The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the successor of the Bankfin Nite Series which was played in 1996 and 1997. Mobile communications provider Vodacom was the title sponsor for the entire duration of the competition.
The competition was the third most prestigious in South African rugby, behind Super Rugby and the Currie Cup. It was contested at roughly the same time as Super Rugby each season from February to June 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.
The competition was held every season between the fourteen South African rugby unions, but several additional teams also took part during the competition's history. The , officially a sub-union of the , took part as a separate team between 2013 and 2015. Namibian side the played in the competition between 1999 and 2001, in 2010, 2011 and in 2015. Argentine side participated in the competition between 2010 and 2013 and a from Kenya competed in 2014.
The most successful teams in the history of the competition were and the , each winning it on five occasions. The Golden Lions also won the competition for three consecutive seasons between 2002 and 2004.
Between 2001 and 2004, the competition was split into two tier, with the top half of teams competing for the Vodacom Cup and the bottom half competing for the Vodacom Shield.
The final edition of the competition was in 2015, with SARU deciding to restructure the domestic competitions from the 2016 season onwards. A competition called the Rugby Challenge succeeded the Vodacom Cup in 2017.
Teams
The results of the teams that participated in the Vodacom Cup throughout the competition's history is as follows:
Vodacom Cup 1998–2015 Team 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Key: Champion Runner-up Lost in SF Lost in QF Did not enter Some teams played under different names. Each team's record is shown against the team name as per the 2015 Vodacom Cup.
Finals
The results of the finals played in the Vodacom Cup competition are as follows:
Vodacom Cup finals Season Winner Score Runner-Up 1998 57–0 1999 73–7 2000 44–24 2001 42–24 2002 54–38 2003 26–17 2004 35–16 2005 27–25 2006 25–17 2007 33–29 2008 25–21 2009 28–19 2010 31–29 2011 14–9 2012 20–18 2013 42–28 2014 30–6 2015 24–7
The Vodacom Cup Trophy
Overall Record
The overall record for the teams in the Vodacom Cup competition is as follows:
Vodacom Cup Overall Record Ranking Team Name Champions Runner-Up Semi-Final Quarter Final 1 5 (1998, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2014) 3 3 3 2 5 (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013) 2 1 6 3 3 (2001, 2008, 2010) 6 4 2 4 1 (2000) 2 3 5 5 1 (2012) 1 3 5 6 1 (2015) 1 3 1 7 1 (2006) 0 3 0 8 1 (2011) 0 0 2 9 0 1 5 4 10 0 1 4 3 11 0 1 3 3 12 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 3 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vodacom Shield From 2001 to 2004, the teams finishing outside the top 4 in the pool phases played in a secondary competition called the Vodacom Shield.
Finals
The results of the finals played in the Vodacom Shield competition are as follows:
Vodacom Cup finals Season Winner Score Runner-Up 2001 40–27 2002 26–20 2003 32–0 2004 19–12
Overall Record
The overall record for the teams in the Vodacom Cup competition is as follows:
Vodacom Shield Overall Record Ranking Team Name Champions Runner-Up Semi-Final 1 1 (2002) 1 1 2 1 (2003) 0 1 3 1 (2004) 0 0 1 (2001) 0 0 5 0 1 1 0 1 1 7 0 1 0 8 0 0 2 9 0 0 1 0 0 1 11 0 0 0
See also Bankfin Nite Series SuperSport Rugby Challenge
Notes and references
External links Fight on for Currie Cup places Falcons soar over Wildebeest Griquas clinch Vodacom title at the death