Pumas (rugby team)
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| Full name | Pumas | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Mpumalanga Rugby Union | ||
| Emblem(s) | Puma | ||
| Founded | 1969 | ||
| Region | Mpumalanga Province | ||
| Ground(s) | Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit (Capacity: 40,929) | ||
| Coach(es) | MJ Mentz | ||
| Captain(s) | Stefan Watermeyer | ||
| League(s) | Currie Cup | ||
| 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division | 6th | ||
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| Official website | |||
| www |
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 Current season |
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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 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 Stormers, Renaldo Bothma and Giant Mtyanda are playing for the Sharks, Chris Cloete is playing for the Kings and Francois Brummer is playing for the Bulls De-Jay Terblanche is on loan at French Pro D2 side 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] |
