THE Pumas are hoping that playing on home turf will give them the edge over the Eastern Province Kings in the first match of the Absa Currie Cup promotion-relegation playoffs in eMalahleni tomorrow night.
Pumas manager Marius van Rensburg said the home crowd has an important role to play in motivating the players against the Kings, who will not be pushovers.
This keenly anticipated encounter is billed for Puma Rugby Stadium, with kickoff at 7pm.
"I predict a tight match. The Kings are a very strong team and we respect them," Van Rensburg said yesterday.
"They play quality rugby but we have prepared ourselves thoroughly for the match. We will definitely not allow them to do as they please in our territory.
"We need to beat them convincingly at home to make things easy in the second leg in Port Elizabeth next week."
The Mpumalanga side go into this match inspired by their 34-27 win over a tough Lions side in the last match of the Currie Cup Premier Division campaign in Johannesburg a fortnight ago. They will rely on leading points scorer, centre Shaun Venter, who scored a superb try against the Lions.
Kings manager Sydney Goba said yesterday: "We are the underdogs but I'm convinced the players will pull out all the stops to win."
Wing Norman Nelson, who has been nominated for the South African Rugby Union's Absa Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year award, will lead the visitors.
On Saturday in Potchefstroom, Platinum Leopards host the Eagles in the second playoff match that starts at 4pm. The playoffs will determine two teams that will play in the Premier League next season.
Pumas rely on home crowd as they try to topple Kings
THE Pumas are hoping that playing on home turf will give them the edge over the Eastern Province Kings in the first match of the Absa Currie Cup promotion-relegation playoffs in eMalahleni tomorrow night.
Pumas manager Marius van Rensburg said the home crowd has an important role to play in motivating the players against the Kings, who will not be pushovers.
This keenly anticipated encounter is billed for Puma Rugby Stadium, with kickoff at 7pm.
"I predict a tight match. The Kings are a very strong team and we respect them," Van Rensburg said yesterday.
"They play quality rugby but we have prepared ourselves thoroughly for the match. We will definitely not allow them to do as they please in our territory.
"We need to beat them convincingly at home to make things easy in the second leg in Port Elizabeth next week."
The Mpumalanga side go into this match inspired by their 34-27 win over a tough Lions side in the last match of the Currie Cup Premier Division campaign in Johannesburg a fortnight ago. They will rely on leading points scorer, centre Shaun Venter, who scored a superb try against the Lions.
Kings manager Sydney Goba said yesterday: "We are the underdogs but I'm convinced the players will pull out all the stops to win."
Wing Norman Nelson, who has been nominated for the South African Rugby Union's Absa Currie Cup First Division Player of the Year award, will lead the visitors.
On Saturday in Potchefstroom, Platinum Leopards host the Eagles in the second playoff match that starts at 4pm. The playoffs will determine two teams that will play in the Premier League next season.
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