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Pumas remain unstoppable

East London - The Pumas ran in six tries and maintained their unbeaten run in the Currie Cup First Division when they romped to an emphatic 42-10 victory over the Border Bulldogs at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Friday.

The Pumas went into the half-time break leading 14-10.

According to the supersport.com website, the hosts, who lay second from bottom on the log, looked to use the clear skies and a light breeze to turn their season around, but the Pumas had other ideas.

The opening exchanges were like heavyweight boxers feeling each other out and it was the homeside who opened the scoring after 15 minutes when Blake Kyd rumbled his way over, with Dale Sabbagh knocking over the conversion to give the home side a 7-0 lead.

But four minutes later, Rosko Spekman raced down the left side of the field to open the account for the visitors. Juan Claude Roos slotted the conversion to level matters after 20 minutes.

As the first half continued, the match looked to be heading for a tight affair before the Pumas' open-side flank, Jaco Bouwer, went over for the visitors' second try.

Roos converted to give the Pumas a seven point lead. But on the stroke of halftime, Sabbagh slotted a penalty to reduce the gap to just four points.

The start of the second half saw the visitors take command as Giant Mtyanda went over for the third try.

Roos converted to extend the Pumas lead to 11 points just four minutes into the second half.

Seven minutes later the Pumas secured their bonus point for scoring four tries when their fullback, JW Bell, scored a delightful try.

Roos slotted his fourth conversion to take the lead to 18 points.

The visitors then piled on the pressure as the hosts were unable to break the shackles that the Pumas had them in.

Mtyanda's lock partner and captain, Eduan van der Walt, forced his way over for the fifth try.

Roos made it five from five attempts as he slotted the conversion to make the score 35-10 with 20 minutes remaining in the match.

Tiaan Marx, who had replaced Stefan Watermeyer at inside centre, rubbed salt into the Bulldogs' wounds when he rounded off a sweeping move and scored the visitors' sixth try of the match with just two minutes remaining.

Roos completed a perfect day with the boot by slotting his sixth conversion, for a personal haul of 12 points.

Scores:

Border - 10: Try: Blake Kyd; Conversion: Dale Sabbagh; Penalty: Sabbagh.

Pumas - 42: Tries: Rosko Spekman, Jaco Bouwer, Giant Mtyanda, JW Bell, Eduan van der Walt, Tiaan Marx; Conversions: Juan Claude Roos (6).

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