Pumas set to defend SA Cup title

The Airlink Pumas will begin the defence of their SA Cup title with a trip to the Garden Route to take on the SWD Eagles on March 6. Lowvelderreportsthat last year’s SA Cup campaign was a groundbreaking one for the Pumas, who went unbeaten throughout the competition. It secured their first SA Cup title with a convincing victory over the Suzuki Griquas at Mbombela Stadium, in front of a 13 000-strong sea of pink supporters.

A number of Pumas players have moved on to other franchises and teams since the conclusion of last year’s Carling Currie Cup, including several key figures. However, in true Pumas fashion, the outfit’s recruitment has been spot on, bringing in a variety of new talent. “There are a few guys still out with injury that we’re waiting to welcome back and we have lost some good players, but we’ve got a good group of guys together for the warm-up games and I’m excited to see how things play out and how everyone gels,” said Pumas head coach Jimmy Stonehouse.

“We still have a good number of experienced players in the squad that will definitely help with providing guidance for the youngsters coming into the set-up.” This will be the third year running that the Pumas kick things off with an opening fixture against the Eagles. Stonehouse is weary of the men in green, who now have former Lowvelder and former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer in their ranks as head coach. “They’ve got a much better team with Heyneke this year.

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He’s cleaned out the team a lot and recruited a lot of good players, including a few former Pumas, so we’re looking forward to the challenge in the first round.” In the second round the Pumas will welcome Eastern Province to Mbombela on March 13, followed by a trip to Bloemfontein to take on the Toyota Cheetahs on March 20, before they round off the month against the Valke in Mbombela on March 27. In April, they will have an away day against the Border Bulldogs on April 11 before returning to Mbombela to tackle the Leopards on April 17. Finally they’ll head to Kimberley to face the Suzuki Griquas on April 26.

The last two round-robin fixtures will both be on home turf against the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers (May 3) and the NovaVit Griffons (May 8) with semi-finals on May 16 and the final on May 23. Stonehouse believes any past perceptions of the SA Cup will be thrown out the window this year. “The SA Cup won’t be as simple as it has been previously, teams have done some serious recruitment and it’s going to be a good, tough competition.”

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