Pumas fullback Casper Steyn completed a perfect kicking display to spur his team to a 25-16 victory over the Falcons in the final of the Currie Cup first division at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan on Friday night.
The Falcons led 13-9 at the interval.
Steyn contributed 20 points via five penalties, a conversion and a drop-goal, while his counterpart, Falcons flyhalf Louis Strydom, missed 18 points in total.
The home side drew first blood when Strydom slotted a third-minute penalty, but he failed miserably with the boot on a night when it counted.
Steyn replied two minutes later with a penalty of his own as the two teams slowly got to grips with the occasion.
After left wing Riaan Viljoen landed a snap drop-goal to restore the lead for the home team, Steyn completed a frantic opening 11 minutes by levelling matters once more at 6-6.
Strydom had a horrid first 40 minutes with the boot, missing four goal-able kicks that would have given his team a 12-point cushion by the 27th minute.
Instead, his misses meant the teams remained on equal terms for much of the first half, which was dominated by the Falcons.
Despite being the better team and having by far the best of the tight exchanges, the Falcons could not put daylight between themselves and the visitors.
When loosehead prop Gavin Wittingham was given his marching orders in the 33rd minute, it looked ominous for the home team.
However, in the dying seconds of the first stanza, wing Brendon April scooped up a loose ball and scampered over finally to give his team the long-awaited lead.
Viljoen was handed the kicking duties and duly split the uprights to go into the break 13-9 ahead.
Steyn kicked a drop shortly after the restart to reduce the deficit to one point, but two yellow cards to Pumas hooker Rudi Brits and scrumhalf Grant Bartle relieved the pressure and resulted in Strydom — back in favour — stretching the lead to four points.
That did not last long as the Pumas struck back — after Falcons fullback Willem Slabbert became the fourth man to be sin-binned — with 10 points in two minutes via a Steyn penalty and a converted try to Lourens Dunn to carve out a 22-16 advantage with 20 minutes remaining.
That became 25-16 in the 71st minute when Steyn kicked his seventh kick from seven attempts to shut out the home team effectively. — Sapa