Puma power pays off

28 May 2015 - 02:04 By Sbu Mjikeliso

It used to be that the Griquas were the strongest undercards in South African rugby, but the Pumas might have wrested that tag in the past few seasons. A couple of their players - Vincent Koch at the Stormers and Faf de Klerk at the Lions - have taken to Super rugby like motorboats to water.Koch has been one of the anchors of a dominant Stormers scrum during his time on loan in Cape Town, while scrumhalf De Klerk has provided the spark and the finish to many Lions attacks this season.Lubabalo "Giant" Mtyanda has also put in admirable shifts at the struggling Sharks, while Renaldo Bothma has been outstanding for the Durbanites.Pumas CEO Pieter Burger sees these loan deals as anopportunity to strengthen the union for a serious charge at this year's Currie Cup, and, within five years, a push for a Super rugby franchise."We don't mind being seen or classified as a feeder union for now," said Burger."We want to be seen as a breeding ground of great young talent that can then be taken up to Super rugby structures."All of these players, Faf included, weren't good enough at other, bigger unions."Burger said Pumas identified players with potential and spent money, time and effort on training them as they believed their potential warranted more than "being the fifth player in the queue at a union that is maybe promising you that they will make use of [your] services in the future".He added that this would be their modus operandi, "until we can lay claim to a Super rugby franchise, hopefully within the next five years".The Pumas play Western Province in the Vodacom Cup final at Newlands this Saturday after beating the previously unbeaten Golden Lions 43-20 at Ellis Park last Friday.It is only their second appearance in the final after losing to the Golden Lions in 2013.And Burger is licking his lips."This year's Currie Cup is going to be interesting," he said."It is a World Cup year, meaning the bigger boys won't have the Springboks coming to bail them out in the last six games."..

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