Rugby International trains with local squad

Fresh from making his international debut representing Cyprus in a match against Greece two weeks ago, Famagusta’s Devren Dervish turned up at the Pumas training ground at Alsancak last Saturday to join the University squad in a tough four-hour workout.

Devren, who was born and learned his Rugby in England, works on the British Sovereign Base in Dhekelia and usually plays for a local Rugby side in the South Cyprus League. He is now also expected to regularly travel to Alsancak to assist the Pumas coaching staff to drill the Pumas in the finer arts of the rough and tumble game.

Busy April for PumasDevren’s contribution to the Pumas’ rugby development will be most welcome as the squad prepares for a series of fixtures over the coming weeks. On Sunday April 7 they are expecting to host the Nicosia Stags, a team mainly made up of UN personnel; on 15 April they will entertain the Istanbul Ottomans for a return visit, kick off at the Alsancak Football Stadium is timed for 11 o’clock.

Last year the Pumas inflicted a fifty points to five drubbing on the Ottomans; club Captain Naci Hoscan is confident that his team will improve on that score this season. “We’re a much fitter team than last year and our rugby skills are improving all the time, so we’re looking forward to another big win on the fifteenth, especially if Devren is in the side,” said Naci during a practice session last Wednesday evening.

The Pumas also expect to continue their winning run in a repeat match against fellow students from the METU North Cyprus campus at Kalkani, on a date yet to be finalised. Furthermore, Stuart Green of Simogen Property Developers, who recently hosted a squad of English professional boxers as they trained in North Cyprus, is also bringing over two Rugby sides; one Welsh and the other from England, to play an exhibition match. Discussions are taking place to arrange a fourth game for the Pumas in April against a scratch side taken from the tourists squads.