Boland down 14-man Pumas

Editor

The Boland Cavaliers beat the Pumas 25-22 in Wellington on Friday after a tightly contested game despite the Pumas getting a red card. 

In the 26th minute of the game the Pumas went to 14 men when outside centre Tyler Fisher was red carded for smacking Boland centre Leighton van Wyk with his elbow as Van Wyk tried to tackle him. The lack of a man didn't slow the Pumas down though as they put on a brilliance performance despite the disadvantage. 

The win gives Boland a good leg up on the table as they jump their Cape rivals Western Province and go to sixth. The Pumas ,however, remain at second last and are still without a win this season. 

There were some great performances from both sides but Pumas Renaldo captain Bothma really put his body on the line for his side as he displayed a dynamic performance in defence and attack. 

Pumas number 10 Francois Brummer didn't have the best day on the boot as he missed two easy kicks in front of the posts which would have given his side the win. 

The Pumas drew first blood when they set up a maul and were able to push the gallant Boland defence over the line for hooker Frankie Herne to score but unfortunately for the visitors didn't get the conversion. 

Boland captain Ryan Nel was forced off in the 11th minute after being hit by a dangerous tackle which caused a flurry. Boland were awarded a penalty and Namibian flyhalf Theuns Kotze got his sides' first points. 

Shaun Adendorff conceded a penalty for Boland when he didn't roll away at the breakdown. The referee had enough of Boland's lack of discipline and Adendorff was sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes.

Carelse got his side's first try of the match when he was given the ball close to the Pumas 10 metres line and the nippy full-back dummied the ball and sprinted for the line before touching down. The try is especially impressive considering Boland were still a man down.  

Pumas scrum-half Emile Temperman made the break before combining well with Bothma by offloading before the Puma's captain dotted down for the five pointer.

The Pumas took the lead when they kept the ball for over 20 phases and finally were rewarded for their efforts as Van Wyk picked up a loose ball and crashed over for the try. 

After a strong maul Shaun Adendorff went for the short side and caught the Pumas defence unaware and picked up the ball at the base of the ruck and crashed over for a pushover try and took back the points advantage.  

Boland then looked as though they closed out the game after the Pumas conceded the free-kick for an early engagement at scrum time and Boland quickly tapped and went before full-back Adriaan Carelse sent Robbie Louw through for the five pointer with a well timed pass out of the back of the hands.

Pumas then scored in the dying minutes of the game through Kevin Luiters with some fantastic running skills but it was not enough to give his side the win.

The Scorers:

For Boland:
Tries: Carelse, Adendorff, Louw
Cons: Kotze 2
Pens: Kotze
Drop goal: Kotze
Yellow card: Adendorff

For Pumas:
Tries: Herne, Bothma, Van Wyk, Luiters
Cons: Brummer
Red card: Fisher

The teams: 

Boland: 15 Adriaan Carelse, 14 Gerrit van Wyk, 13 Christopher Bosch, 12 Ryan Nel (c), 11 Danwel Demas, 10 Theuns Kotze, 9 Marnus Hugo, 8 Zandre Jordaan, 7 Jacques Engelbrecht, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Joubert Horn, 4 Shaun McDonald, 3 Basil Short, 2 Clemen Lewis, 1 SP Wessels
Replacements: 16 Francois Esterhuizen, 17 Enoch Mnyaka, 18 Hanno Kitshoff, 19 Wayne Wilschut, 20 Kenan Cronje, 21 Gerhard Jordaan, 22 Robbie Louw

Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Bernado Botha, 13 Tyler Fisher, 12 Leighton van Wyk, 11 JP Lewis, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Emile Temperman, 8 Renaldo Bothma (c), 7 Nardus van der Walt, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Hugo Kloppers, 4 Jannie Stander, 3 Marné Coetzee, 2 Frank Herne, 1 De-Jay Terblanché.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Wiehan Hay, 19 Lambert Groenewald, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 Marlou van Niekerk, 22 Ruwellyn Isbell

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen
Assistant Referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Divan Uys
TMO: Shaun Veldsman