Varsity Rugby

Maties won the first three Varsity Cup competitions

The Varsity Cup tournament was founded in 2008, with former Springbok World Cup winning captain, Francois Piennaar playing a key role in the establishment. It featured the rugby teams of eight universities, with Maties, NMU Madibaz, NWU Pukke, TUT Vikings, UCT Ikey Tigers, UFS Shimlas, UJ and UP Tuks being the founding members of the competition. At the same time, the Koshuis Rugby Championships (now known as Res Rugby) was also launched; this competition featured the university residence (koshuis) teams that won the internal league for each of the Varsity Cup universities.

In 2011, a second tier was added below the Varsity Cup tournament, called the Varsity Shield, which featured the rugby teams of a further five universities. CUT Ixias, UFH Blues, UKZN Impi, UWC and Wits were the expansion teams that were added to the Varsity Shield for its first season.

In 2012, an Under-20 competition was also added, called the Young Guns. Each season, the same eight teams that took part in the Varsity Cup could enter their youth teams in this Young Guns competition. The name "Varsity Rugby" was also coined in 2012 to describe the four competitions collectively.[1]

From the inception of the tournament in 2008 until 2017, the title sponsors of the tournaments were First National Bank and Steinhoff International. For this reason, the competitions were officially known as the "FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International", "FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International", "FNB Young Guns presented by Steinhoff International" and the "Steinhoff Koshuis Rugby Championships". In 2018, Steinhoff withdrew as a sponsor, with FNB retaining the sponsorship rights.

The Varsity Rugby competitions implemented rules to help ensure that the majority of the players are bona fide students of the relevant universities.[2] In the 2012 season, Varsity Cup and Varsity Shield sides were required to have 16 full-time students in their 23-man squads. The Young Guns and Res Rugby competitions were restricted to full-time students only.[3] In the 2013 season, Varsity Cup teams were required to have 18 full-time students in their 23-man squads. In addition, students needed to have passed at least 30% of their previous year's courses, and all players, even non-students, must have finished high school.[4] From the 2014 season, Varsity Cup teams were required to have 20 full-time students in their 23-man squads and an entire squad consisting of full-time students were to be fielded from 2015 onwards.[5]

A quota system was also introduced to aid transformation in rugby. Each team had to include a certain number of players of colour in both their matchday squads and starting line-ups (for 2018, eight players of colour had to be included in the matchday squad, with five of those in the starting line-up).[6]

Throughout its history, Varsity Rugby adopted experimental rules during the competitions. Since 2012, a points scoring system was adopted whereby conversions would count three points instead of the traditional two, while penalties and drop goals would count two points instead of the usual three. In 2016, a bonus points system was introduced whereby teams could get two of four bonus points for tries, based on where the try-scoring move originated on the field of play.[6] 2017 saw this rule simplified: if a try is originated from the scoring team's own half, it receives two extra points.

The competition was one of the first to adopt 23-man squads to include two props, which reduced the number of uncontested scrums in matches. They also experimented with having two referees officiating in matches and a white card review system, whereby team captains can refer certain incidents to the television match official.

In addition, each school nominates a "Player That Rocks" each week, who wears pink shorts in his next game. Proceeds from the "Player That Rocks" initiative, along with other fund-raisers, go to a charity nominated by each university that fights domestic violence in their local area.

The following sides have participated in Varsity Rugby since the competition's inception in 2008:

CPUT

CUT Ixias

Maties

NMMU Madibaz

NWU Eagles

Rhodes

TUT Vikings

UCT Ikey Tigers

UFH Blues

UFS Shimlas

UJ

UKZN Impi

UP Tuks

UWC

Wits

WSU All Blacks

Location of Varsity Rugby teams.
indicates current Varsity Cup teams, indicates current Varsity Shield teams

The Varsity Cup logo

The Varsity Cup is the premier Varsity Rugby competition and is contested on an annual basis between the nine foremost university rugby union teams in South Africa. The competition – known as the "FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International" for sponsorship reasons – was first held in 2008. It was won by Maties in the first three seasons. Between 2011 and 2014, UCT Ikey Tigers and UP Tuks both won the competition on two occasions, while the only other winner was UFS Shimlas, who won it in 2015.

Those four teams, along with NMMU Madibaz, NWU Eagles, TUT Vikings and UJ, were the founding members of the competition in 2015. All eight those teams took part in every season of the competition, with the exception of the TUT Vikings who were relegated to the Varsity Shield competition at the end of the 2012 competition. Their place was taken by Wits, who took part in 2013 and 2014 before they too were relegated, and CUT Ixias, who took part since 2015.

Between 2008 and 2016, there were eight teams taking part in the competition; this was expanded to nine teams from 2017 onwards. Wits returned to the Varsity Cup for 2017, winning promotion from the 2016 Varsity Shield.

Teams

UCT was one of the founder members of the Varsity Cup

The following teams have participated in the Varsity Cup:

Varsity Cup teams
Team	Seasons	Competitions	Champions	Play-offs
CUT Ixias	2015–present	8	0	0
Maties	2008–present	15	5	13
NMU Madibaz	2008–2018, 2021–2022	13	0	2
NWU Eagles	2008–present	15	2	11
TUT Vikings	2008–2012	5	0	0
UCT Ikey Tigers	2008–present	15	2	9
UFS Shimlas	2008–present	15	1	7
UJ	2008–present	15	0	6
UP Tuks	2008–2023	15	5	11
UWC	2019–2022	3	0	0
Wits	2013–2014, 2017–present	8	0	1
Correct as the end of the 2023 competition.

The Varsity Cup tournament was inaugural competition in 2023, Maties crowned first-ever Varsity Cup Women’s champions.[8][9][10]

The Varsity Shield logo

The Varsity Shield is the second-tier Varsity Rugby competition and is contested on an annual basis between the five next-best university rugby union teams in South Africa after the eight Varsity Cup teams. The competition – known as the "FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International" for sponsorship reasons – was first held in 2011. The most successful team in the competition to date is CUT Ixias, who won the inaugural competition, and also in 2013 and 2014. Wits won the competition in 2012 before becoming the first team to earn promotion to the Varsity Cup competition for 2013. CUT Ixias also won promotion in 2014, while the 2015 Varsity Shield was won by UKZN Impi for the first time.

Those three teams, along with UFH Blues and UWC were the founding members of the competition in 2011. UFH Blues, UKZN Impi and UWC took part in every season of the competition to date, while TUT Vikings played in the Varsity Shield competition since their relegation from the Varsity Cup in 2012.

UP Tuks are the most successful team in the Young Guns competition.

The Varsity Rugby Young Guns competition is a youth competition that forms part of Varsity Rugby and is contested on an annual basis between the Under-20 teams of the eight foremost university rugby union teams in South Africa. The competition – known as the "FNB Young Guns presented by Steinhoff International" for sponsorship reasons – was first held in 2012. The most successful team in the competition to date is UP Tuks Young Guns; they won four of the first five competitions and played in the final in 2014, where they only lost to UFS Shimlas Young Guns on a kick-off after the matched finished in a 17–all draw.

Teams are included or excluded from the competition based on the university's first team's performance in the Varsity Cup competition.

The Koshuis Rugby Championship logo

The Res Rugby competition — known as the Koshuis Rugby Championship from 2008 to 2017 — is a competition that forms part of Varsity Rugby and is contested on an annual basis between the winning university residence (koshuis) teams of the nine foremost university rugby union teams in South Africa. The competition was first held in 2008, the same year the first Varsity Cup was also held. The most successful team in the competition to date is University of the Free State koshuis Vishuis, who won the competition on four occasions. The University of the Free State produced the winning koshuis for six competitions, with Huis Armentum, Dagbreek (SU), Heimat also winning the competition.

Teams are included or excluded from the competition based on the university's first team's performance in the Varsity Cup competition.

The Rugby Transformation Coalition has called for a boycott of the Varsity Cup. This is due to the exclusion of formerly black universities, and the low representation of black players.[18]

Varsity Cup universities has faced accusations of professionalism,[19] and breaking eligibility rules.[20] The punishments handed to guilty teams have also been seen as lenient.[21]

The practice of charging students for tickets, as well as the prices set, have been a point of contention. This led to an SMS campaign against the University of Pretoria.[22]

No private universities have been allowed to compete in the tournament, leading to complaints from Varsity College.[23]

The tournament's current primary sponsors are:

• First National Bank
• Steers

• Varsity Sports
• BUCS Super Rugby

• Official website