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The Leopards scored five good tries in difficult conditions to condemn the Falcons to their third defeat in four matches, which suggests that a tough season awaits veteran skipper Nico Luus and his men both in this competition and in the Currie Cup First Division following their relegation from the top flight.
This was a match that would not have looked out of place in the northern hemisphere: two sets of grizzled forwards indulging in a tough arm-wrestle on a soggy field tailor-made for old-fashioned grinding play.
The rain might have stayed away during the match but the muddy conditions made for a slow, stop-start match which suited the heavier Falcons forwards to a tee.
But given the Falcons’ problems following their demotion to the First Division this year, this was essentially a mismatch between a professional, top-eight team and a club side, as that the core of the East Rand team is built around the very strong Brakpan club.
The visitors, fourth on the North log before this match following their 11-10 victory over the Golden Lions last Saturday, opened the scoring as early as the third minute when left wing Shuaib Samaai beat three defenders en route to the tryline after a good break in midfield by former UPE and Lions eighthman RW Kember.
The Leopards went 12-0 ahead after as many minutes when hooker Pellow van der Westhuizen barged over from close range for flyhalf Clayton Durand, who would finish with 17 points, to convert.
The Falcons, who found themselves lying in sixth place on the table before kickoff despite a good 14-10 home win over the Pumas last weekend, finally got onto the scoreboard after 20 minute when fullback Jeff Perkins succeeded with a penalty.
But the Leopards wasted no time in scoring their third try, through right wing Colin Lloyd, after a good break by Samaai and excellent linking work by Kember.
Durand added the extra points to extend the lead to 16, before his side picked up the bonus-point try inside 35 minutes when centre Deon van Rensburg dived over following a good break from in-form fullback Russel Jeacocks and excellent support from inside centre Basil de Doncker.
Durand made it 26-3 with his third kick but it was the home side who struck first after the break when flyhalf Gido Horn scored near the posts in the 43rd minute for Perkins to convert and give the home crowd brief visions of a miracle comeback.
Durand however knocked the stuffing out of the Falcons resurgence with three well-struck penalties within ten minutes of Horn’s try to extend the lead to 25 points.
The rest of the second half resembled trench warfare as the conditions prevented any meaningful running rugby, but Kember wasn’t complaining as he rounded off an excellent afternoon at the back of the Leopards’ scrum with a pushover try in the 76th minute that neatly summed up the gulf in class between the two sides.
Scorers:
Falcons 10 – Try: Gido Horn. Conversion: Jeff Perkins. Penalty: Perkins.
Leopards 42 – Tries: Shuaib Samaai, Pellow van der Westhuizen, Colin Lloyd, Deon van Rensburg, RW Kember. Conversions: Clayton Durand (4). Penalties: Durand (3).
