England tame Leopards

Leon Lloyd finishes off a superb move in the corner

Leopards 22-52 England

England opened their summer tour of South Africa in style with a blistering performance against the Leopards in Potchefstroom.

Captain Ben Clarke, a last-minute addition to the squad, delivered an inspirational man-of-the-match display, while wing Dan Luger, looking every bit his best after recovering from injury, ran the South Africans ragged on a hard dry surface.

Dan Luger looked too good to leave out of the Test side

Both will be hoping to have done enough to force their way into the team for the first Test against the Springboks on Saturday.

Crisp passing and incisive running enabled Luger to emulate Clarke by crossing twice, and there were also touchdowns for impressive centres Leon Lloyd and Ben Johnston.

Second-half substitute Josh Lewsey completed the scoring through an injury-time effort and full-back Tim Stimpson's 17 points from the boot ensured England clocked up a half-century.

England manager Clive Woodward is due to announce the Test team on Wednesday and he will have been encouraged by the form of both Clarke and Luger in particular.

There were also encouraging contributions from young Bath lock Steve Borthwick, who bounced back well from a 10-minute spell in the sin-bin, while Bristol second-row forward Andrew Sheridan made some trademark powerful bursts during his second-half stint.

The Leopards lost all 13 of their Currie Cup games last season but gave England some awkward moments, notably in the third quarter when the tourists' solitary points came via a Stimpson penalty.

But the home side, despite being roared on by a partisan 7,000 crowd, managed only one try - captain Basil de Coning the recipient - and fly-half Roland de Marigny slotted 17 points through five penalties and a conversion.

Teams:

North West Leopards: de Jager, van Riet, Calitz, Muller, Meyer, de Marigny, Verster, Human, de Coning, S. Hendricks, Oosthuizen, Lessing, Kruger, Pool, Smith.
Replacements: Jonker, Goosen, Noble, Volschenk, Stoltz, Pieterse, T. Hendricks.

England: Stimpson, Luger, Lloyd, Johnston, Botham, Hepher, Wood, Flatman, Greening, Garforth, Borthwick, Shaw, Clarke, Volley, Worsley.
Replacements: Thirlby, Lewsey, Walshe, Winters, Sheridan, Long, Green.

Referee: Carl Spannenberg (South Africa)