And in the other Friday fixture, staged at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg, the match between the Lions and Eastern Province was stopped early as a result of a thunderstorm, with the hosts taking the honours. The Toyota Cheetahs had a bye in the first round.

The competition kicked off in Pretoria on Friday morning, with the Vodacom Bulls getting their campaign off to a great start by powering their way to a 74-28 win over the Leopards on the Loftus B-field.

The home side opened the scoring in the 2022 season-opening game before dominating proceedings in the first half, scoring eight tries to a solitary five-pointer by the visitors, to enjoy a 50-7 lead at the break.

The Vodacom Bulls did not rest on their laurels, but continued to forge forward, adding a further four tries in the second half with winger Quewin Nortje bagging a hat-trick of tries.

In the second match, also played on Friday, the Lions U20 led 42-0 at halftime against Eastern Province and while the teams were enjoying their break, a thunderstorm moved to within seven kilometres from the stadium.

After a waiting period of 20 minutes to allow for the lightning to move away from the stadium, it was decided to call off the match as the storm actually moved closer to Emirates Airline Park, with the result awarded to the hosts.

On Saturday, the travelling DHL WP U20 side also started on a winning note with a close-fought 20-17 victory over their Cell C Sharks counterparts in Durban, with Junior Springbok flyhalf Sacha Mngomezulu securing the points for the Cape side with a late drop goal.

Two tries in the first half and an impressive goal-kicking display from Mngomezulu saw the visitors pick up an important away win to start the season.

The KZN outfit struck first with an early try, while the visitors' wing Paschal Ekeji was forced to leave the field early after taking a knock to the head. However, DHL WP regrouped well and scored 17 unanswered points through two converted tries and a penalty goal in between.

Second-round fixtures on Saturday, 5 March:
11h00: Leopards vs Lions - Olën Park, Potchefstroom
12h00: Eastern Province vs Toyota Cheetahs - venue TBC
13h00: DHL WP vs Vodacom Bulls - City Park, Cape Town