The Sigma Lions hosted the Airlink Pumas in their second Carling Currie Cup encounter at the Emirates Airline Park today. The Airlink Pumas scored their third win in a row over the Sigma Lions (50-09) with a dominant performance against a hapless host.
The Pumas cemented their dominance in the first half with straight and aggressive running and defence that clearly unsettled the Lions players.
The Lions came back strong in the first twenty minutes of the second half, however, thereafter the Pumas took again control of the match on the back of a brilliant kicking game by flyhalf Tinus de Beer.
14:04 Tinus de Beer converted a penalty to open the scoring. (00-03)
16:21 Devon Williams scored the Pumas first try. The Lions made a handling mistake in the Pumas 22m which was quickly recovered by the Pumas. Sebastian de Klerk's kick was regained by Williams who had an easy run to score the try. (00-10)
20:00 The Pumas controlled the ball and territory for the first 10 minutes before the Lions could get their hands on some quality ball. A mistake by the Lions may have led to the Pumas try, however, the 10 point lead is a true reflection of the action up to that stage.
26:36 Vaughen Isaacs convert a penalty for the Lions. (03-10)
29:09 Daniel Maartens scored the Pumas second try after Lucky Dlepu took a quick tap from a penalty. Great handling by the Pumas saw Maartens running in for his try from 20m out. (03-17)
38:52 Vaughen Isaacs converted his 2nd penalty for the Lions. (06-17)
42:05 Corne Fourie scored the Pumas third try of the day from the back of a 5m lineout maul. (06-24)
The Pumas cemented their dominance in the first half with straight and aggressive running and defence that clearly unsettled the Lions players.
41:57 Vaughen Isaacs converted the Lions third penalty. (09-24)
44:04 Tinus de Beer scored the Pumas bonus point try after a great break by de Beer slicing past several Lions "defenders". (09-31)
60:00 The Lions' replacements started to make a difference with Tedders' kicking making an immediate difference. The Pumas at that stage were happy to "defend" their lead, however, new energy by the Lions on defence forced the Pumas to make some errors.
63:53 Simon Raw scored the Pumas' fifth try, bursting through the middle of a 5m lineout to score his first Currie Cup try. (09-36)
68:03 Llewellyn Classen scored another try for the Pumas forcing his way over the tryline from a maul. (09-43)
78:24 Brandon Valentyn scored another try for the Pumas from the back of a 5m line-out maul. (09-50)
Scorers:
Sigma Lions: Penalties: Vaughen Isaacs (3).
Airlink Pumas: Tries: Sebastian de Klerk, Daniel Maartens, Corne Fourie, Tinus de Beer, Llewellyn Classen, Brandon Valentyn. Conversions: Tinus de Beer (6). Penalty: Tinus de Beer.
Sigma Lions: 15.Quan Horn 14. Boldwin Hansen 13. Manuel Rass 12. Tyler Bocks 11. Zeilinga Strydom 10. Vaughen Isaacs 9. Ginter Smuts 8. Jarod Cairns 7. Sibusiso Sangweni 6. Mark Snyman 5. Lunga Ncube 4. PJ Steenkamp 3. Asenathi Ntlabakanye 2. Morne Brandon 1.Banele Mthenjane Replacements: 16. Dameon Venter 17.Heiko Pohlmann 18. Sibusiso Shongwe 19.Ruan Venter 20. MJ Pelser 21. Nico Steyn 22. James Tedder 23. James Mollentze.
Airlink Pumas: 15. Devon Williams, 14. Tapiwa Mafura, 13. Sebastian de Klerk, 12. Ali Mgijima, 11. Lundi Msenge, 10. Thinus de Beer, 9. Lucky Dlepu, 8. Kwanda Dimaza, 7. Phumzile Maqondwana (c), 6. Daniel Maartens, 5. Darrien Landsberg, 4. Malembe Mpofu, 3. Ignatius Prinsloo, 2. Corne Fourie, 1. Ruan Kramer. Replacements: 16. Llewellyn Classen, 17. Dewald Maritz, 18. Simon Raw, 19. Brandon Valentyne, 20. Khwezi Mafu, 21. Giovan Snyman, 22. Alwayno Visagie, 23. Andries Viljoen.