The Leopards put in a solid performance to power to a thumping 52-29 (halftime 28-5) win over the Boland Kavaliers in the first semifinal of the 2021 Carling Currie Cup First Division competition at Olen Park in Potchefstroom on Friday evening.
The Leopards have thus sealed a home final after they finished top of the first division table and will wait to see who they will face with the Down Touch Griffons hosting the Valke in the second semi on Saturday.
It was a comfortable win for the Leopards after a superb first half saw them fly into a 21-0 lead after just 13 minutes and take a 23 point lead into the break.
However, an impressive second-half performance from the Kavaliers allowed them to draw the half to make sure that that the Leopards didn’t run away with the match.
The home side opened the scoring in the fifth minute when on attack in the Kavaliers' half the ball found its way to the left hand touch where wing Eugene Hare stepped inside two players and dived over in the corner, with flyhalf Danrich Visagie converting to put them 7-0 up.
The Kavaliers then had a chance to register their first points but flyhalf Garrick Mattheus missed the penalty from towards the right-hand touchline in the ninth minute.
Two tries in two minutes then had the Leopards flying as first from a lineout on the Kavaliers 5m they attacked from the maul, with the ball swung to outside centre Andries Truter who flew through a gap to score under the poles untouched.
Straight from the restart the Kavaliers tried to attack, but a huge double hit on fullback Cleve Malgas and then some poor passing saw the ball go loose allowing the Leopards to attack from broken play, ending with eighthman Andries Fouche going in under the poles to put them in full control.
The Kavaliers finally got onto the scoreboard in the 22nd minute as the Leopards took a quick tap penalty in the Kavaliers half, only for scrumhalf Sherwin Cupido to throw a poor pass that was intercepted with the Kavaliers then counter attacking at pace as Malgas made the break and passed the ball to right wing Lincoln Daniels to go over for an unconverted score in the corner.
PENALTY TRY
Visagie missed a 29th-minute penalty for the Leopards, but they were soon further ahead as a yellow card to Kavaliers eighthman Keenan Opperman in the 32nd minute allowed the Leopards to kick the penalty to the corner, set up a powerful maul and rumble over with hooker Robey Leibrandt dotting down the converted score giving them a 28-5 lead at the break.
A back and forth second half then saw both teams trading points throughout, starting with the Leopards going further ahead in the 45th minute as prop Sampie Swiegers smashed his way over from close range, with Visagie adding the extras.
The Kavaliers responded eight minutes later as from a lineout in the Leopards 22m they attacked, getting close before outside centre Gerrit van Wyk hit a gap to go over with replacement flyhalf John Lourens popping over the conversion.
A Visagie penalty in the 56th minute was followed by an unconverted try to Kavaliers replacement back Bjorkan Hendricks five minutes later as the visitors looked to speed up the game, attacking into the home side's 22m before putting Hendricks into the left-hand corner with the score 38-17 at that stage.
The Leopards responded in the 65th minute with another powerful mauled try after a lineout in the Kavaliers 22m, with replacement hooker Gustav du Rand dotting down as replacement flyhalf Keagan Fortune added the extras.
The back and forth continued to the end as a yellow card to Hare in the Leopards' 22m allowed the Kavaliers to take a quick tap and put replacement back Taine Booysen over in the left-hand corner, with Lourens's extras making it 45-24 after 75 minutes.
Two minutes later the Leopards looked to be rumbling over another maul, only for Kavaliers sub Ameer Hendricks to pull it down illegally, leading the ref to award a penalty try and send the player off for the cynical play.
The Kavaliers had the final say in the match as replacement forward Emile Booysen went over for an unconverted try on the stroke of fulltime to make it 52-29 at the end.
Scorers:
Leopards: - Tries:Eugene Hare, Andries Truter, Andries Fouche, Robey Leibrandt, Sampie Swiegers, Gustav du Rand; Penalty Try Conversions:Danrich Visagie (5), Keagan Fortune; Penalty:Danrich Visagie
Kavaliers: - Tries:Andre Manuel, Gerrit van Wyk, Bjorkan Hendricks, Taine Booysen, Emile Booysen; Conversions:John Lourens (2)