The Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – was the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa from 2017 to 2019. The competition was organised by the South African Rugby Union and featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus Namibian side the Welwitschias and the Zimbabwe Academy. The inaugural season of the competition was in 2017, and was intended as the long-term successor of the Vodacom Cup competition.
Current season, competition or edition: 2024 SA Cup | |
 Competition logo | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| First season | 2017 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Countries | South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe |
| Most recent champion(s) | Griquas |
| Most titles | Griquas, Pumas, Western Province |
| Sponsor(s) | SuperSport |
| Related competitions | Currie Cup |
The competition was played at roughly the same time as Super Rugby each season, and featured a combination of Super Rugby players returning from injury, reserve players attempting to maintain their fitness levels and younger players trying to break through to the Super Rugby or Currie Cup sides. It therefore served as an important developmental competition for South African rugby.
Format
editThe sixteen teams were geographically divided into two sections – a North Section and a Southern Section. Each team would play the other teams in their section once during the regular season, either at home or away. Some fixtures were moved to a neutral venue as part of a "SuperStack" initiative, where three matches—including a local amateur club match—were played at one site, with free entry available at these festivals to help promote rugby amongst all social strata. The winner and runner-up of each section would qualify to the Quarter Finals, along with the two third-placed teams with the best records.[1]
Teams
editThe teams that competed in the Rugby Challenge were:
| Northern Section | |
|---|---|
| Team | Sponsored name |
 Blue Bulls XV |
Vodacom Blue Bulls XV |
 Falcons |
Hino Valke |
 Golden Lions XV |
Xerox Golden Lions XV |
 Griffons |
Down Touch Griffons |
 Griquas |
Tafel Lager Griquas |
 Leopards |
Leopards |
 Pumas |
Steval Pumas |
 Welwitschias |
Windhoek Draught Welwitschias |
| Southern Section | |
|---|---|
| Team | Sponsored name |
 Boland Cavaliers |
Boland Cavaliers |
 Border Bulldogs |
Border Bulldogs |
 Eastern Province Elephants |
Eastern Province Elephants |
 Free State XV |
Toyota Free State XV |
 Sharks XV |
Cell C Sharks XV |
 SWD Eagles |
SWD Eagles |
 Western Province |
DHL Western Province |
| Zimbabwe Academy | Zimbabwe Academy |
Finals
editThe results of the finals played in the Rugby Challenge competition are as follows:
| Rugby Challenge finals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Winner | Score | Runner-Up |
| 2017 | Western Province | 28–19 | Griquas |
| 2018 | Pumas | 32–30 | Griquas |
| 2019 | Griquas | 28–13 | Pumas |
Overall record
editThe overall record for the teams in the Rugby Challenge competition is as follows:
| Rugby Challenge overall record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Name | Champions | Runner-Up | Semi-Final | Quarter Final | |
| Griquas | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pumas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Western Province | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Blue Bulls | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Boland Cavaliers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Free State Cheetahs | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Golden Lions | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sharks XV | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Eastern Province Elephants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Falcons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Leopards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| SWD Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Border Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Griffons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Welwitschias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zimbabwe Academy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Non-South African clubs
edit| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welwitschias | Windhoek | Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium | 10,000 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Provincial rugby gets SuperSport makeover" (Press release). South African Rugby Union. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.