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Pumas still in with a 'sniff' for Semis spot

The side suffered a narrow 28-29 defeat to the Golden Lions at Ellis Park.

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They bagged two bonus points, which ensured them the fifth spot on the log after eight rounds.

"Disappointing we did not get the win but at least we have a double bonus point," Janse Van Rensburg told reporters after the match.  

"I really admired the guys' spirited fight back in the second-half and there is still a lot of rugby to play.  

"I think we have done enough to give ourselves a sniff, we just have to start being more accurate on the field, work on our breakdown and stop putting to put ourselves under pressure by giving away possession so easily.

"The next five games are important, and the semifinals are still a realistic goal for us," he added

The Nelspruit-based team have put in some noteworthy performance thus far, but discipline or lack thereof just proved to be the side’s Achilles heel.  

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They were forced to play with 14-men for 20 minutes after Jerome Pretorius was yellow carded in the 45th minute for foul play and Lambert Groenewald received a yellow in the 72nd minute.

"The yellow card came at a wrong time and really cost us, however, it was not intentional by Jerome Pretorius, it was just a knee jerk reaction.

"That is life things happen, we just have to learn how to deal with it. Obviously, Jerome [Pretorius] is disappointed.

"I think we did really well to keep Golden Lions out, while we were down to 14 men," he added.

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Pumas next fixture is against the table-topping Sharks in Nelspruit on September 9.

By Leezil Hendricks

@Leezil07

@rugby365.com

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