SOUTHERN CAPE NEWS - The South Western Districts Eagles recorded one of its most dramatic turnarounds when it outclassed the Leopards 64-34 in its Absa Currie Cup first division match at Outeniqua Park on Friday, September 7.
The Eagles led 27-20 at half time.
The win comes on the back of a deeply disappointing away loss to the Pumas in Nelspruit last week, and contrasts starkly with an earlier loss to the Leopards, which saw the Eagles going down 68-35 in Potchefstroom on July 21.
The score in Friday's game did see-saw a little - after the Eagles came out firing (with two tries and a successful penalty in the first 15 minutes to lead 17-0), the Leopards fought back to 34-34 in the 54th minute.
But the Leopards stood no chance after that as the hosts rammed victory home in the final quarter of the game with two drop goals within two minutes from fly-half Burton Francis, as well as a try from Jeff Taljard and two from Johan Herbst (all three of which were converted by Elric van Vuuren) in the final six minutes of play.
Scorers
SWD Eagles: Tries: Nico Hanekom, Johan Herbst (3), Jeff Taljard, Ghafoer Luckan, Clint Wagman. Conversions: Elric van Vuuren (7). Penalties: Elric van Vuuren (3). Drop goals: Burton Francis (2).
Leopards: Tries: Victor Kruger, Hoffman Maritz, Berty Visser, Adriaan Engelbrecht. Conversions: André Pretorius (4). Penalties: André Pretorius (2).
* This Saturday, September 15, the SWD Eagles play against the Boland Cavaliers in Wellington.
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