Revitalised Pumas ready for Currie Cup onslaught
6am; and 6.25am When the SuperSport Rugby Challenge began this year, iCollege Pumas coach Brent Janse van Rensburg said they were using it to get ready for their Currie Cup campaign.
To many it may have implied they weren’t in it to win it, but 11 wins and the SuperSport Rugby Challenge cup later – courtesy of their 32-30 win over the Tafel Lager Griquas – not only suggests they were in it for the long haul, they can safely be pronounced ready for the Currie Cup.
What began as a hopeful campaign to build depth in the absence of some injured first team regulars has ended up with one of the stronger squads they’ve ever had going into the Premier Division of the Currie Cup, with a glow of invincibility from being unbeaten to boot.
Not always forward in coming forward, even Janse van Rensburg agrees: “I think so, this team’s got a lot of systems in place, it’s got a lot of continuity, we’ve got some guys injured at home and we’re going to get them all on their feet and available.
“Hopefully that confidence will go into the Currie Cup. We’ve got a bit of a break now, we’ve got some work to do. We’ll have to press the reset button because it’ll be a tough Currie Cup, but this will certainly help us take another step in that competition.”
The main reason Janse van Rensburg is bullish about the Currie Cup is the stage of his team’s development since his arrival in Nelspruit in 2016: “It’s the time we’ve spent together. We arrived here at the end of 2016 and the first year was about putting things in place.
“Last year’s Currie Cup was where we started finding each other and playing good rugby, and the players could see that we could compete. We just had time and everyone in the playing group became familiar, and that rhythm and continuity has stood us in good stead.”
The C-word had also came in for a favourable mention ahead of the final: “Culturally we’ve worked a lot on what we stand for as people and I’ve seen a lot of players become self-starters, do their own prep and come prepared to our meetings.”—