The 2017 Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – was the first edition of the Rugby Challenge, the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa, and intended to be the long-term successor of the Vodacom Cup competition. The competition was organised by the South African Rugby Union and was played between 22 April and 16 July 2017. The competition featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus n side the .

The competition was won by Western Province, after they beat Griquas 28–19 in the final in Cape Town. Golden Lions XV fly-half Shaun Reynolds was the top scorer in the competition with 138 points, while Griquas wing Enver Brandt and Pumas hooker Frank Herne were the joint top try scorer with 9 tries. Danie Debeer was the man of the match.

Competition rules and information

The fifteen teams in the competition were divided into three regional pools of five teams. Each team will play home and away matches against the other four teams in their pool over a ten-week period. The top two teams from each pool, along with the two third-placed teams with the best record will progress to the play-offs, which will consist of quarter finals, a semi-final and a final.

Teams

The teams that will compete in the 2017 Rugby Challenge are:

Northern Section Team Sponsored Name Vodacom Blue Bulls XV Hino Valke Xerox Golden Lions XV Steval Pumas Windhoek Draught Welwitschias

Central Section Team Sponsored Name Toyota Free State XV Down Touch Griffons Tafel Lager Griquas Leopards Cell C Sharks XV

Southern Section Team Sponsored Name Boland Cavaliers Border Bulldogs Eastern Province Kings SWD Eagles DHL Western Province

Northern Section

Log

Northern Section log Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 8 7 0 1 485 208 +277 69 26 7 1 36 2 8 5 0 3 376 240 +136 53 33 7 2 29 3 8 5 1 2 314 217 +97 44 27 7 0 29 4 8 1 1 6 273 386 −113 39 56 7 3 16 5 8 1 0 7 140 537 −397 19 82 2 0 6

The and the qualified for the quarterfinals as section winners and runners-up respectively. The also qualified as a best third-placed team.

Round-by-round

The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.

Team Progression – Northern Section Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 QF SF F 0 (4th) 5 (3rd) 10 (1st) 14 (1st) 16 (1st) 16 (3rd) 21 (2nd) 26 (2nd) 31 (1st) 36 (1st) Won Lost 0 (5th) 5 (1st) 10 (2nd) 10 (2nd) 15 (2nd) 17 (2nd) 22 (1st) 27 (1st) 27 (2nd) 29 (2nd) Won Lost 5 (2nd) 5 (4th) 5 (4th) 10 (3rd) 13 (3rd) 18 (1st) 19 (3rd) 19 (3rd) 24 (3rd) 29 (3rd) Lost 5 (1st) 5 (2nd) 6 (3rd) 7 (4th) 10 (4th) 12 (4th) 12 (4th) 14 (4th) 15 (4th) 16 (4th) 1 (3rd) 1 (5th) 1 (5th) 1 (5th) 1 (5th) 6 (5th) 6 (5th) 6 (5th) 6 (5th) 6 (5th) Key: win draw loss bye

Matches

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Round Eight

Round Nine

Round Ten

Central Section

Log

Central Section log Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 8 6 1 1 335 213 +122 47 30 8 1 35 2 8 5 1 2 288 150 +138 43 19 6 1 29 3 8 3 0 5 253 301 −48 32 40 6 4 22 4 8 3 0 5 199 276 −77 27 39 4 1 17 5 8 2 0 6 227 362 −135 32 53 4 1 13

and the qualified for the quarterfinals as section winners and runners-up respectively. The also qualified as a best third-placed team.

Round-by-round

The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.

Team Progression – Central Section Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 QF SF F 5 (1st) 7 (2nd) 7 (2nd) 12 (2nd) 17 (1st) 22 (1st) 22 (1st) 27 (1st) 30 (1st) 35 (1st) Won Won Lost 0 (5th) 0 (5th) 5 (3rd) 10 (3rd) 11 (3rd) 11 (4th) 16 (3rd) 21 (2nd) 24 (2nd) 29 (2nd) Lost 0 (3rd) 2 (4th) 4 (5th) 6 (4th) 10 (4th) 15 (2nd) 20 (2nd) 21 (3rd) 21 (3rd) 22 (3rd) Lost 5 (2nd) 10 (1st) 15 (1st) 15 (1st) 15 (2nd) 15 (3rd) 17 (4th) 17 (4th) 17 (4th) 17 (4th) 0 (4th) 5 (3rd) 5 (4th) 5 (5th) 5 (5th) 7 (5th) 7 (5th) 7 (5th) 12 (5th) 13 (5th) Key: win draw loss bye

Matches

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Round Eight

Round Nine

Round Ten

Southern Section

Log

Southern Section log Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 8 8 0 0 312 171 +141 46 23 7 0 39 2 8 5 0 3 235 222 +13 35 30 4 1 25 3 8 4 0 4 215 264 −49 29 37 4 2 22 4 8 3 0 5 193 198 −5 24 28 4 2 18 5 8 0 0 8 183 283 −100 25 41 3 6 9

and the qualified for the quarterfinals as section winners and runners-up respectively.

Round-by-round

The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.

Team Progression – Southern Section Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 QF SF F 5 (1st) 10 (1st) 15 (1st) 15 (1st) 20 (1st) 25 (1st) 30 (1st) 34 (1st) 34 (1st) 39 (1st) Won Won Won 0 (5th) 5 (3rd) 5 (3rd) 6 (4th) 11 (3rd) 11 (4th) 15 (3rd) 15 (3rd) 20 (3rd) 25 (3rd) Lost 5 (2nd) 6 (2nd) 11 (2nd) 15 (2nd) 15 (2nd) 16 (2nd) 16 (2nd) 20 (2nd) 22 (2nd) 22 (3rd) 2 (3rd) 2 (4th) 4 (5th) 8 (3rd) 8 (4th) 12 (3rd) 12 (4th) 12 (4th) 17 (4th) 18 (4th) 0 (4th) 2 (5th) 4 (4th) 5 (5th) 5 (5th) 5 (5th) 6 (5th) 7 (5th) 7 (5th) 9 (5th) Key: win draw loss bye

Matches

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Round Eight

Round Nine

Round Ten

Title play-offs

The final pool standings and title play-offs seeding were:

Section winners Seeding Team Section PD Pts 1 Southern Section 39 +141 2 Northern Section 36 +277 3 Central Section 35 +122 Section runners-up Seeding Team Section PD Pts 4 Central Section 29 +138 5 Northern Section 29 +136 6 Southern Section 25 +13 Section third-placed teams Seeding Team Section PD Pts 7 Northern Section 29 +97 8 Central Section 22 −48 9 Southern Section 22 −49

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Honours

The honour roll for the 2017 Rugby Challenge was as follows:

2017 Rugby Challenge Champions: (1st title) Top points scorer: Shaun Reynolds, (138) Top try scorers: Enver Brandt, Frank Herne, (9)

Players

Squads

The following squads were named for the 2018 Rugby Challenge:

Blue Bulls XV Name F App Try Con Pen DG Pts Njabulo Gumede 1 1 1 1 1 17 1 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 Edgar Marutlulle 2 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 Andrew Beerwinkel 3 3 17 17 1 1 17 17 17 9 2 0 0 0 10 Freddy Ngoza 4 4 7 18 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 Aston Fortuin 5 5 5 5 5 5 18 5 5 9 1 0 0 0 5 Marco van Staden 6 6 19 19 19 19 19 6 6 9 0 0 0 0 0 Abongile Nonkontwana 7 7 5 4 4 4 7 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 Renaldo Bothma 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ivan van Zyl 9 9 9 20 9 9 6 3 0 0 0 15 Tony Jantjies 10 10 10 3 0 13 2 0 32 Rabz Maxwane 11 11 11 14 11 5 4 0 0 0 20 Joshua Stander 12 21 12 21 21 21 21 10 8 0 10 3 0 29 Divan Rossouw 13 15 22 22 15 13 22 22 11 9 2 0 0 0 10 Jade Stighling 14 14 14 14 4 1 0 0 0 5 Duncan Matthews 15 22 14 15 15 15 6 2 0 0 0 10 Corniel Els 16 2 16 2 16 5 1 0 0 0 5 Ig Prinsloo 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 Brian Leitch 18 18 4 4 4 18 6 1 0 0 0 5 Clyde Davids 19 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 2 0 0 0 10 André Warner 20 9 9 20 9 9 6 4 0 0 0 20 Tinus de Beer 21 10 10 10 21 21 10 7 1 12 5 0 44 Kefentse Mahlo 22 11 11 11 11 11 6 4 0 0 0 20 Franco Naudé 12 21 12 12 12 22 22 7 6 0 0 0 30 Ulrich Beyers 13 15 15 3 0 0 0 0 0 Alandré van Rooyen 16 16 2 2 16 2 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 Matthys Basson 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 Eduan Lubbe 19 1 1 0 0 0 5 Theo Maree 20 20 20 20 9 20 20 20 6 0 0 0 0 0 Martin Dreyer 3 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 Shaun Adendorff 6 6 6 6 19 5 5 0 0 0 25 Boom Prinsloo 8 6 7 7 7 8 6 6 0 0 0 30 Johnny Kôtze 13 13 13 3 0 0 0 0 0 Conraad van Vuuren 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 Marius Verwey 18 18 18 18 18 4 0 0 0 0 0 Jacobie Adriaanse 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 Arno Botha 7 1 1 0 0 0 5 JT Jackson 12 12 12 3 0 0 0 0 0 John-Roy Jenkinson 3 3 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 Dewald Naudé 14 14 14 14 4 1 0 0 0 5 Marquit September 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jan-Henning Campher 16 16 16 16 4 0 0 0 0 0 Earll Douwrie 22 1 1 0 0 0 5 Handré Pollard 10 1 0 3 0 0 6 Dries Swanepoel 13 13 13 13 4 2 0 0 0 10 Pierre Schoeman 1 1 1 0 0 0 5 Jaco Visagie 2 1 1 0 0 0 5 RG Snyman 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 Ruan Steenkamp 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jannes Kirsten 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 Tian Schoeman 10 1 0 4 3 0 17 Burger Odendaal 12 1 0 0 0 0 0 Neethling Fouché 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 Ruben van Heerden 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 Manie Libbok 15 15 2 0 0 0 0 0 Roelof Smit 19 1 0 0 0 0 0 Luigy van Jaarsveld 19 1 0 0 0 0 0 Kurt Webster 21 0 0 0 0 0 0 penalty try – 5 – – – 35 Total 10 58 42 13 0 423 Francois Brummer, JD Fourie, Arnold Gerber, Xolisa Guma, Boeta Hamman, Andell Loubser, Madot Mabokela, Adrian Maebane, Simphiwe Matanzima, Nico Peyper, Ryno Pieterse, JT Potgieter, PJ Toerien, Jan van der Merwe and Dylan van der Walt were named in the squad, but not included in a matchday squad.

Boland Cavaliers Name QF SF F App Try Con Pen DG Pts Linda Thwala 1 1 1 17 17 17 6 0 0 0 0 0 Chadley Wenn 2 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 7 1 0 0 0 5 Clinton Theron 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 8 2 0 0 0 10 Marlyn Williams 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 1 0 0 0 5 Rinus Bothma 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 1 0 0 0 5 Kenan Cronjé 6 6 6 6 6 18 6 0 0 0 0 0 Wayne Wilschut 7 7 7 7 19 8 6 6 8 0 0 0 0 0 Zandré Jordaan 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 2 0 0 0 10 Freddie Muller 9 9 20 3 0 0 0 0 0 Elgar Watts 10 10 10 21 10 10 6 2 1 1 0 15 Danwel Demas 11 11 22 3 1 0 0 0 5 Christopher Bosch 12 12 12 12 13 5 1 0 0 0 5 Alcino Izaacs 13 13 13 13 22 13 22 7 0 0 0 0 0 Charlie Mayeza 14 14 14 14 14 14 6 2 0 0 0 10 Adriaan Carelse 15 10 10 21 21 21 6 0 1 0 0 2 Mac Muller 16 19 19 3 1 0 0 0 5 Ian Oosthuizen 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 Dylan Pieterse 18 18 18 4 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 Gareth Cilliers 19 19 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 Vian van der Watt 20 20 9 9 9 9 9 7 1 0 0 0 5 JP Coetzee 21 21 14 15 3 0 0 0 0 0 Logan Basson 22 22 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 Clemen Lewis 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 7 1 0 0 0 5 Divan Nel 15 15 15 15 10 15 15 7 1 9 16 0 71 Arnout Malherbe 17 17 1 1 1 1 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 Ludio Williams 19 19 7 19 7 7 5 1 0 0 0 5 Sergio Torrens 21 11 14 11 11 11 11 7 3 0 0 0 15 Jovelian de Koker 20 9 20 20 20 20 6 0 0 0 0 0 Edwin Sass 22 22 12 12 12 12 5 2 0 0 0 10 Yves Bashiya 18 18 18 18 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 Vukile Sofisa 17 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 Gerrit van Wyk 21 22 13 13 3 1 0 0 0 5 Total 8 24 11 17 0 193 Francois Esterhuyzen, Stefaan Grundlingh, Francois Hanekom, Chris Massyn and Chaney Willemse were named in the squad, but not included in a matchday squad.

Border Bulldogs Name QF SF F App Try Con Pen DG Pts Blake Kyd 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7 1 0 0 0 5 Mihlali Mpafi 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 8 0 0 0 0 0 Phumlani Blaauw 3 17 3 18 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 Lindokuhle Welemu 4 4 19 4 4 4 4 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 Hendri Storm 5 5 4 18 19 5 18 18 8 0 0 0 0 0 Lukhanyo Nomzanga 6 19 6 19 19 6 6 7 1 0 0 0 5 Siya Mdaka 7 6 6 6 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 Johannes Janse van Rensburg 8 7 7 7 7 7 19 7 8 2 0 0 0 10 Bangi Kobese 9 9 20 20 20 9 9 7 1 1 0 0 7 Oliver Zono 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 7 21 8 0 101 Sipho Nofemele 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 Lunga Dumezweni 12 12 12 12 22 12 12 12 8 0 0 0 0 0 Lundi Ralarala 13 13 13 13 13 13 6 0 0 0 0 0 Michael Makase 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 8 4 0 0 0 20 Sonwabiso Mqalo 15 15 11 11 15 15 15 15 8 2 0 0 0 10 Josh Kota 16 16 16 16 4 0 0 0 0 0 Luzuko Nyabaza 17 3 18 16 4 0 0 0 0 0 Siyamthanda Ngande 18 16 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 Soso Xakalashe 19 8 8 8 8 8 19 7 3 0 0 0 15 Sino Nyoka 20 20 9 9 9 20 9 7 2 0 0 0 10 Saneliso Ngoma 21 1 0 0 0 0 0 Sethu Tom 22 22 22 22 13 13 6 0 0 0 0 0 Lelethu Gcilitshana 11 22 11 3 2 0 0 0 10 Wandile Putuma 18 5 5 5 5 5 6 1 0 0 0 5 Ntabeni Dukisa 21 15 15 3 2 0 0 0 10 Yanga Xakalashe 17 17 17 17 17 5 0 0 0 0 0 Billy Dutton 21 8 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 Lwando Mabenge 3 3 3 17 4 0 0 0 0 0 Siya Ncanywa 21 11 11 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 Somila Mantyoyi 12 22 22 3 0 0 0 0 0 Onke Dubase 21 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 Ludwe Booi 16 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 Athenkosi Khethani 18 1 0 0 0 0 0 Reinhardt Engelbrecht 20 20 2 0 0 0 0 0 Nkululeko Ndlovu 21 21 21 2 0 0 0 0 0 penalty try – 1 – – – 7 Total 8 29 22 8 0 215 Masixole Banda, Athenkosi Manentsa, Thabiso Mngomezulu, Nkosi Nofuma and Ayabonga Nomboyo were named in the squad, but not included in a matchday squad.