Border secured the biggest win of the day by beating Boland, while WP outplayed KwaZulu-Natal with ease.
The Golden Lions also secured a good win in the Premier Division of the tournament by beating Free State while the Blue Bulls proved too strong for Eastern Province in the final match of the day.
In the First Division, the Valke, Limpopo Blue Bulls and Griquas scored exciting wins over the Northern Invitational XV, Pumas and SWD Eagirls respectively.
The opening game between the Valke and a Northern Invitational XV kicked off proceedings, with the East Rand team dominating most of the match and running out 35-7 winners.
The Valke held a 21-0 lead at the break after three well-worked tries and scored two more in the second half to secure the win, with Tshepiso Maseme (centre) scoring three tries while Naledi Moloi (flanker) kicked four conversions.
Five tries by the Limpopo Blue Bulls laid the foundation to their well-earned 31-5 victory over the Pumas, with both first-half tries converted to hand them a 14-0 lead at the break.
The Pumas did score first in the second half to get a glimmer of hope, but made too many mistakes on defence, which was exploited by the Limpopo outfit, who dotted down three more times for a solid win.
A tight match next up between SWD Eagirls and Griquas had the crowd, which included Springbok Women players Libbie Janse van Rensburg and Xoliswa Khuzwayo, on their feet, with a try by the Kimberley team in the final play of the match securing them a dramatic 15-10 win.
SWD, who scored a try in the opening minute of the match, held a 10-0 lead at the break, but Griquas, spearheaded by Lidene Kruger, came charging back, with the Junior Springbok Women’s wing scoring two tries at the back end of the game.
The Golden Lions scored four tries in a hard-fought 24-7 win over Free State. They scored twice in the first half for a comfortable 12-0 lead at the break and extended that with two more tries in the second half, with lock Alutha Ngcezula impressive in the driving mauls by the host union.
Despite being 24-0 down, the Free Staters certainly did not stop trying all game long and their hard work was finally rewarded with the last try of the match, scored by hard-working prop, Sebabatso Mochudi.
Western Province scored six well-worked tries in a commanding 38-5 win over KwaZulu-Natal with a performance that bodes well for the rest of the week in Johannesburg.
WP’s all-round play proved too much for their opponents, who conceded four converted tries in the first half already, as they could find no answers to the free-flowing attack by the Cape side. No 8 Logan Welman proved a handful with her open field running, while at flyhalf, Anja le Roux got her backs into space at speed.
Credit to KZN, who played much better in the second half and only limited their opponents to two tries while scoring one themselves, but they were beaten by a better team on the day.
Border had far too many weapons in their arsenal for Boland and the Eastern Cape side, who came up short in the final match last season, romped home with nine tries in a very convincing 51-19 win.
Holding a 19-7 lead at half-time, Border took total control in the second half, scoring six tries to confirm their aspirations. Flanker Asiphe Mrweqana stamped her authority on the match with a hat-trick of tries and made her presence felt in all aspects of play.
Boland, who scored twice in quick succession in the second half, had their fightback abruptly ended by Border, who scored the last four tries of the match, with several of them impressive team efforts. Given this performance, Border must be rated amongst the favourites to play in the main game on Friday.
The Blue Bulls started strongly in the final match of the day, scoring three unanswered tries against Eastern Province for a 21-0 lead at the break, but did not have it their own way in the second stanza. They did enough though, adding two more tries in the last 30 minutes for a 31-7 win.
The Bulls’ backline was impressive with the speed of their attack, and it was no wonder that four of their tries came via wing Tairisha Maritz and fullback Kwanga Majebe.
The best individual effort though came from EP wing Lithalethu Nombakuse, who scored her team's only try in a lovely run that caught the Bulls defence napping.
Scorers:
Valke 35 (21), Northern Invitational 7 (0)
Valke – Tries: Mirriam Nyembo, Tshepiso Maseme (3), Matshidiso Monamodi. Conversions: Naledi Moloi (4), Monamodi.
NI XV – Try: Molatelo Setoaba. Conversion: Clarisse Wilemse.
Limpopo Blue Bulls 31 (14), Pumas 5 (0)
Limpopo – Tries: Kgopotso Ramawela (2), Vanessa Gabadi (2), Amaka Mabosi Conversions: Makungu Ntsumele (3).
Pumas – Try Sonia Khumalo.
SWD Eagirls 10 (10), Griquas 15 (0)
SWD – Tries: Ashley-Ann Williams. Conversion: Lukho Mpangeva. Penalty goal: Mpangeva.
Griquas – Tries: Lidene Kruger (2), Rose Haka.
Western Province 38 (28), KZN 5 (0)
WP – Tries: Tamson Morgan (2), Emma Bester, Logan Welman, Zaydene Franz, Zaza Sibhozo. Conversions: Anja le Roux (4).
KZN – Try: Sphesihle Fihlela.
Golden Lions 24 (12), Free State 7 (0)
Lions – Tries: Alutha Ngcezula (2), Patient Dikotla, Siphumelele Mdlalose. Conversions: Kayleigh du Toit, Jessica Sithole.
Free State – Try: Sebabatso Mochudi. Conversion: Lizelle Mitchell.
Border 51 (19), Boland 19 (7)
Border – Tries: Nasiphi Mbhangula, Zeze Gcaza (2), Asiphe Mrweqana (3), Siphokuhle Vakele, Anelisa Striga (2). Conversions: Amzolele Gqola (2), Mbhangula.
Boland – Tries: Jomare Hendricks, Shanezeré Beukman, Hayley Hardneck. Conversions: Courtney Jenniker (2).
Blue Bulls 31 (21), Eastern Province 7 (0)
Bulls – Tries: Itumeleng Malala, Tiarisha Maritz (2), Kwanga Majebe (2). Conversions: Amukelani Lisenga (3).
EP – Try: Lithalethu Nombakuse. Conversion: Enzokuhle Mhlonto.
The fixtures for Wednesday’s second day at Queens High School have been confirmed:
08h30: Northern Invitational XV v Pumas
09h40: Valke v SWD
10h50: Limpopo Blue Bulls v Griquas
12h00: Eastern Province v KwaZulu-Natal
13h10: Boland v Free State
14h20: Western Province v Border
15h30: Blue Bulls v Golden Lions
