After a long and tiring journey to Samsun the Pumas were in confident mood as they prepared for the afternoon encounter with Samsun Rugby Club, the latest entrants into Turkish League. Not much was known about this new team except that they were all athletes from the local University of Sporting Excellence and had drubbed Bakirkoy 34-5 in their opening match. However victory over the UN and an official police escort for the trip from the hotel to the ground gave the Pumas a self-assured poise as they arrived at the stadium.

From the kick-off the high drop kick from Luke Brewin was collected by a Samsun prop who was immediately hit with a shuddering tackle from Halit Ozcan, the impact of which was heard back in the stand with a collective intake of breath from the 120 or so watching spectators. It was to set the standard for the game which unfortunately was not going to be a classic. Poor refereeing and a side who were clearly outclassed by the Pumas soon meant that the game degenerated into a virtual free for all.

Samsun were fit and hungry for the game but their Rugby education is clearly in its formative stages. High tackles were the norm, offside was a concept they were yet to master and binding in the scrum was an un-necessary inconvenience. Nevertheless you could not fault their commitment to giving a good account of themselves. Samsun knew they were playing the best team in the league and their basic ambition was to put some points on the board by fair means or foul. Despite their efforts however the Samsun team spent most of the match defending their 22 metre line.

2 tries by John Hoyles, 2 tries and 4 conversions from Luke Brewin and a try each from Sebastien Crebier and Dincer Kilercioglu put the result beyond doubt as the Pumas racked up a 38-0 victory. The platform was again created by a superbly disciplined performance from the Puma pack who faced severe provocation at every maul, ruck and set piece as the indiscipline of the Samsun team created havoc. The performances of Mohammed Asari and Dincer Kilercioglu in the front row were immense. Special mention must also go to Halit Ozcan and Sam Butcher who seemed to be everywhere on the pitch. In the backs John Hoyles, Luke Brewin and Sebastien Crebier put in sterling efforts as they were constantly hampered by players tackling (if that is the correct phrase) from offside positions.

The referee had a very poor game summed up in the final minutes when a Samsun prop decided to attack a Puma player with a flurry of punches to the head. The red card was shown but it was several minutes before the player would leave what had finally become an ill-tempered affair. It was obvious that the referee had lost any semblance of control at this point. Thankfully he too recognised this fact and a few seconds later he blew for full time before anybody was truly hurt.

Overall this was a hard won team victory made more satisfying by denying the Samsun side a score of any kind.

Simon Kiddle