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In a match that started out as a scrappy, low-quality affair and then quickly descended into something far worse, there were enough dropped balls, botched tackles and instances of meekly-surrendered possession to give coaches Chaka Willemse and Jimmy Stonehouse plenty of new grey hairs to pore over when next they look in the bathroom mirror.
The visitors, who qualified for the Currie Cup Premier Division at the end of 2008, were clearly the better team throughout, and they took less than a minute to register their first points of the season via a low drop goal from flyhalf Clayton Durand.
The Leopards then went 8-0 ahead in the 24th minute when former Border fullback Russel Jeacocks, who enjoyed a fine debut for his new team before going off injured, ghosted through a gap to dive over in the right-hand corner following good work from centre Deon van Rensburg and left wing Jan van Zyl.
Durand extended the lead to 11 points on the half-hour mark with a well taken penalty as the home side, celebrating their 40th anniversary, transgressed one too many times for referee Tiaan Jonker.
The Leopards, who were constantly the more physical side at the set pieces as well as in midfield (where Van Rensburg was a menacing presence), continued their dominance in the second half but Durand could not translate the ascendancy into points, his 60th minute penalty attempt hitting the uprights.
The Pumas, effectively playing catch-up rugby since the opening seconds, weren’t helped when they had to play the final ten minutes with 14 men after replacement loose forward Martin Sithole was sin-binned.
In truth, the men from Witbank never looked like scoring, and when Durand’s second penalty made it 14-0 in the 70th minute even the most partisan home supporter would have admitted that their team were, as the old saying goes, “lucky to get nil”.
Scorers:
Pumas 0
Leopards 14 – Try: Russel Jeacocks. Penalties: Clayton Durand (2). Drop goal: Durand.
