The Blue Bulls beat the Valke 37-13 in their opening Vodacom Cup match in Kempton Park on Friday, while there were also wins for the Golden Lions, Pumas and Leopards XV.

Akona Ndungane started at fullback for the Bulls, while flanker Arno Botha came off the bench in the 48th minute. Both players are returning from injuries and using the Vodacom Cup to get match fit for Super Rugby.

The Bulls led 17-6 at the break thanks to tries to winger Travis Ismaiel, flanker Roelof Smit and centre Warrick Gelant.

They would score another two tries in the second half, through No 13 Marquit September and hooker Arno van Wyk, while replacement centre Andrew van Wyk crossed the line for the Valke.

In other matches on Friday, the Golden Lions thrashed Nambia's Welwitschias 53-3 in Windhoek with No 8 Ruaan Lerm scoring a first-half hat-trick, while the Pumas also scored eight tries to crush the Griffons 57-18 in Nelspruit.

In Saturday's only match, the Leopards scored four tries to beat the Limpopo Blue Bulls 22-9 in Potchefstroom.

Valke (13) – Try: Andrew van Wyk. Conversion: Juan Kotze. Penalties: Kotze (2).
Blue Bulls (37) – Tries: Travis Ismaiel, Roelof Smit, Warrick Gelant, Marquit September, Arno van Wyk. Conversions: Kobus Marais (3). Penalties: Marais (2).

Welwitschias (3) – Penalty: Johann Tromp.
Golden Lions (53) – Tries: Alwyn Hollenbach (2), Ruaan Lerm (3), Damian Engledoe, Bobby de Wee, Stephan de Wit. Conversions: Ashlon Davids (3), Engledoe (2). Penalty: Davids.

Pumas (57) – Tries: Bernardo Botha, Wilmaure Louw, Stefan Watermeyer, Brian Shabangu (2), Marcello Sampson, Marnus Schoeman, JC Roos. Conversions: Roos (6), Justin van Staden. Penalty: Roos.
Griffons (18) – Tries: Vuyo Mbotho, Johan van der Hoogt. Conversion: Wynand Pienaar. Penalties: Louis Strydom (2).

Leopards XV (22) – Tries: Alvino Montjies, Stephan Bezuidenhout, Jacobus Hayward, Sergio Torrens. Conversions: Warren Gilbert.
Limpopo Blue Bulls (9) – Penalties: Anton Beswick (3).

Photo: ImageSA/Gallo Images/Saru