Pumas dig deep to defeat Sharks at King’s Park in Durban

The Airlink Pumas are in their second consecutive Carling Currie Cup final.

In a thrilling semi-final match at Hollywoodbets King’s Park tonight, they defeated the Cell C Sharks XV 26-20.

It was a superb second-half effort that gave the Mpumalanga lads the win. They were sublime in the execution of their game plan. The Sharks were smashed on defence and had no plan B.

Corné Fourie barged over for the first try of the match in the third minute and Tinus de Beer converted to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead.

In the 13th minute, the Pumas kicked a penalty into touch close to the Sharks’ try line. Shane Kirkwood claimed the ball in the lineout and Simon Raw scored from the resulting maul. De Beer missed the conversion and the Mpumalanga team led 12-0.

Home team fly half Lionel Cronjé put his team’s first points on the board with a penalty kick one minute later.

The Sharks closed the gap after Corné Rahl scored a try from an attacking lineout in the 28th minute. The ball went wide and Rahl claimed the five points. Cronjé converted, taking the score to 12-10 in favour of the visitors.

The Pumas hit back when Andrew Kota intercepted the ball close to the opponents’ try line. It was a brilliant opportunistic try and De Beer added the three for a 19-10 lead.

The ding-dong battle continued with the Sharks scoring off a rolling maul formed after a lineout close to the Pumas’ try line. Fez Mbatha went over and Cronjé converted.

The half-time score was 19-17 in favour of the Pumas.

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The first half was an evenly matched affair. Both teams’ set pieces were solid and the backs were full of running.

The Pumas were down to 14 men for 10 minutes from the 47th minute when Etienne Taljaard was yellow-carded for an illegal tackle.

Cronjé slotted the resulting penalty to put the home side in the lead for the first and last time, 20-19.

The Sharks’ Henco Venter earned a yellow three minutes later, also for an illegal tackle.

PJ Jacobs regained the lead for the Pumas in the 54th minute. A penalty was kicked into touch and the Pumas won their lineout. The maul was formed and progressed towards the try line with the hooker claiming the five points. De Beer slotted the conversion from a difficult angle.

The Pumas led 26-20.

Shortly after Venter returned to the field, his teammate, Alwayno Visagie, was red-carded for taking out Taljaard in the air. The Sharks were down to 14 men for the last 14 minutes of the match.

The Pumas defended exceptionally well in the last quarter of the game. They kept cool heads and absorbed everything the Sharks threw at them. They were excellent on the counter-attack, running the Sharks back into their own half time and time again.

The Sharks had a last attacking phase in the Pumas’ half late in the match. The Mpumalanga boys never panicked and the home team could not score in 23 phases.

It was a match-winning defensive effort from the Pumas. It was knock-out rugby tactics at its best. Defence wins knock-out games.

Both teams were out on their feet when the final whistle blew. But for the Pumas only one thing counted – the scoreboard read 26-20. They were in the Currie Cup final.

The Pumas were brilliant at the breakdown in the second half. They played with extreme tenacity and guts when the pressure was on.

The Sharks started making unforced errors due to the Pumas’ in-your-face play.

The numerical advantage of the visitors in the last 14 minutes added to the Sharks’ woes.

The Pumas will face the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein next Saturday to decide the 2023 Carling Currie Cup champions.