Latest news with #AirlinkPumas
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Pumas dethrone Griquas to capture SA Cup in Mbombela final
On Saturday they repeated that feat in convincing style to capture the SA Cup title on home soil. The Pumas became the second team – after Griquas in the inaugural competition last year – to finish the campaign unbeaten after they dealt the men from the Northern Cape their first defeat in the competition in the league phase a few weeks ago. The hosts worked hard for a 19-7 advantage at half time and kicked on the second half for a deserved win. It is happy days in Nelspruit after the Pumas captured their first SA Cup title by beating last year's champions, Griquas, 39-14 in the final at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening. The Airlink Pumas take down the Suzuki Griquas to lift the 2025 #SACup 🏆 The match got off to a bad start for Griquas when their front ranker Cebo Dlamini was red carded for a head-on collision in the seventh minute, which meant they had to play the next 20 minutes with 14 men. In a sign of what was to come, the Pumas scored their first try barely a minute later, when hooker Eddie Swart went over at the back of a strong maul, which was converted by Danrich Visagie. Predictably, the men from Mpumalanga proceeded to dominate both possession and territory, leaving the defending champions to fend off wave after wave of attack from the rampant home side. The Pumas used their forward dominance to set up two good tries for midfielder Sango Xamlashe to take the score to 19-0 with a quarter of the opening half remaining. For his first effort, the outside centre stepped his way inside two defenders to score near the posts, and he was on the receiving end of a looping skip pass to go over near the corner for his second five-pointer. Griquas tried their best to stay in the contest and they were rewarded with a rather fortunate try when speedster Gurshwin Wehr intercepted a pass in his 22 to run in a long-distance try to make the half-time score 19-7. The dependable Visagie slotted a penalty goal before he converted No 8 Willie Engelbrecht's intercept try to stretch the home team's advantage to 29-7 shortly after the restart for the second half. Another successful penalty goal by Visagie took the score to 32-7 before Mnombo Zwelendaba scored Griquas' second try to bring the deficit down to 32-14. But the Pumas had the last laugh when replacement front ranker Dewald Maritz forced his way over the try line for their second try of the second half to all but secure them the SA Cup title
The Citizen
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Pumas dethrone Griquas to capture SA Cup
The match got off to a bad start for Suzuki Griquas when their front ranker Cebo Dlamini was red carded for a head-on collision in the seventh minute. The Pumas became the second team – after Griquas in the inaugural competition last year – to finish the campaign unbeaten after they dealt the men from the Northern Cape their first defeat in the competition in the league phase a few weeks ago, and on Saturday they repeated that feat in convincing style to capture the SA Cup title on home soil. The match got off to a bad start for Suzuki Griquas when their front ranker Cebo Dlamini was red carded for a head-on collision in the seventh minute, which meant they had to play the next 20 minutes with 14 men. In a sign of what was to come, the Airlink Pumas scored their first try barely a minute later, when hooker Eddie Swart went over at the back of a strong maul, which was converted by Danrich Visagie. Predictably, the men from Mpumalanga then proceeded to dominate both possession and territory, leaving the defending champions to fend off wave after wave of attack from the rampant home side. The Pumas used their forward dominance to set up two good tries for midfielder Sango Xamlashe to take the score to 19-0 with a quarter of the opening half remaining. For his first effort, the outside centre stepped his way inside two defenders to score near the posts, and he was on the receiving end of a looping skip pass to go over near the corner for his second five-pointer. Griquas tried their best to stay in the contest and they were rewarded with a rather fortunate try when speedster Gurshwin Wehr intercepted a pass to run in a long distance try to make the halftime score 19-7. The dependable Visagie slotted a penalty goal before he converted No 8 Willie Engelbrecht's intercept try to stretch the home team's advantage to 29-7 shortly after the restart for the second half. Another successful penalty goal by Visagie took the score to 32-7 before Mnombo Zwelendaba scored Griquas' second try to bring the deficit down to 32-14. But the Airlink Pumas had the last laugh when replacement front ranker Dewald Maritz forced his way over the try line for their second try of the second half to all but secure them the SA Cup title. Scorers: Airlink Pumas 39 (19) – Tries: Sango Xamlashe (2), Eddie Swart, Willie Engelbrecht, Dewald Maritz. Conversions: Danrich Visagie (4). Penalty goals: Visagie (2). Suzuki Griquas 14 (7) – Tries: Gurswhin Wehr, Mnombo Zwelendaba. Conversions: George Whitehead (2).
The Citizen
24-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
IN PHOTOS: Pumas on fire at captain's practice
IN PHOTOS: Pumas on fire at captain's practice The Airlink Pumas took to the training field for the last time in their 2025 SA Cup campaign. The captain's practice was held at Mbombela Stadium last night, Friday, May 23, just 24 hours before the kick-off against the Griquas today, May 24. ALSO READ: Pumas and Griquas face each other in final battle of 2025 SA Cup war The final starts at 18:30 and the Pumas again asked that the fans colour the stadium in pink tonight. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
Pumas issue rally cry for supporters to paint Mbombela Stadium pink for SA Cup final
The Airlink Pumas have issued a call to the people of the Lowveld to come out in their numbers this Saturday for the looming SA Cup final against the Suzuki Griquas. Mbombela Stadium will host the SA Cup final for the first time this coming Saturday, and with more than 3 000 people having attended the semi-final against the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers last week, the Pumas have called on the Pumas faithful to show their support once again. 'Last weekend was amazing, beating the Boland Kavaliers here in the semi-final, and I just want to thank all the supporters for wearing their pink and coming out in their thousands, what a great weekend it was,' said head coach Jimmy Stonehouse, who also issued an invite to all to come out and watch the game on Saturday. You can watch Stonehouse's call to the Pumas faithful, here. Airlink Pumas CEO Marius van Rensburg echoed Stonehouse's sentiments, adding that there will be more than just rugby on show at the stadium this Saturday. There will also be a curtain-raiser fixture as Hazyview Rugby Club will face off with the Laeveld Ratels in an official MRU Mayor's League game that kicks off at 15:30. Local singer Zané van Zyl will also be performing as she will sing the national anthem prior to the game. If you would like to win tickets to this Saturday's match you are in luck, as Lowvelder is running a competition in which 10 pairs of tickets and two Airlink Pumas jerseys are up for grabs. All you need to do to enter is post a photo of yourself wearing pink this Friday and make sure you tag Lowvelder with the hashtag #PumaPinkFriday. We will select our winners from these posts and be in touch! Tickets can be purchased at the stadium or online at Computicket and cost R50 for adults and R20 for children. The match will kick off at 18:30. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
