At 2,01 metres tall, Sanlam Boland Kavaliers lock Jeandre Leonard is looking to raise the roof when it comes to his new team’s aspirations for the 2026 rugby season.
Leonard has joined the Kavas family after three successful seasons at the Airlink Pumas, where he helped the Mbombela side win the 2022 Carling Black Label Currie Cup Premier Division and 2025 SA Cup competition.
However, Leonard, who also represented the Suzuki Griquas before moving to the Airlink Pumas, says after three years in Mbombela, he has been eyeing a new challenge.
And his move was made easier when his wife received the welcome news of a new job in the Western Cape.
Also seeing how the Sanlam Boland Kavaliers have been progressing under coach Hawies Fourie for the past two seasons, had also piqued the towering lock’s interest in coming to help the Western Cape team reach new heights.
“This move to the Western Cape with my family and still getting to play professional rugby is an opportunity for us to experience a different side of life,” Leonard says.
“After three years in Mbombela, I also started to feel as if my game was not growing and I needed to take up a new challenge.
“Hearing of the plans that coach Hawies has for the team, I wanted to become part of that conversation.
“I still have high aspirations as a player and would like to see this team win the Currie Cup [Premier Division] and then also in future get to possibly play in the United Rugby Championship [URC].”
Leonard is no stranger to taking the long road to reaching his rugby goals.
In high school at Garsfontein, the second rower did not play regular first-team rugby.
That did not stop him from making a name for himself at the FNB Varsity Cup level with the North West University, before joining the Suzuki Griquas in Kimberley to gain more experience as a lock.
Leonards is, however, under no illusions that he faces some stiff competition at lock with the Kavas bolstering their depth in this department.
“I know that I can’t just expect to walk into this team; I will have to do the hard yards. I am really enjoying that challenge, especially during our pre-season and the work that conditioning coach Iver [Aanhuizen] has done with us.”