Intensity wins: Pumas conquer Griquas in Mbombela
The Airlink Pumas put on a brilliant display of dominant rugby to defeat the Suzuki Griquas 39-14 and were crowned the 2025 SA Cup champions tonight.
The home team came out snorting from the kick-off and executed a game plan of speed, power and precision. This was complemented by excellent defence.
The foundation of the Pumas' victory was their powerful scrum, which earned them numerous scrum penalties.
The Griquas played their hearts out but were outclassed in every aspect of the game. They could not cope with the Pumas' intensity and committed too many unforced errors. The Pumas were gifted possession.
The home team was also ruthless at the breakdowns and won numerous turnovers. It was a sublime team effort from the Mpumalanga side.
The Griquas were in trouble within five minutes of the start. Cebo Dlamini was red carded for a dangerous tackle and they would play the rest of the match with 14 men.
The Pumas' first try came in the sixth minute. A penalty was punted into touch on the Griquas' five-metre line and Eduan Swart scored from the resulting maul. Danrich Visagie slotted the conversion.
Shortly after the restart, the Pumas again had an attacking line-out from a penalty into touch. The Pumas won their line-out and the ball went down the backline, with Sango Xamlashe scoring a try that was not converted.
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Xamlashe scored again in the 24th minute from the same scenario, using his speed to carve a gap through the Griquas' defence. Visagie added the two points.
Three minutes before half-time Griquas finally put points on the board. Gurshwin Wehr intercepted a pass on his own five-metre line and sprinted the length of the field to score a try. George Whitehead converted.
The half-time score was 19-7 to the home team.
The Pumas continued to dominate in the second half. Two Visagie penalty kicks put the Mpumalanga team up 25-7 by the 52nd minute.
Then Willie Engelbrecht intercepted a pass on his own 10-metre line and ran through untouched to score a try. Visagie kicked the conversion.
The Griquas hit back when Mnombo Zwelendaba caught the Pumas napping, tapped a penalty and scored the try. Whitehead kicked the conversion.
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The Pumas were soon back on attack in the Griquas 22-metre area, and after a period of sustained pressure, Dewald Maritz claimed a try. Visagie nailed the conversion.
The Griquas threw everything at the Pumas in the final ten minutes of the match, but the home team's defence held. The new champions did their fans proud.
They simply did not take the foot of the accelerator, and this sustained level of play gave them front-foot possession.
It was 80 minutes of attrition that the visitors could not combat.
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