But 26 minutes into the game, there were serious concerns that all the effort they had put in throughout the season could come unstuck. They showed great resolve to get themselves organised and go back to basics, using the driving maul to great effect, scoring 41 points, with six tries, from that moment on.
The early stages were typical final fare, as each team tried to test their own strengths and the opposition weakness. A penalty apiece was all there was to show for the first 19 minutes' play. It was filled with trial and error.
But the Eagles were showing more enterprise on attack and they were helped by the Leopards' poor defensive set-up. A missed tackled on Eagles centre Brian Skosana released wing Alshuan Bock for the first try. That was followed four minutes later when flyhalf Martin du Toit cut through a weak tackle and offloaded easily to centre Lukuzo Vulindlu on his shoulder for a finish under the posts.
All of a sudden, the Leopards were trailing 17 points to three. Another penalty by the prolific Leighton Eksteen stretched that to 20-3.
