The Pumas secured their second victory of the 2018 Currie Cup following a dominant 42-14 triumph over an abject Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Jimmy Stonehouse’s charges set the tone early on by crossing the whitewash three times through Ryan Nell’s brace and one from Morne Joubert.
Rudy Paige hit back for the home team before Neil Maritz restored the visitors’ 21-point buffer just shy of the interval.
It proved to be a quieter second period as the Pumas eased off the gas and that allowed Jannes Snyman to score, but the visitors had the final word via Marnus Schoeman and Simon Westraadt.
With the Bloemfontein-based outfit juggling the PRO14 alongside the Currie Cup, they have endured a torrid campaign in their domestic competition.
Following this loss, the Cheetahs have gone through the tournament winless. Once again, Daan Human’s men were completely outplayed as the Pumas dominated, and in Stefan Ungerer, the away side had the game’s outstanding player.
The scrum-half was particularly prominent in the opening quarter, creating the first two tries, as a grubber through allowed Nell to touch down before his break and pass saw Joubert cross the whitewash.
It was proving to be a comfortable evening for the visitors and another fine move down the right gave their inside centre a simple run for his second try.
To the hosts’ credit, they fought back and reduced the arrears when captain Paige sniped over from close range, but the Pumas responded immediately as Maritz strolled in at the corner for a 28-7 advantage at the break.
With Stonehouse’s men in control, their intensity dropped in the second period, but they were not unduly troubled by the Cheetahs.
Human’s outfit had more of the ball and created a couple of opportunities but, in truth, they lacked ideas and their opponents were reasonably comfortable in defence.
Although the Bloemfontein side did eventually score through Snyman, Schoeman and Westraadt tries completed an easy win for the Pumas.
The scorers:
For Free State Cheetahs:
Tries: Paige, Snyman
Cons: Stapelberg, Carelse
For Pumas:
Tries: Nell 2, Joubert, Maritz, Schoeman, Westraadt
Cons: Smith 5, Marais
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Adriaan Carelse, 14 Ali Mgijima, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Vuyani Maqina, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Rudy Paige (c), 8 Daniel Maartens, 7 Abongile Nonkontwana 6 Jannes Snyman, 5 Louis Conradie, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Reinach Venter, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 Johan Kotze
Replacements: 16 Hanno Snyman, 17 Stephan van Schalkwyk, 18 Nardus Erasmus, 19 Luigy van Jaarsveld, 20 Dian Badenhorst, 21 Reinhardt Erwee, 22 Maputa Dolo
Pumas: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Morné Joubert, 13 Neil Maritz, 12 Ryan Nell, 11 Ruwellyn Isbel, 10 Christopher Smith, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Jeandré Rudolph, 7 Willie Engelbrecht, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Hugo Kloppers (c), 4 Le Roux Roets, 3 Andrew Beerwinkel, 2 Marko Janse van Rensburg, 1 Morgan Naudé
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Abrie Griesel, 21 Kobus Marais, 22 Henko Marais
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
Assistant referees: Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze
TMO: Lourens van der Merwe