The Pumas celebrate (Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images)
- The Pumas will contest their second Currie Cup final in two years after upsetting the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
- Coach Jimmy Stonehouse hailed the passion and commitment of his players.
- The Pumas will take on the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse said it was “difficult to express my feelings” following his side’s stunning Currie Cup semi-final victory over the Sharks in Durban on Saturday.
The Pumas, the defending champions, won 26-20 to book their spot in next weekend’s final against the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
It is an exceptional effort for a side that cannot compete financially with the bigger unions in the country and does not play in any other professional competition outside of the Currie Cup.
The Sharks entered Saturday’s match as comfortable favourites, but the Pumas put on a display rich in passion, grit and defensive determination.
READ | Sharks coach Mongalo takes blame after Pumas upset: ‘It’s 100% on me’
“I’m very proud of these kids. They’re just amazing and they have fought week after week,” Stonehouse told media after the match.
“We don’t have the depth to change players and they just keep on going, and it’s amazing to see the way fought out there tonight.
“We just hit them back over and over again, and that’s pure heart and belief.”
Stonehouse said that while the challenges for a union like the Pumas were obvious, the mission was always the same.
“We’ve got the belief to win, and it doesn’t matter if it’s home or away,” he said.
“It’s just the supporters and spectators that don’t give us a chance, because we’re a small union. But we come in week in and week out and play a good brand of rugby, and it’s just amazing.
“It’s about showing out there that we belong somewhere.
“I practice and preach this with the players and I tell them that if the Pumas win, they will go somewhere. If they have a belief that they’re brilliant and want to do stuff on their own, they will go nowhere.
“I think that’s the greatest thing. At the end of this season Tinus de Beer is going to Wales, Ali Mgijima is going to the Cheetahs, Diego Appollis to the Sharks … everybody is going, just like last year.”
READ | Sharks rocked in Durban as Pumas book Currie Cup final spot
Stonehouse praised the work ethic of his players, saying they deserved their shot at making history again.
“I think it’s the toughness. We really train hard, but it’s also the discipline,” he said.
“It’s tough for the guys sometimes at the Pumas, and what we’re doing here is to say to SA Rugby: ‘Just give us an opportunity’.
“We cannot play URC or those competitions because we don’t have the money, but just give us something – another competition – so that we don’t have another seven months of pre-season and so that we can get another sponsor to invest in us.
“That’s what we’re trying to create.”