The Leopards u.20 side made the long trip down to Newlands to take on the Western Province u.20’s in their second fixture of the SA Rugby u.20 Cup on Saturday, 14 August.
The Leopards opened their campaign with a win against the Free State at Olën Park the previous weekend and remained unbeaten this season after a tight contest that resulted in a 14-14 draw against WP. WP u.20’s took a 7-point lead going into the break, after Leopards wing Elzandro Fredericks was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock down.
The home side didn’t wait long to take advantage of being a man up after WP hooker Keagan Blanckenburg went crashing over the whitewash from a powerful maul.
The Leopards then conceded another 7 pointer, which left them with a lot of work to do late in the second half.
The never die attitude shown from the Leopards saw them snatch a try back thanks to the lively scrumhalf Abrie Minnie – this set the game up for a fascinating last 20 minutes.
With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Leopards winger Naiden Jaarts scored a try against run of play in the corner to bring the Leopards within two points. Fly-half, Martin Venter showed his cool with a sideline conversion to level the score at Newlands.
The Leopards can keep their head up high after coming from behind to salvage important points on the road. The Leopards u.20’s has a bye this coming weekend where they can work on a few set pieces and prep for next game against Eastern Province at Olën Park, Potchefstroom on Friday, 3 September.
