Leopards coach Chaka Willemse said his team has learned valuable lessons in their first season in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup, lessons they will put to good use in their two-match promotion-relegation series against the SWD Eagles in the next fortnight.

The first of the two matches take place in Potchefstroom this Saturday, 24 October, with the Leopards then travelling to George next Friday, October 30, for the second round.

They determine the winner, who will play in the Premier Division next year, on a league systems - four points for a win, a bonus point fore four tries and a bonus point for losing by seven points or less. The team with the most log points play Currie Cup rugby next year, with points difference coming into play should the log points be tied.

Willemse, who said he has covered all the bases in his preparations, is confident that his charges will have gained enough from a season of top flight rugby to cope with whatever the Eagles can throw at them.

"One of the big mistakes we made this season is that at times we tended to go into a defensive mode against the stronger teams," Willemse told rugby365 in an interview.

"You can't defend 15 or 20 points in the Top Eight. You have to realise that you need to put as many points as possible on the board.

"We have worked hard on that aspect of our game in the last two weeks," Willemse said, adding that they will take a more attacking approach into the play-offs.

"In our last two games, against the Free State Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls, we targeted the first half to see if we can win at least that half.

"Against the Cheetahs we were still leading after 32 minutes and against the Bulls we turned around at half-time just 17-21 down ... and they had seven Springboks in that team.

"We didn't look just at results in our games, we have put systems in place and got the processes right to win. That is how we managed to keep ourselves positive throughout the season."

Willemse, who reported no serious injuries and will field a full-strength team, said the next fortnight will prove who deserves their Currie Cup status.

"I said last year, before we got promoted [by beating the Falcons], that you have to show in these to games that you deserve to be in the Currie Cup [Premier Division].

"We won both the [promotion/relegation] games last year, but we still had a very tough Currie Cup season.

"There are many positives to take out of the season.

"None of the big teams fielded an all-out 'B' team against us in the second half ... it showed that they started to get respect for us," said Willemse.

He felt that the experience gained from playing against team like the Blue Bulls, Free State Cheetahs, Sharks, Western Province and Lions all season will stand the Leopards in good stead in the play-offs.

"The important thing in the first year was to give everybody a chance," Willemse said, adding: "We needed to ensure they get the experience of playing at this level.

"We achieved that goal and our entire squad had valuable game time.

"In our first game there were seven players who hadn't played Currie Cup rugby before. Now I have a team with over 130 games of Currie Cup experience.

"Obviously we are very happy with the experience gained, but we know we have been in the same situation that the SWD [Eagles] are in now.

"You simply have to raise your game.

"I feel we have prepared well and covered all the bases."