. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2)

Pumas – 15 Tapiwa Mafura, 14 Luther Obi, 13 Alwayno Visagie, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Devon Williams, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Daniel Maartens, 5 Darrien Landsberg, 4 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 3 Ignatius Prinsloo, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Morgan Naude
Subs:16 AJ le Roux, 17 Eduan Swart, 18 Heath Backhouse, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Giovan Snyman, 21 Tiaan Botes, 22 Sebastian de Klerk, 23 Liam Hendricks.

Bulls –  15 Clinton Swart, 14 Jade Stighling, 13 Marnus Potgieter, 12 Dawid Kellerman, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Arno Botha (c), 6 WJ Steenkamp, 5 Janko Swanepoel, 4 Jan Uys, 3 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 2 Joe van Zyl, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.
Subs: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Divan Venter, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Kabelo Mokoena, 23 Jay-Cee Nel.

Photo: Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images

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Dylan Jack