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The home side had suffered close defeats to the Sharks (22-23), Griquas (33-40), Blue Bulls (12-16) and Golden Lions (20-34) at the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadium this season already, but they broke their duck in fine style against their lowly visitors from Potchefstroom.
In a match between the two bottom sides in the competition, who between them had won just two from 20 games this season, it was the home team who opened up a 22-0 lead in an many minutes -- and the early onslaught had more than a touch of Cape flavour to it.
Former Maties Coenie van Wyk, who would finish with 22 points, and Wilhelm Loock between them scored all the points in the opening 40 minutes.
Left-footed flyhalf Van Wyk kicked five penalties and scored a try to go with the one scored by fearless, hard-running winger Loock, nicknamed Rooikat from his Stellenbosch University days.
Bagpipes might be banned at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand but they were in full force in Nelspruit, a Scottish pipe band providing the half-time entertainment for the 1,248 diehard Lowveld fans who had been brave enough to leave the comfort of their couches.
The sound of the bagpipes would have drifted into the Leopards' changing room at the break, but there had been few 'Braveheart' moments in the opening 40, with the visitors unable to secure their own ball and the backs making a number of elementary mistakes.
The Leopards finally got onto the scoresheet after 51 minutes when fullback George Tossel crossed the line for Dunlop to convert.
Hooker Gavin Williamson then added a second four minutes later to make it 25-12 before flanker Philip de Wet added a third on the hour to turn the game on its head.
Dunlop's second conversion cut the deficit to just six point, but the Pumas responded through blindside flanker Jaco Bouwer to give the hosts some daylight on the scoreboard once again.
Given the try-scoring blitz, one got the impression that the Leopards might threaten a famous come-from-behind victory, but Bouwer's five-pointer proved to be the final scoring act of the night, leaving his team without even as much as a bonus point to show for their much improved second-half effort.
Scorers:
Pumas 32 - Tries : Coenie van Wyk, Wilhelm Loock, Jaco Bouwer. Conversions: Van Wyk. Penalties: Van Wyk (5).Leopards 19 - Tries : George Tossel, Gavin Williamson, Philip de Wet. Conversions: Wesley Dunlop (2).
