Leopards rout Falcons

Johannesburg - The Leopards temporarily moved to top of the Vodacom Cup’s northern section standings after thrashing the Falcons 47-16 in Potchefstroom on Friday.

Veteran former Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius showed some great touches while also landing six out of seven conversion attempts for a personal haul of 12 points in the surprisingly one-sided match.

Two weeks ago the Leopards thrashed the Limpopo Blue Bulls 113-3 and against the Valke they simply picked up where they had left off on that occasion.

The first of their seven tries was scored by scrumhalf Jacques Olivier in the fifth minute and the last by replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe in the 63rd minute. In between they dominated the match through a superior pack and Pretorius’ sharp mind.

The Falcons were disappointing after stunning the Golden Lions 27-22 last week and were never in the match.

Pretorius, who played the last of his 31 test matches nearly six years ago, calmly dictated matters with great tactical awareness behind a dominant pack.

After Olivier slipped over for the Leopards’ first try in the fifth minute, No 8 Morn Hanekom completed the second only three minutes later.

When fullback Danie Demas crossed for the Leopards’ third try in the 11th minute the small home crowd could scarcely believe what they were watching.

The Falcons briefly fought back with a penalty by flyhalf Wesley Roberts and a try by No 8 Friedle Olivier to narrow the deficit to nine points as the match reached the quarter mark.

But from then on the Leopards used their forward dominance to subdue the Falcons and add another four tries to secure the five points.

Scorers:

Leopards -- Tries: BG Uys, Danie Damas, Edmar Marais, Jacques Olivier, Morn Hanekom (2), Akker van der Merwe. Conversions: Andre Pretorius (6).

Falcons -- Try: Friedle Olivier. Conversion: Wesley Roberts. Penalty: Roberts. Drop-Goal: Juan Kotze.