Latest news with #AirlinkPumas
The Citizen
01-08-2025
- Sport
- The Citizen
IN PHOTOS: Airlink Pumas kick off 2025 Carling Currie Cup with bonus point win
The Airlink Pumas got their 2025 Carling Currie Cup season off to a great start on July 25 when they tore through an ill-disciplined Suzuki Griquas side at Mbombela Stadium. In a repeat of the 2024 Carling Currie Cup Premier Division season opener, the Pumas were drawn against the Griquas to start their 2025 campaign, this time at Mbombela Stadium. It was the third time the two sides had locked horns at Mbombela Stadium this year with the Pumas holding a significant mental advantage going into the fixture as they'd won the other two clashes in 2025. The Griquas would have been eager to avenge their SA Cup final loss, though. The encounter kicked off at 19:00 on a cold Friday night in Mbombela. The visitors from Kimberley drew first blood thanks to an early penalty that put them 3-0 ahead just after the one-minute mark. Their lead was about as short-lived as it could've been, as a Heinz Bertram charge down led to a Sango Xamlashe try for the Pumas only 40 seconds later. The Griquas reclaimed the lead in the 12th minute with a try of their own, before the Pumas hit back with another try to retake the lead in the 15th minute. The lead changed hands once again in the in the 23rd minute when George Whitehead slotted over a penalty for the Griquas. Another penalty and a try for the Griquas, along with two Pumas penalties took the scoreline to 23-18 in the Northern Cape side's favour on the stroke of half-time. But a Pumas try from the base of a powerful line-out maul after the hooter meant the hosts were 25-23 ahead when half-time finally came. This was the last time the lead changed hands during the match and proved the turning point in the encounter as the Pumas managed to run amok in the second half. Their charge was aided by the fact that the Griquas received no fewer than three yellow cards in the second half, the first of which came at Caleb Abrahams's expense only three minutes into the half. Two minutes later Whitehead was also dismissed, leaving the Griquas with only 13 men on the field. The Pumas ensured they capitalised on the numerical advantage and ran in a try and a penalty while the Griquas were two men down. Gurswin Wehr was the third Griquas player to be given his marching orders, just as Abrahams returned to the field with the score now 35-23 in the Pumas' favour. The Griquas fought hard despite their disadvantage and clawed back to score a try as the clock passed 70 minutes. The Pumas received their first card of the game when debutant JJ Scheepers was yellow-carded with four minutes to play. But, the damage was done as the Pumas scored a further two tries in the last 10 minutes to put the game to bed. The final score was 49-28 in favour of the Pumas, handing them the perfect start to the season. They will now travel to Bloemfontein to face a Toyota Cheetahs side eager to kick into gear after a shock defeat against the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers in their first game. The match will kick off at Toyota Stadium at 19:00 on Friday, August 1.
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!
