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Pumas too strong for Free State Cheetahs

Cape Town - The Pumas have emphatically defeated the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup Premier Division clash at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein on Friday.

As it happened: Free State Cheetahs v Pumas

The Pumas won 42-14 after leading 28-7 at half-time.

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.

Scorers:

Free State Cheetahs

Tries: Rudi Paige, Jannes Snyman

Conversions: Ernst Stapelberg, Reinhardt Erwee

Pumas

Tries: Ryan Nell (2), Morne Joubert, Neil Maritz, Marnus Schoeman, Simon Westraadt

Conversions: Chris Smith (5), Kobus Marais

Teams:

Free State Cheetahs

15 Adriaan Carelse, 14 Ali Mgijima, 13 Carel-Jane Coetzee, 12 Tertius Kruger, 11 Vuyani Maqina, 10 Ernst Stapelberg, 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Daniel Maartens, 7 Jannes Snyman, 6 Abongile Nonkontwana, 5 Louis Conradie, 4 Dennis Visser, 3 Reinach Venter, 2 Elandre Huggett, 1 Johan Kotze

Substitutes: 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

Substitutes: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 De-Jay Terblanche, 18 Cameron Lindsay, 19 Francois Kleinhans, 20 Abrie Griesel, 21 Kobus Marais, 22 Henko Marais

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