The 2019 Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – was the 2019 season of the Rugby Challenge, the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. It was the third edition of the competition organised by the South African Rugby Union and was played between 27 April and 22 June 2019. There were sixteen teams participating in the competition; the fourteen provincial unions, plus n side the and the Zimbabwe Academy. These teams were divided into two sections, with eight teams playing in each of the North Section and the South Section.
Competition rules and information
Each team in the competition played the other teams in their section once during the pool stage, either at home or away. The top two teams in each section will progress to the semifinals, with the two semifinal winners meeting in the final.
Teams
The teams that competed in the 2019 Rugby Challenge are:
North Section Team Sponsored Name Vodacom Blue Bulls XV Valke Xerox Golden Lions XV Griffons Tafel Lager Griquas Leopards Pumas Windhoek Draught Welwitschias
South Section Team Sponsored Name Boland Cavaliers Border Bulldogs Multisure Eastern Province Elephants Toyota Free State XV Cell C Sharks XV SWD Eagles DHL Western Province Zimbabwe Academy Zimbabwe Academy
North Section
Log
2019 Rugby Challenge North Section log Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 7 7 0 0 337 164 +173 50 22 7 0 35 2 7 6 0 1 290 156 +134 41 19 7 0 31 3 7 5 0 2 332 190 +142 47 27 5 0 25 4 7 4 0 3 263 263 0 40 37 7 0 23 5 7 3 0 4 240 261 −21 38 41 5 2 19 6 7 1 0 6 267 283 −16 39 40 6 2 12 7 7 2 0 5 193 252 −59 26 37 4 0 12 8 7 0 0 7 112 465 −353 14 72 0 0 0
The and qualified for the semifinals.
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 – North Section Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 SF F 5(3rd) 10(3rd) 15(3rd) 20(2nd) 25(1st) 30(1st) 35(1st) Won Lost 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 21(2nd) 26(2nd) 31(2nd) Won Won 0(6th) 5(4th) 10(4th) 10(4th) 15(4th) 20(4th) 25(3rd) 5(2nd) 10(2nd) 15(2nd) 16(3rd) 17(3rd) 22(3rd) 23(4th) 0(8th) 1(7th) 3(7th) 8(6th) 13(5th) 14(5th) 19(5th) 2(5th) 3(6th) 4(6th) 6(7th) 11(6th) 11(6th) 12(6th) 5(4th) 5(5th) 5(5th) 10(5th) 11(7th) 11(7th) 12(7th) 0(7th) 0(8th) 0(8th) 0(8th) 0(8th) 0(8th) 0(8th) Key: win draw loss bye
Matches
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
South Section
Log
2019 Rugby Challenge South Section log Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 7 6 0 1 275 132 +143 36 16 5 1 30 2 7 6 0 1 252 110 +142 35 14 4 1 29 3 7 5 0 2 342 135 +207 52 17 6 1 27 4 7 4 0 3 245 197 +48 35 26 5 0 21 5 7 4 0 3 212 166 +46 30 22 3 0 19 6 7 2 0 5 149 315 −166 21 46 3 0 11 7 7 1 0 6 116 348 −232 15 49 1 1 6 8 Zimbabwe Academy 7 0 0 7 114 302 −188 13 47 1 1 2
The and qualified for the semifinals.
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 – South Section Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 SF F 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 24(1st) 29(1st) 30(1st) Lost 5(2nd) 9(2nd) 14(2nd) 15(2nd) 20(3rd) 25(2nd) 29(2nd) Lost 5(4th) 5(6th) 10(3rd) 15(3rd) 20(2nd) 22(3rd) 27(3rd) 1(5th) 6(3rd) 6(4th) 11(4th) 16(4th) 16(4th) 21(4th) 0(7th) 5(5th) 5(6th) 10(5th) 10(5th) 14(5th) 19(5th) 0(8th) 1(7th) 6(5th) 6(6th) 7(6th) 11(6th) 11(6th) 5(3rd) 5(4th) 5(7th) 5(7th) 5(7th) 6(7th) 6(7th) Zimbabwe Academy 0(6th) 0(8th) 2(8th) 2(8th) 2(8th) 2(8th) 2(8th) Key: win draw loss bye
Matches
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Title play-offs
Semifinals
Final
Honours
The honour roll for the 2019 Rugby Challenge was as follows:
2019 Rugby Challenge Champions: (1st title) Top points scorer: George Whitehead, (95) Top try scorer: Jamba Ulengo, (10)
Referees
The following referees officiated matches in the 2019 Rugby Challenge:
+ 2019 Rugby Challenge referees Christopher Allison • Aimee Barrett-Theron • Stuart Berry • Griffin Colby • Ben Crouse • Stephan Geldenhuys • Quinton Immelman • Cwengile Jadezweni • Jaco Kotze • Ruhan Meiring • Paul Mente • Vusi Msibi • Jaco Pretorius • Rasta Rasivhenge • Egon Seconds • Archie Sehlako • Divan Uys
See also
2019 Currie Cup Premier Division 2019 Currie Cup First Division
Notes
References
External links SARU website