Pumas claw Kings, status quo remains
The Pumas beat the Eastern Province Kings 46-28 (halftime 15-22) in a second-leg promotion/relegation match played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Friday to join the Leopards in retaining their Currie Cup Premier Division status for 2011.
The Pumas’ win means that the top flight of South African rugby will remain unchanged next season, after the Leopards’ dramatic last-minute bonus point at Outeniqua Park in George earlier on Friday prevented the Eagles from winning promotion despite a 32-28 victory.
The Kings held the Pumas to a 36-36 draw in Witbank last week, but this match proved a bridge too far for the First Division champions, who began with purpose but faded as the streetwise Mpumalanga side hit their stride in the second half.
The results will be seen as a body blow for rugby in the Southern Kings region, but particular for long-suffering Port Elizabeth fans who arrived in their tens of thousands expecting to see their team finally return to the big stage after years spent in the First Division wilderness.
Alas, it was not to be -- but one must hasten to add that the Pumas fully deserved their win. Coach Jimmy Stonehouse saw to it that his gutsy team picked up some major Premier Division scalps this year, among them the Blue Bulls and Lions, and it would have been a travesty had they been ‘rewarded’ for their efforts with relegation.
They trailed early on in this match and even at the break, but captain Hannes Franklin and his troops never panicked, absorbed everything the Kings could throw at them, and then proceeded to throttle the life out of their hosts in a compelling second-half display.
The Kings, playing in front of a near-capacity crowd, got off to the best possible start when centre Wayne Stevens went over in the seventh minute following a great run by right wing Paul Perez.
The home side’s flyhalf, Monty Dumond, kicked the conversion before eighthman JJ Gagiano put them 12-0 ahead with a quarter of an hour gone.
Gagiano, the former UCT No 8 who has played for the US Eagles, had the presence of mind to nab a tapped ball at a lineout and sprint 30 metres for the score.
But the Pumas drew on their big-league experience and calmly roared back in the 22nd minute when No 8 Christo le Roux barged over for fullback Carl Bezuidenhout, who finished with 16 points, to convert.
Bezuidenhout added a penalty on the half hour to cut the deficit to two, but Stevens brought the crowd to its feet once more with his second try four minutes later.
Dumond added the extra points, before nailing an injury-time penalty to give the Kings a seven-point buffer at the break.
But the Pumas looked a rejuvenated side after the break and took just three minutes to equalise, through excellent flanker Corné Steenkamp, before Le Roux got his second to complete a dramatic 14-point turnaround.
Dumond then kicked two nerveless penalties to make it a one-point ball game before the Pumas grabbed their fifth try when replacement front-ranker Dawie Steyn bulldozed over with 18 minutes remaining.
With the clock ticking over to 70 minutes, the Kings were awarded two kickable penalties but Dumond let the Pumas off the hook when his radar suddenly went on the blink at the worst possible time.
There were no such qualms for the ice-cool, moustachioed Bezuidenhout, who slotted a 74th-minute penalty to extend the lead to 11 points and effectively seal the result.
For coach Alan Solomons, another year in the lower leagues awaits him and his Kings team who, on balance, probably deserve to play Premier Division rugby ahead of the likes of the Leopards.
But no one ever said rugby was fair -- something both the Kings and the Eagles will have plenty of time to mull over during the off-season.
Scorers:
EP 28 -- Tries: Wayne Stevens (2), JJ Gagiano. Conversions: Monty Dumond (2). Penalties: Dumond (3).
Pumas 46 -- Tries: Christo le Roux (2), Andries Kruger, Corné Steenkamp, Dawie Steyn, Vainon Willis. Conversions: Carl Bezuidenhout (5). Penalties: Bezuidenhout (2).