Puma cub cuts loose in Bull Ring

The Bunbury City Bulls’ Under-15s team let a Puma loose during an exhibition match against Rockingham at the weekend.

The Bulls fielded Argentinian exchange student Tomas Delval in their backline during the contest, which finished in a nailbiting 20-20 draw.

Tomas, 15, is part of a growing community of rugby union players from Argentina, whose national team is known as the Pumas.

He contributed to a number of the Bulls’ tries.

“In Argentina rugby is getting very popular, especially now we play against the top Southern Hemisphere teams every year — in my city of Cordoba there are 18 teams already,” Tomas said.

The Bulls eased into Saturday’s contest with backrowers Ethan Talimanu and Sean Marltz and the hard-working Blake Williams standout players.

Coach Shane Jarrett-Brown was pleased with the performance against one of WA junior rugby’s powerhouse clubs.

“We are really looking forward to playing the majority of our games against the top flight this year, the boys have really worked hard in the summer and I look forward to seeing them progress to new heights this year,” he said.

The Bulls will have the opportunity to test themselves against Perth opposition in coming weeks, with clashes scheduled against Cottesloe and Southern Lions.

Bulls’ president Danny Griffin said big things were expected of the club’s Under-15s line-up.

“With four players in that squad making it into the final State trials, the club is putting an emphasis on getting them games at the highest level so they can achieve representative rugby union in the future,” he said.