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Cape Town - Pumas coach Jimmy Stonehouse has warned Western Province that they are not nearly as bad as their 80-16 drubbing at the hands of the Free State Cheetahs last week would suggest.
With the exception of last weekend's massacre in Bloemfontein, the Pumas put in good performances against the the other big unions this season.
They narrowly lost against the Lions, Sharks and the Blue Bulls, which indicates they have the capability to be a threat to the men from Cape Town.
They lost 31-27 to the Lions in Johannesburg, 22-23 to the Sharks in Nelspruit and 16-12 to the Bulls at the same venue - gaining bonus points in each of those matches. They could just as well have won all three those encounters. Instead, they are still looking for their first win of the season after also disappointingly going down to Griquas and the Leopards.
However, Stonehouse believes they are a much better team than what their log position (they are second from bottom in seventh position) would indicate.
He also feels they were much better last week (against Free State) than what the 80-16 scoreline suggests.
"Its individual errors that cost us against Free State. Ricardo Croy, Rudi Mathee and Eduan van der Walt missed tackles which led to tries. You can't afford that at this level," Stonehouse told Die Burger newspaper.
The coach has made several changes to his team from the one that lost so heavily in Bloemfontein last week. And Stonehouse believes those changes won't bring about another massacre at the hands of one of the so-called big unions. He believes they have a chance of upsetting Province.
"We see every game as one that we could win," said Stonehouse.
Teams:
Pumas: 15. MJ Mentz, 14. Deon Scholtz, 13. JW Jonker (Captain), 12. Tian Carel Meyer, 11. Wilhelm Hendrik Loock, 10. Coenie van Wyk, 9. Hendrik van der Nest, 8. Christo le Roux, 7. Siphiwe Martin Sithole, 6. Jaco Bouwer, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Eduan Van Der Walt, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Pellow van der Westhuizen, 1. Michael de Neuilly-Rice
Substitutes: 16. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17. Brett Nel, 18. RW Kember, 19. JP Mostert, 20. Tiaan Marx, 21. Johan Jackson, 22. Siviwe Magaba
Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Steven Hunt, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Nizaan Carr, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg (captain) 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Substitutes: 16 Skarra Ntubeni, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Quinton Roux, 19 Tertius Daniller, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache 22 Danie Poolman.
With the exception of last weekend's massacre in Bloemfontein, the Pumas put in good performances against the the other big unions this season.
They narrowly lost against the Lions, Sharks and the Blue Bulls, which indicates they have the capability to be a threat to the men from Cape Town.
They lost 31-27 to the Lions in Johannesburg, 22-23 to the Sharks in Nelspruit and 16-12 to the Bulls at the same venue - gaining bonus points in each of those matches. They could just as well have won all three those encounters. Instead, they are still looking for their first win of the season after also disappointingly going down to Griquas and the Leopards.
However, Stonehouse believes they are a much better team than what their log position (they are second from bottom in seventh position) would indicate.
He also feels they were much better last week (against Free State) than what the 80-16 scoreline suggests.
"Its individual errors that cost us against Free State. Ricardo Croy, Rudi Mathee and Eduan van der Walt missed tackles which led to tries. You can't afford that at this level," Stonehouse told Die Burger newspaper.
The coach has made several changes to his team from the one that lost so heavily in Bloemfontein last week. And Stonehouse believes those changes won't bring about another massacre at the hands of one of the so-called big unions. He believes they have a chance of upsetting Province.
"We see every game as one that we could win," said Stonehouse.
Teams:
Pumas: 15. MJ Mentz, 14. Deon Scholtz, 13. JW Jonker (Captain), 12. Tian Carel Meyer, 11. Wilhelm Hendrik Loock, 10. Coenie van Wyk, 9. Hendrik van der Nest, 8. Christo le Roux, 7. Siphiwe Martin Sithole, 6. Jaco Bouwer, 5. Marius Coetzer, 4. Eduan Van Der Walt, 3. Ashley Buys, 2. Pellow van der Westhuizen, 1. Michael de Neuilly-Rice
Substitutes: 16. Torsten van Jaarsveld, 17. Brett Nel, 18. RW Kember, 19. JP Mostert, 20. Tiaan Marx, 21. Johan Jackson, 22. Siviwe Magaba
Western Province: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Steven Hunt, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Tim Whitehead, 11 JJ Engelbrecht, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Nizaan Carr, 6 Nick Fenton-Wells, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Hilton Lobberts, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg (captain) 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Substitutes: 16 Skarra Ntubeni, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 Quinton Roux, 19 Tertius Daniller, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Marcel Brache 22 Danie Poolman.
