The outcome of the encounter between the Airlink Pumas and Toyota Cheetahs on June 3, would determine whether a home semi-final would be on the cards for either team.
Unfortunately for the Mbombela outfit, they were not victorious on this occasion. The Free State contenders bounced back to their winning ways after drawing with the Windhoek Draught Griquas in round 12.
They scored four tries to streak to a 29-14 victory against the defending Carling Currie Cup champions, which have now lost four on the trot.
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The Pumas opened the scoring with Corné Fourie driving over the try line off the back of a rolling maul early on in the match. Fly half Tinus de Beer added three more points, bringing his overall tally for this year’s Currie Cup to 97.
The Cheetahs struck back through the likes of flanker Gideon van der Merwe, but Ruan Pienaar missed the conversion.
The home side remained in the lead for a mere seven more minutes when the Free State’s Rewan Kruger added five points for his team. Shortly after, Marnus van der Merwe converted another maul to secure a 19-7 lead for the visitors heading into the break.
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The Pumas came out with guns blazing after half-time, but were met with a valiant defence. Despite numerous attacking efforts by the home team, poor discipline and handling errors got the better of them. They conceded a penalty, allowing the visitors to add three more points through Pienaar’s kicking boot.
On a team warning, the Cheetahs were in trouble early in the final quarter when winger Cohen Jasper received a yellow card for playing the ball on the ground and a penalty try was awarded to the Pumas.
Despite being one player down, the visiting side sealed their victory through a try by George Cronje just before the final whistle. A conversion by Pienaar made the scoreboard stand still at 29 points to 14.
The Pumas will face the runners-up from last year, the Griquas, in Kimberley in the last round-robin match on June 9.
