The Pumas (known as the

Airlink Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline h ...

Pumas for sponsorship reasons) are a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team that competes in the Premier Division of the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

and the Northern Section of the

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

. The team draws their players from Mpumalanga Province (formerly known as the South Eastern Transvaal) and plays at the

Mbombela Stadium The Mbombela Stadium is a football and Rugby union all-seater stadium in Mbombela in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, It was one of 10 venues for the tournament and one of 5 newly constructed stadiums ...

Mbombela Mbombela (also known as Nelspruit) is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, Mbombela lies about by road west of the Mozambique border, east of Johannesburg and north ...

, having previously also played at the

Puma Stadium Witbank Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in eMalahleni, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the wo ...

Witbank Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wa ...

. The Pumas are a well supported team throughout Mpumalanga Province, with large fan bases located in Witbank, Middelburg, Ermelo and Mbombela.

History

Formed in 1969 as South Eastern Transvaal, the Pumas are one of the younger unions in the country. The team won the Currie Cup for the first time in

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. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, they were coached jointly by Chris Grobler and

Danie Gerber Danie Gerber (born 14 April 1958 in Port Elizabeth, Union of South Africa) is a former South African rugby union player, who played for South Africa between 1980 and 1992. He played mainly at inside or outside centre, but also on the wing. Hi ...

, but failed to win any of their 14 matches, finishing last on the

log Log most often refers to: * Trunk (botany), the stem and main wooden axis of a tree, called logs when cut ** Logging, cutting down trees for logs ** Firewood, logs used for fuel ** Lumber or timber, converted from wood logs * Logarithm, in mathe ...

. They won the Currie Cup First Division (the second tier competition) in

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and

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, both times earning promotion to the Currie Cup Premier Division. For their 2010 Currie Cup campaign, the Pumas appointed the seasoned

Jimmy Stonehouse James Stonehouse (born in Krugersdorp, South Africa) is a South African rugby union coach and the head coach of Currie Cup side the . Rugby union Early career As a player, Stonehouse played hooker for . During his playing days, he was also a ...

as coach. Though considered the underdogs of the Currie Cup competition, on 27 August 2010 the Pumas beat current champions the 22–21 at the

. They eventually finished 7th.

Honours

The team's major tournament wins include: *

Currie Cup Premier Division Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

* Currie Cup First Division:

and

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* Rugby Challenge: 2018.

Current squad

The following players were included in the Pumas squad for the

2022 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2022 Currie Cup Premier Division will be the 84th edition of the top tier of the Currie Cup, the premier domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. It will be sponsored by beer brand Carling Black Label and organised by the South Afri ...

References

External links

Official Website

Pumas statistics on supersport.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pumas (Rugby Team) South African rugby union teams Sport in Mpumalanga Mbombela