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PUMAS AND GRIQUAS SET UP SRC FINAL ENCORE FOR SECOND YEAR RUNNING

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Chris Smit of the Tafel Lager Griquas during the SuperSport Rugby Challenge semi final match between Western Province and Tafel Lager Griquas at KaNyamazane Stadium on June 16 , 2019 in Nelspruit, South Africa. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images)
Chris Smit of the Tafel Lager Griquas during the SuperSport Rugby Challenge semi final match between Western Province and Tafel Lager Griquas at KaNyamazane Stadium on June 16 , 2019 in Nelspruit, South Africa. (Photo by Dirk Kotze/Gallo Images)

PERHAPS fittingly on a day which combined Father’s Day and Youth Day, the Pumas and the Tafel Lager Griquas set up a repeat of last year’s SuperSport Rugby Challenge final by comprehensively seeing to the Boland Cavaliers and the DHL Western Province.

Playing at the KaNyamazane Stadium festival in Nelspruit, the Pumas and Griquas – recognised to be two of the more experienced sides in the competition – simply had too much for their more youthful opponents as they set up final date in Saldanha Bay next Sunday.

With the defending champion Pumas having beaten runners up Griquas 37-28 in their round-robin fixture about a month ago, Jimmy Stonehouse’s men will probably go into the final as favourites to defend their title. 

By contrast, Brent Janse van Rensburg and his charges will hope it’ll be third time lucky after making all three of the tournament’s finals to date without winning it.

Adding to the potentially spicy nature of the decisive match, Janse van Rensburg coached the Pumas to their title last year.

Both sides had to overcome difficulties to advance into the finals: the Pumas wore black armbands to mourn the death of replacement scrumhalf Ashlon Davids this week, while Griquas recovered from a flu epidemic which affected 15 of their players and wrote off two days from their preparation week.

So badly affected were some of the players that outside centre Michal Hasnar had to withdraw from the team, which goes to show that Man Flu is a real phenomenon.

Both teams put up 50 points in their wins (Pumas 57-32 and Griquas 50-21) from basically bullying their opponents up front and at the breakdown, with their back threes capitalising on the surfeit of possession by putting the points on the board.

Earlier in the week Pumas fullback Devon Williams was singled out as one of the players to look out for because he can “create something out of nothing”, and yesterday he showed just why by hitting the line just right to put people away and score himself.

For Griquas, winger Enver Brandt, the top try scorer in last year’s competition, was at his languid and lethal self, scoring two of the Kimberley side’s tries.

The two semifinals were played after local club sides Mbalenhle and Matsulu had played in the curtain raiser, the two second division sides combining for the rare spectacle of two all black teams.

Mbalenhle, who had driven from Secunda at 4am to make it to their 10.30am start, proved to be early birds as far as the game was concerned, winning it comprehensively.

The eye-catching about Matsulu was 34-year-old loose-head prop Bongani Mathebula, who also happened to weigh a whopping 149kg.

Judging by how he ambled from scrum to ruck, the big fella appears to subscribe to the idea that rugby is a good walk spoiled.The games were played at the magnificent 15 000 capacity facility of KaNyamazane Stadium.

Formerly known as Lekazi Stadium and the home ground of then PSL side Dangerous Darkies, the stadium is 2.5km away from the Mthethomusha Game Reserve, which is in the south west of Kruger National Park.

Renovated in 2009 to be a training facility for the 2010 World Cup, the stadium is now the home of soccer teams Mbombela United and Thabo All Stars.

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