The Leopards are still the pace-setting team in the First Division of the Absa Currie Cup, but on Saturday it took some hard words by coach Robert du Preez during halftime to fire them up for the second half in their fixture against the Griffons. The Leopards had a slender 4-point lead at the break: 17-14, but came back on the field with a different mindset.

They ran in five tries in just 12 minutes to move the score to 52-13, at almost three points per minute and won the game 64-34.The domination of the Leopards in this league is phenomenal: The team has a points difference of 217 with their points scored at 363 and only 146 scored against them.

The team scored 52 tries and only 18 were scored against them. They lead the log on 40 points with eight victories in eight matches, 16 points clear of the Falcons on 24. The Griffons are on 22 and the Eagles on 17. Boland (13) and Border (6) are out of contention.

The Leopards play the Border at 14:30 on Saturday, again at the Fanie du Toit Stadium at the NWU-Pukke. To come back to the match against the Griffons, the new fly-half, Schalk Hugo, made a very good home début.

He has a keen eye for a gap and runs hard. Tyler Fisher was rewarded with two tries for his powerful running. Meel Engelbrecht had a 100% kicking record and contributed 17 points with seven conversions and a penalty.

Juan Language is impressive as captain and flanker while Marno Redelinghuys is developing into a very good number eight.The other Leopards tries were scored by Joe Smith, Malherbe Swart, Bart le Roux, Rhyno Smith, Adrian Vermeulen, Schalk Hugo and Juan Language.

Tiaan Dorfling converted one try.It must be stated that the Griffons never gave up. They recovered well after the Leopard’s “Blitzkrieg” and scored three more tries Remember: The Leopards play Border at the Fanie, NOT at Olën Park on Saturday.