Currie Cup wrap: Powerful Pumas impress, Blue Bulls boosted
Jimmy Stonehouse's troops show exactly why they are considered a dark horse in this year's tournament.
Hennie Skorbinski of the Pumas and George Whitehead of the Griquas during the Currie Cup match between iCOLLEGE Pumas and Tafel Lager Griquas at Mbombela Stadium on August 17, 2018 in Nelspruit, South Africa. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images)
A wrap of the first weekend’s fixtures.
Cheetahs 12 – Blue Bulls 34
The embattled Blue Bulls put the uncertainty over their director of rugby John Mitchell temporarily behind them with a morale-boosting triumph in Bloemfontein.
Pote Human’s troops were, frankly, nowhere in the first half, coughing up possession consistently through poor handling and a misfiring lineout.
It allowed the Cheetahs to enjoy the majority of possession and territory though they paid a hefty price for not capitalising on those opportunities.
The turnaround saw the visitors transformed.
The Bulls kept the ball better, started to dominate the scrums and eventually feasted on the Cheetahs’ indiscipline.
As much as it was an encouraging performance from the Bulls, the Cheetahs will be concerned about their early form with the Pro14 just around the corner.
Questions are being asked over their depth already and a fairly comprehensive defeat doesn’t exactly bode well.
Bulls pivot Manie Libbok showed some neat touches in claiming the Man-of-the-Match award.
Point scorers:
Cheetahs – Tries: Joseph Dweba, Shaun Venter. Conversion: Tian Schoeman.
Blue Bulls – Tries: Manie Libbok, penalty try, Jade Stighling, Divan Rossouw. Conversions: Libbok (3). Penalties: Libbok (2)
Pumas 42 – Griquas 19
Quite a few observers fancy the chances of Jimmy Stonehouse’s well-organised Pumas in this year’s tournament.
They duly laid down an impressive marker with an excellent victory over the Peacock Blues in Mbombela.
The Pumas were very much in control from the start, using the classic ploy of a dominant pack to lay a platform and score points from.
It must be said though that they did essentially make the game safe in a rampant third quarter, where they scored 22 unanswered points with their varied attacking play, which included a fine counterattacking try from wing Neil Maritz, a real feature.
Flyhalf Chris Smith continues to be one of the best buys made this season as the Maties star in the Varsity Cup contributed 22 points.
Griquas launched a comeback late on but missed out on a four-try bonus point through a knock-on with time up.
Point scorers:
Pumas – Tries: Hennie Skorbinski, Stefan Ungerer, Chris Smith, Neil Maritz, Marnus Schoeman. Conversions: Smith (4). Penalties: Smith (3).
Griquas – Tries: AJ Coertzen, Conway Pretorius, Christiaan Meyer. Conversions: George Whitehead (2).
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