Pumas edge Western Province in Currie Cup clash

The Airlink Pumas slotted a late penalty to snatch victory from DHL Western Province with a 25-24 (HT 19-17) Carling Currie Cup result at Mbomela Stadium on Friday.

Both sides scored three tries in the nail-biting affair, but Province's inability to use their chances ultimately cost them away from home.

The Pumas, fresh off a 10-try romp against Griffons in Welkom last weekend, have now won six of their seven Currie Cup outings, while Province have managed only three Ws.

The visiting side got seven digits first early on after flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis put a nifty kick in behind the Pumas' defence for Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to gather and score the opener (0-7).

The Pumas used their maul to hit back four minutes later after coming close shortly before that as well to level the scores before the 10-minute mark.

A restart error by the defending champions gifted the Cape side another chance at the whitewash. The men in pink failed to clear from the restart with Devon Williams' kick being charged down for a full-point score to regain the lead (7-14).

The digits on the scoreboard remained unmoved for a solid 20 minutes, with both sides spilling some chances.

On the 30-minute mark, however, Jimmy Stonehouse's team got on the scoresheet, again through Fourie, with Tinus de Beer connecting the conversion to level the scores once more (14-14).

The Pumas grabbed their third try four minutes later for a 19-14 lead, and John Dobson's side managed to secure a penalty in front of the posts to narrow the space between the scores, with Feinberg-Mngomezulu making no mistake to make it a two-point game going into the break (19-17).

While the Pumas found themselves under pressure at certain stages in the second half, it was Province that had the most to lament as they failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage after the Pumas were shown yellow in the 49th and 54th minute.

In fact, they got the exact opposite of what they would have wanted as they butchered a few opportunities, despite playing against 13 men.

The Pumas went 22-17 up in the 65th minute with a penalty conversion by De Beer, but things got tighter in the last 10 minutes.

With five minutes left on the clock, Province scored a stunner as a kick-pass by inside centre Cornel Smit perfectly found Luke Burger out wide (22-24).

The visitors were dealt a blow when Louw Nel was sin-binned in the 77th minute for a dangerous tackle, setting up a tense final two minutes, with the hosts slotting a penalty to creep one point ahead (25-24).

It proved enough for the Pumas to seal the deal at their home ground.

WP next face their arch-rivals, the Bulls, at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, 29 April, while the Pumas travel to Johannesburg to face the Lions one day earlier.

POINT-SCORERS:

Pumas - Tries: Fourie (2), Dawson Conversions: De Beer (2) Penalties: De Beer, Brandon Thomson Yellow cards: Snyman, Coetzee

WP - Tries: Mngomezulu-Feinberg, Taylor, Burger Conversions: Mngomezulu-Feinberg (3) Penalty: Mngomezulu-Feinberg Yellow card: Louw Nel