The New Nation Pumas hosted the Lions in Mbombela tonight in the first match of the 2021 Carling Currie Cup season. Apart from the first 22 minutes of the game, the Pumas dominated to score a convincing win with 39-10.
Eddie Fouché controlled the game for the Pumas with an educated boot on a solid basis provided by a dominant pack of forwards. A dominant and clinical performance by the Pumas sending a clear message to anybody seeing themselves as a contender to be crowned Currie Cup champion 2021.
05:00 The Lions started the match, making several handling mistakes. A knock-on from Vincent Tshituka in the in-goal area from the Pumas the most costly mistake.
20:00 The first 20 minutes of the match was dominated by the Lions. They enjoyed most of the possession and rarely were outside the Pumas' half. Brilliant defence by the Pumas kept the Lions from scoring any points and although the Lions showed a lot of patience in the attack the score was 00-00 after 20 minutes.
22:21 Sibusiso Sangweni scored the Lions' first try on debut. He forced his way over the tryline from a maul 3 meters out, (00-07).
27:28 Eddie Fouché converted a penalty to open the Pumas' account, (03-07).
31:22 Eddie Fouché converted his second penalty for the Pumas, (06-07).
33:46 The Pumas turned up the heat after the Lions opened the scoring with a try by Sibusisi Sangweni. Ettienne Taljaard collects a kick from Eddie Fouché to score the Pumas' first try of the match to take the lead, (13-07).
39:25 A brilliant high kick from Eddie Fouché could not be controlled by the Lions which allowed the Pumas to force a penalty. The subsequent lineout-maul saw Simon Westraadt score the Pumas' second try, (18-07).
40:00 The momentum is with the Pumas who has dominated the second part of the first half. The Lions' normal rock-solid scrum is failing them which gave the Pumas backline a solid base to launch their attacks from.
47:50 The Pumas started the second half in the same manner as they ended the first half. A "failed" 5m lineout-maul resulted in a 5m scrum from which Willie Engelbrecht scored his first try of the season, (25-08).
60:10 Continued pressure after a silly mistake by the Lions resulted in the Pumas' bonus point try by Dewald Maritz, (32-10).
60:00 The Lions got their hands on a little bit of ball in the second quarter but could not do much with it as the Pumas defence was solid, denying the Lions points since the 23rd minute of the match.
68:28 Ginter Smuts scored the Pumas 5th try when he took a quick tap from a penalty. The Lions defence lapsed concentration to blame, (39-10).
A brilliant and well-deserved win by the Pumas.
Scorers:
Lions: Tries: Sibusiso Sangweni. Conversion: Fred Zeilinga.
New Nation Pumas: Tries: Etienne Taljaard, Simon Westraadt, Willie Engelbrecht, Dewald Maritz, Ginter Smuts. Conversion: Eddie Fouché (4). Penalties: Eddie Fouché (2).
New Nation Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Tapiwa Mafura, 13 Erich Cronje, 12 Ali Mgijima, 11 Etienne Taljaard, 10 Eddie Fouché, 9 Chriswil September, 8 Willie Engelbrecht, 7 Phumzile Maqondwana, 6 Francois Kleinhans, 5 Pieter Jansen van Vuren (captain), 4 Darrien Landsberg, 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Simon Westraadt, 1 Corne Fourie. Replacements: 16 Dewald Maritz, 17 Eduan Swart, 18 Ignatius Prinsloo, 19 Brandon Valentine, 20 Daniel Maartens, 21 Ginter Smuts, 22 Matt Moore, 23 Jade Stighling.
Lions: 15 EW Viljoen, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Manuel Rass, 12 Dan Kriel, 11 Sibahle Maxwane, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Dillon Smit, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Sibusiso Sangweni, 5 Reinhard Nothnagel, 4 Willem Alberts, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Pieter Botha, 1 Nathan McBeth. Replacements: 16 Morne Brandon, 17 Banele Mthenjane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Ruhan Straeuli, 20 Emmanuel Tshituka, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Aidynn Cupido, 23 Duncan Matthews.