2018 Varsity Rugby was the 2018 edition of four rugby union competitions annually played between several university teams in South Africa. It was contested from 29 January to 16 April 2018 and was the eleventh edition of these competitions.

Varsity Cup

The following teams competed in the 2018 Varsity Cup: , , , , , , , and . All these teams also played in the competition in 2017. The competition was won by , who beat 40–7 in the final. finished bottom of the log and were relegated to the 2019 Varsity Shield. remained in the Varsity Cup for 2019 after beating the in a relegation play-off.

Varsity Shield

The following teams competed in the 2018 Varsity Shield: , , , , , and . All these teams also played in the competition in 2017. The competition was won by , who beat 55–10 in the final. were promoted to the 2019 Varsity Cup for the first time, while the remained in the Varsity Shield for 2019 after losing to in a promotion play-off.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

2019 Varsity Cup play-off

There was a promotion/relegation match between , who finished eighth in the 2018 Varsity Cup and the , who finished runners-up in the 2018 Varsity Shield. CUT Ixias won 37–31 to retain their place in the Varsity Cup for 2019, while the WSU All Blacks remained in the Varsity Shield competition.

2019 Varsity Shield play-off

There was a promotion/relegation match between , who finished seventh in the 2018 Varsity Shield and the University of Zululand, as the best-performing non-Varsity Rugby team at the USSA tournament. Rhodes won 44–5 to retain their place in the Varsity Shield for 2019.

Young Guns

Competition rules

There were nine participating universities in the 2018 Young Guns competition, the Under-20 sides of each of the nine Varsity Cup teams. These teams were divided into three regionalised sections and each team played every team in their section twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.

Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by eight points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).

The three section winners qualified for the semi-finals, along with the runner-up with the best record.

Teams

2018 Young Guns North teams Team University Stadium University of Johannesburg University of Pretoria University of the Witwatersrand

2018 Young Guns Central teams Team University Stadium Central Institute of Technology North-West University University of the Free State

2018 Young Guns South teams Team University Stadium Stellenbosch University Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University University of Cape Town

Young Guns North

Log

The final standings for the 2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns North were:

2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns North log Pos Team Pl W D L PF PA PD BP Pts 1 4 4 0 0 318 49 +269 4 17 2 4 2 0 2 70 193 −123 1 9 3 4 0 0 4 57 203 −146 3 5

qualified for the semifinals as section winners.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns North:

Young Guns Central

Log

The final standings for the 2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns Central were:

2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns Central log Pos Team Pl W D L PF PA PD BP Pts 1 4 4 0 0 262 126 +136 4 20 2 4 2 0 2 227 162 +65 4 12 3 4 0 0 4 109 310 −201 2 2

qualified for the semifinals as section winners and qualified for the semifinals as the runner-up with the best record across the three sections.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns Central:

Young Guns South

Log

The final standings for the 2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns South were:

2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns South log Pos Team Pl W D L PF PA PD BP Pts 1 4 4 0 0 207 66 +141 4 20 2 4 2 0 2 73 113 −40 1 9 3 4 0 0 4 73 174 −101 2 2

qualified for the semifinals as section winners.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Varsity Cup Young Guns South:

Semi-finals

Final

Res Rugby

Competition rules

There were nine participating teams in the 2018 Res Rugby competition — the new name for the competition formerly known as the Koshuis Rugby Championship — the winners of the internal leagues of each of the nine Varsity Cup teams. These teams were divided into two divisions (a Championship division with five teams and a Premiership division with four teams) and each team played every team in their division once over the course of the season, either at home or away.

Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by eight points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).

The top two teams in the Championship qualified for the final.

Teams

2018 Res Rugby Championship teams Team University Stadium Huis Marais (Maties) Stellenbosch University Lions (CUT) Central Institute of Technology Maroela (Tuks) University of Pretoria Patria (Pukke) North-West University Vishuis (Shimlas) University of the Free State

2018 Res Rugby Premiership teams Team University Stadium Cobras (UCT) University of Cape Town Harlequins (Madibaz) Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Junction (Wits) University of the Witwatersrand Oppierif (UJ) University of Johannesburg

Championship

Log

The final standings for the 2018 Res Rugby Championship were:

2018 Res Rugby Championship log Pos Team Pl W D L PF PA PD BP Pts 1 Patria (Pukke) 4 4 0 0 131 73 +58 3 19 2 Vishuis (Shimlas) 4 3 0 1 143 45 +98 3 15 3 Maroela (Tuks) 4 2 0 2 84 104 −20 3 11 4 Huis Marais (Maties) 4 1 0 3 86 110 −24 3 7 5 Lions (CUT) 4 0 0 4 59 171 −112 1 1

Patria (Pukke) and Vishuis (Shimlas) qualified for the final.

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Res Rugby Championship:

Final

Premiership

Log

The final standings for the 2018 Res Rugby Premiership were:

2018 Res Rugby Premiership log Pos Team Pl W D L PF PA PD BP Pts 1 Oppierif (UJ) 3 3 0 0 141 24 +117 3 15 2 Cobras (UCT) 3 2 0 1 74 59 +15 2 10 3 Harlequins (Madibaz) 3 1 0 2 36 71 −35 0 4 4 Junction (Wits) 3 0 0 3 20 117 −97 0 0

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Res Rugby Championship:

See also

Varsity Cup 2017 Varsity Cup 2017 Varsity Shield 2017 Gold Cup

References

External links