The match, the first of two of the Rugby Festival held in the BCM Stadium, showed that the Cape Town side will be hard to beat in the South Section of the competition. They had a 24-7 lead at the break, before cutting loose in the second half.

Some enterprising play by their backs and good backing up by team mates delivered two early tries for DHL WP. Both wingers, Edwill van der Merwe and Nico Leonard, finished good team tries.

SWD's opener was a solid individual effort. Midfielder Marquit September took an inside pass just outside his 22 and dummied the WP defence before he raced 70 meters to open his team's account. Gerhard Nortier converted in what proved the final points for the men from George.

A powerful line-out drive by the Capetonians extended their lead just before the break, with hooker Dan Jooste dotting down. The Eagles managed to keep their opponents out with some stellar defence in the first 10 minutes of the second half, but a fluent movement in the backs saw Abner van Reenen scoring under the sticks. He converted his own try for a 31-7 lead.

This opened the flood gates. Van der Merwe got a second and Sihle Njezula his first after some productive play by Tristan Lleyds. EW Viljoen, Johan du Toit and Craig Barry also added tries in the final minutes as DHL WP took full control of the match.

DHL Western Province 62 (24), SWD Eagles 7 (7)

Scorers:

DHL Western Province - Tries: Edwill van der Merwe (2), Nico Leonard, Dan Jooste, Abner van Reenen, Sihle Njezula, EW Viljoen, Johan du Toit, Craig Barry. Conversions: Abner van Reenen (5), Lyle Hendricks (2). Penalty: Van Reenen.

SWD Eagles - Tries: Marquit September. Conversions: Gerhard Nortier (1).