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Pumas (Currie Cup)

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This article is about the South African provincial rugby union team. For the Argentine national rugby team (nicknamed Los Pumas), see Argentina national rugby union team.

Pumas
File:PUMAS logo.jpg
Full namePumas
UnionMpumalanga Rugby Union
Emblem(s)Puma
Founded1969
RegionMpumalanga Province
Ground(s)Template:Rus Mbombela Stadium (Capacity: 40,929)
Coach(es)MJ Mentz
Captain(s)Stefan Watermeyer
League(s)Currie Cup
2015 Currie Cup Premier Division6th
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.pumas.co.za
Current season

The Pumas (currently known as the Steval Pumas for sponsorship reasons) are a South African rugby union team that competes in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup and the Northern Section of the Vodacom Cup. The team draws their players from Mpumalanga Province (formerly known as the South Eastern Transvaal) and plays at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, having previously also played at the Puma Stadium in Witbank.

The Pumas are a well supported team throughout Mpumalanga Province, with large fan bases located in Witbank, Middelburg, Ermelo and Nelspruit. The Pumas average crowds of 13,000 at home Currie Cup matches.

History

Formed in 1969 as South Eastern Transvaal, the Pumas are one of the younger unions in the country. The team has never won the Currie Cup.

In 2006, they were coached jointly by Chris Grobler and Danie Gerber, but failed to win any of their 14 matches, finishing last on the log.

They won the Currie Cup First Division (the second tier competition) in 2005 and 2009, both times earning promotion to the Currie Cup Premier Division.

For their 2010 Currie Cup campaign, the Pumas appointed the seasoned Jimmy Stonehouse as coach. Though considered the underdogs of the Currie Cup competition, on 27 August 2010 the Pumas beat current champions the Template:Rut Blue Bulls 22–21 at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.[1] They eventually finished 7th.

Honours

The team's major tournament wins include the Currie Cup First Division in 2005, 2009 and 2013 and the Vodacom Cup in 2015.

Current squad

The following players were included in the Pumas squad for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:[2]

Pumas Currie Cup qualification squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose Forwards

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wingers

Fullbacks

(c) denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped.
Several players are playing in the 2016 Super Rugby season – Vincent Koch is playing for the Template:Rut Stormers, Renaldo Bothma and Giant Mtyanda are playing for the Template:Rut Sharks, Chris Cloete is playing for the Template:Rut Kings and Francois Brummer is playing for the Template:Rut Bulls
De-Jay Terblanche is on loan at French Pro D2 side Template:Rut Mont-de-Marsan.
Damien Jansen van Rensburg, Jacques Kotzé and Leighton van Wyk signed short-term deals for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series only.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Pumas shock Blue Bulls in Nelspruit". Planet Rugby. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  2. ^ "2016 Steval Pumas Currie Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Everyone gets their chance at Steval Pumas". Rugby15. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
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