Pumas (rugby team)
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| Full name | Pumas | ||
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| 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) | Corné Steenkamp | ||
| League(s) | Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup | ||
| 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division | 6th | ||
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| Official website | |||
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www | |||
 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 Mpumulanga 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.
Current squad
First team
The following players were included in the Pumas squad for the 2015 Vodacom Cup:[2][3]
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Props
Hookers Locks |
Loose Forwards
Scrum-halves Fly-halves
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Centres Wingers
Fullbacks |
(c) denotes team captain.
loan Lambert Groenewald is on loan from the Golden Lions.
1 Faf de Klerk and Corné Fourie are involved with the Lions Super Rugby team, 2 Renaldo Bothma and Giant Mtyanda are involved with the Sharks Super Rugby team, 3 Vincent Koch is involved with the Stormers Super Rugby team and 4 Rosko Specman is involved with the South African Sevens team.
References
- ↑ "Pumas shock Blue Bulls in Nelspruit". Planet Rugby. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
- ↑ "Steval Pumas announce 2015 Vodacom Cup squad". South African Rugby Union. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
- ↑ "2015 Pumas Vodacom Cup season". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
External links
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