Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Airlink Pumas will start as the favourites for tomorrow’s inaugural Airlink Cup after comfortably beating the Windhoek Draught Welwitschia 43-0 in a warmup match on Wednesday.
The Pumas, who are the defending Currie Cup champions, gave a fine display of forward power and backline precision as they ran in seven tries in a match that was interrupted several times due to power failures.
The Pumas’ powerful pack pushed the Welwitschias back for metres from the first scrum and their forward dominance soon resulted in points.
Hooker PJ Jacobs went over from a forward maul after five minutes, while flanker Anele Lungisa dotted down from another maul.
The Welwitschias tried to hit back, with Thomasau Forbes prominent in build-up phases, but the Pumas’ defence stood firm and they regained the initiative, scoring tries through scrumhalf Jaco Nell and Jacobs’ second, to go 22-0 ahead at the halftime break.
Welwitschias coach Chrysander Botha fielded a completely different starting 15 in the second half, and in between the power failures, they did well to hold the Pumas at bay for most of the half.
Pumas centre Ethan Fisher scored a great solo try when he broke through two tackles to dive over, while Cosmo Zymvragos scored a breakaway try late on to seal their victory.
Pumas flyhalf Gene Willemse added three conversions and replacement back Keegan Schaefer one.
For the Welwitschias, locks Max Katjijeko and Mahepisa Tjeriko did well in the line-outs, while centre Danco Burger and second half replacement flyhalf Aurelio Plato caught the eye.
The Welwitschias’ defence coach Allister Coetzee said the score was not important.
“The score was never an issue for us, it is our first contact session for the season, and it’s the first time that these two groups have played as combinations, therefor we were not really worried about the result. Our main objective was to make sure that most of the players get an opportunity to play and that we can work towards building combinations for Saturday,” he said.
“We played against a side that has been together for a very long time and they are the Currie Cup champions, which is really great for us. You could see their strength at the set pieces, and we obviously still have more work to do on our scrummaging, which highlights what we have to work on,” he added.
Coetzee said they will field their strongest side tomorrow, from the two sides that featured on Wednesday.
“We will try and choose the best possible team from both groups with eight to ten reserves. The Pumas will also bring their strongest team on Saturday which will give us a great opportunity to gain experience and prepare for our first match in the Currie Cup First Division against Border on 25 March,” he added.
Tomorrow’s Airlink Cup will start at 16h00 at the Hage Geingob National Rugby Stadium.
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