Leopards lose out in tough final but remain hopeful

NCERA Leopards coach Siphiwo Fuzile blames player fatigue for his charges 19-12 loss against the notorious United Brothers from Mooiplaas at the BCM Stadium over the weekend.

The Leopards represented Buffalo City Metro Municipality at the Premier League rugby playoffs where they were edged out of the competition in their last game after winning games to qualify for the final against Brothers.

The Leopards won their first game against Blue Buffs 45-5, then went on to beat Mqanduli Sharks 16-14 but lost 19-12 to the Brothers.

Fuzile said even though they failed to make it to the upper league his boys performed well

“The did all they could and I was very impressed with them because we played at the BCM stadium which is a proper field and they managed to express themselves.

“We don't have basic rugby training equipment like weights or tackle bags to teach them how to tackle properly without getting cautioned. We haven't been practicing drop-outs because we don't have poles.

He said he made many changes during the games in order to avoid overworking his players.

“BCM is way bigger than our field at the graveyards so changing them was the right option.

“We don't have basic equipment like scrumming machines or pain relief sprays or even rugby boots and this affects our game.

“Our flyhalf Rholihlahla Feks made a very bad tackle against a Sharks player and he was given a red and that's when things took a bad turn but thankfully we eventually came out tops and won that game.

“That's the game in which we started sweating because the Sharks played very hard.

He said going into the Premier League and staying there would be a motivation for the young kids that love the sport to continue playing, knowing they might make it someday.

“They want to know that if they work hard and focus on their sport they could make it into the big time.

“Border Rugby said they would promote our team to the Premier League as long we could secure a spot in the finals of these playoffs regardless of the result.

“So we are waiting for communication from them to see what happens because we feel like we are ready to compete at that level.”

The Leopards recently beat Ginsburg United who finished third at the Raymond Mhlaba National Heritage Rugby Tournament that was held at University of Fort Hare in Alice.