Airlink Pumas score 20-point win over NovaVit Griffons at Nelspruit Rugby Club
The home team were not at their best, but the visitors also never gave up the fight.
The Airlink Pumas made hard work of defeating the NovaVit Griffons 45-25 at Nelspruit Rugby Club this afternoon, May 6.
The Pumas played well in spurts, but the Griffons did not come to Mbombela to make up the numbers and played out of their skins.
The home team outscored the visitors by seven tries to four, but should have won by more. The Pumas simply did not have the killer instinct to turn the screws against a team that are bottom of the log.
Don’t take anything away from the men from Welkom. They played with passion and a never-say-die attitude. They did their fans proud.
The first 20 minutes of the game were evenly matched with two tries a piece and the score 12-10 in favour of the Griffons.
Devon Williams, in his 100th match for the Pumas, scored a try in the 24th minute and the home team dominated until half-time.
The Pumas scored two more tries in the half, with the scoreboard reading 31-12 for them at half-time.
In the second half the home side should have destroyed the visitors. They could not, despite a good start to the half. They edged the second half 14-13.
The Pumas did go 45-15 up by the 54th minute.
Then it was all Griffons. They played the final 25 minutes of the match mainly in the Pumas half, earning two tries.
Jaywinn Juries’s try from a tap penalty was earned by his skill to step skillfully off either foot. But the Pumas were caught napping, and that is not a characteristic of Currie Cup champions.
Over the 80 minutes the Pumas deserved the win. Their scrum did not always dominate, but their line-outs were solid. Their problem was continuity. They did enough to earn victory, but not enough to put the Griffons to sword as they did in Welkom (64-6) on April 16. A 20-point win might sound like a job well done, but it should have been a 40-plus-point win.
The Welkom lads again proved they deserve to be in the Currie Cup Premier Division. They played for one another and could walk off the field at full-time with pride.
The Mpumalanga boys were not at their fluent best, but they will take the win.
SCORERS:
Airlink Pumas: Tries – André Fouché (2), Kwanda Dimaza, Devon Williams, Anele Lungisa, Llewellyn Classen, Wian van Niekerk.
Conversions – Brandon Thomson (5).
NovaVit Griffons: Tries – HP van Schoor, Marquit September, Jaywinn Juries, Domenic Smit.
Conversions – Duren Hoffman.
Penalty – Hoffman.
