By Gavin Rich.
The Airlink Pumas sounded a loud warning to their rivals that they won’t be giving up their Carling Currie Cup title without a fight as they fought tenaciously to beat Windhoek Draught Griquas 27-17 in Kimberley on Friday afternoon.
The result means that the Pumas will be assured of a top four finish and a place in next week’s semifinals, while the Griquas dropped to fifth and regardless of what happens in Saturday’s play they will thus miss out on being part of the playoffs.
Their coach Piet Bergh and the players will be left to reflect that it was the Griquas who spoiled their own chances of domestic glory for a second successive year, with this game being a repeat of last year’s Currie Cup final.
It was a hard fought win for the men from Nelspruit, who were under pressure for the entire first half but somehow managed to keep the home team from taking control even though Griquas enjoyed 77 per cent possession at the half hour mark and also a 64 per cent advantage in the territory battle.
While the Pumas tackled like demons in the first half it was a game of two halves, as it was definitely the visitors who had the ascendancy in the possession and territory stakes after halftime as they reversed the first half balance of power in their favour.
The Pumas arguably set themselves on the path to victory with a brilliantly conceived try on the stroke of halftime that saw the two teams go to the break at 10-all.
Having resisted so tigerishly, the Pumas had fallen behind in the 37th minute as a 3-all deadlock was broken when Griquas flyhalf Lubabalo Dobela broke through after his hooker had acted as first receiver about 20 metres out from the Pumas line.
That was the first time Griquas had breached the Pumas defence but when George Whitehead converted to make it 10-3, the psychological edge was surely heading in the Griquas direction.
Van Niekerk scores try that seals the deal
However, the Pumas showed their never say die attitude by going onto the attack, with Griquas being forced to defend for almost the first time in the game.
Tinus de Beer was good for the Pumas at flyhalf throughout the game and his pass out to Diego Appolis and then the outside centre’s slanted run created the space on the inside for lock Deon Slabbert to come through and take the pass to score.
After the pressure they had been under going to halftime at 10-all was a win for the Pumas. They conceded a try four minutes into the second half, with flanker Thabo Ndimande scoring after taking a pass from Dobela, who weaved his way through several defenders after fielding a poor clearance kick, but they were on point for the rest of the half.
The try that saw them draw back level was rounded off by a strong drive from flanker Francois Kleinhans, who had a busy game, and the De Beer conversion brought the scores level at 17-all after 50 minutes.
Some 14 minutes later the Pumas were faced with a difficult decision after a period of sustained attacking from them in the red zone led to a penalty in front of the posts.
With that kind of field position, metres from the line, it might have been tempting to press for the try, as Griquas looked like they were flagging, but they made the right decision by kicking the three points that gave them a 20-17 lead.
The Pumas spent most of the remainder of the game on the attack deep in the Griquas half, but Griquas were determined on defence, and the Pumas were also guilty of two successive poor lineout throws on the opposition tryline.
So Griquas would have felt they were still in it until reserve backline player Wian van Niekerk burst through a gap to score the try that sealed the deal and clinched the Pumas their place in the semifinal.
Scores
Airlink Pumas 27 – Tries: Deon Slabbert, Francois Kleinhans and Wian van Niekerk; Conversions: Tinus de Beer, Penalties: Tinus de Beer 2.
Windhoek Draught Griquas 17 – Tries: Lubabalo Dobela and Thabo Ndimande; Conversions: George Whitehead 2; Penalty: George Whitehead.