The Border Bulldogs’ woes in the SA Cup continued when they suffered their second biggest loss of the competition, going down 94-5 to the rampant Airlink Pumas at Mdantsane’s Sisa Dukashe stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts had no answer to the marauding Mpumalanga side who ran in 14 tries to one.
While they held their own in the first half when they managed to dot down on the line after a beautiful move finished by Mihlali Ngcukana, the Bulldogs were again caught napping by the speed of the visitors as they conceded the majority of the tries on the left flank.
The afternoon belonged to Jaycee Nel whose darting runs down the left flank led to him scoring four tries.
By the break the Pumas led 33-5 before continuing their forays into the opposition half for much of the second half.
The Bulldogs were nowhere to be found after the interval as they shipped in nine tries with the Pumas adding to their woes with excellent kicking by both Clinton Swart and Navaldo Fleurs who took over the duties after Swart’s replacement.
Bulldogs coach Dumisani Mhani admitted that the Pumas were a better side on the day and deserved the win.
“They destroyed us and the difference in class was visible,” he said.
The Pumas, who are one of the two unbeaten teams in the competition, the other being the Griquas, which also registered a massive win against the Bulldogs, beating them 97-7 in Kimberley, shot to the second spot in the log with 22 points, three shy of Griquas’ 25.