List of South African rugby union teams
| List of South African rugby union teams | |
|---|---|
| Country | South Africa |
| Governing body | South African Rugby Union |
| National team | South Africa |
| Nickname(s) | Springboks |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
Rugby union in South Africa is centrally administered by the South African Rugby Union, which consists of fourteen provincial unions – the Blue Bulls Rugby Union, the Boland Rugby Union, the Border Rugby Football Union, the Eastern Province Rugby Union, the Free State Rugby Union, the Golden Lions Rugby Union, the Griffons Rugby Union, the Griqualand West Rugby Union, the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union, the Leopards Rugby Union, the Mpumalanga Rugby Union, the South Western Districts Rugby Football Union, the Valke Rugby Union and the Western Province Rugby Football Union.[1]
Each of these unions administers a senior professional rugby team that participates in the domestic Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions. In addition, these unions are responsible for amateur club rugby in their region. Clubs participate in provincial leagues organised by the unions; university sides also participate in the annual Varsity Cup competition, while non-university sides participate in the annual SARU Gold Cup.
South Africa have six franchises participating in the annual Super Rugby competition. All fourteen provincial unions are allocated to a Super Rugby franchise on a geographic basis.
Super Rugby
The six Super Rugby franchises, plus their constituent rugby unions are:
| South African Super Rugby franchises | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franchise | Base | Core rugby union | Other rugby unions | ||||
| Bulls | Pretoria | Blue Bulls Rugby Union | Valke Rugby Union | ||||
| Cheetahs | Bloemfontein | Free State Rugby Union | Griffons Rugby Union Griqualand West Rugby Union | ||||
| Kings | Port Elizabeth | Eastern Province Rugby Union | Border Rugby Football Union South Western Districts Rugby Football Union | ||||
| Lions | Johannesburg | Golden Lions Rugby Union | Leopards Rugby Football Union Mpumalanga Rugby Union | ||||
| Sharks | Durban | KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union | |||||
| Stormers | Cape Town | Western Province Rugby Union | Boland Rugby Union | ||||
Provincial Rugby
The fourteen provincial unions each have a professional team that play in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup competitions, plus youth sides in the Under-21 and Under-19 provincial competitions and youth tournaments such as the Under-18 and Under-13 Craven Week tournaments, the Under-18 Academy Week tournament and the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week tournament.
| South African provincial teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union | Base | Professional team | |||||
| Blue Bulls Rugby Union | Pretoria | Blue Bulls | |||||
| Boland Rugby Union | Wellington | Boland Cavaliers | |||||
| Border Rugby Football Union | East London | Border Bulldogs | |||||
| Eastern Province Rugby Union | Port Elizabeth | Eastern Province Kings | |||||
| Free State Rugby Union | Bloemfontein | Free State Cheetahs | |||||
| Golden Lions Rugby Union | Johannesburg | Golden Lions | |||||
| Griffons Rugby Union | Welkom | Griffons | |||||
| Griqualand West Rugby Union | Kimberley | Griquas | |||||
| KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union | Durban | Sharks | |||||
| Leopards Rugby Football Union | Potchefstroom | Leopards | |||||
| Mpumalanga Rugby Union | Nelspruit | Pumas | |||||
| South Western Districts Rugby Football Union | George | SWD Eagles | |||||
| Valke Rugby Union | Kempton Park | Falcons | |||||
| Western Province Rugby Union | Cape Town | Western Province | |||||
Since 2013, a Limpopo Blue Bulls team participated in the Vodacom Cup competition. Limpopo is a sub-union that forms part of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union.
Varsity Rugby
In 2008, a Varsity Cup competition was created, with eight universities competing. In 2011, a second tier called the Varsity Shield was added, consisting of a further five side and the collective was rebranded as "Varsity Rugby". In addition to playing in the Varsity Rugby competitions, these sides also take part in the provincial unions' championships.
| Varsity Rugby teams | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University | Team | Union | |||||
| Central University of Technology | CUT Ixias | Free State Rugby Union | |||||
| Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University | NMMU Madibaz | Eastern Province Rugby Union | |||||
| North-West University | NWU Pukke | Leopards Rugby Union | |||||
| Tshwane University of Technology | TUT Vikings | Blue Bulls Rugby Union | |||||
| University of Cape Town | UCT Ikey Tigers | Western Province Rugby Union | |||||
| University of Fort Hare | UFH Blues | Border Rugby Football Union | |||||
| University of Johannesburg | UJ | Golden Lions Rugby Union | |||||
| University of KwaZulu-Natal | UKZN Impi | KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union | |||||
| University of Pretoria | UP Tuks | Blue Bulls Rugby Union | |||||
| University of Stellenbosch | Maties | Western Province Rugby Union | |||||
| University of the Free State | UFS Shimlas | Free State Rugby Union | |||||
| University of the Western Cape | UWC | Western Province Rugby Union | |||||
| University of the Witwatersrand | Wits | Golden Lions Rugby Union | |||||
Provincial championships
Each of the provincial unions have a number of amateur clubs playing in the respective club championships. The highest-placed non-university sides qualify to the annual SARU Gold Cup.
Blue Bulls Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union are:[2]
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Blue Bulls Limpopo Sub-Union
The club sides that form part of the Blue Bulls Limpopo Sub-Union are:[3]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
Boland Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Boland Rugby Union are:[4]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
Border Rugby Football Union
The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organised by the Border Rugby Football Union are:[5][6]
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Updated 12 May 2014.
Eastern Province Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Eastern Province Rugby Union are:[7]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
Free State Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Free State Rugby Union are:[8][9][10]
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Reserve teams also play in the league, as well as youth sides of CUT and UFS.
Updated 6 May 2015.
Golden Lions Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Golden Lions Rugby Union are:[11]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
Griffons Rugby Union
The club sides that recently played in the top two domestic competitions organised by the Griffons Rugby Union are:[12][13]
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Updated 12 May 2014.
Griqualand West Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Griqualand West Rugby Union are:[14]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union are:
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Updated 8 May 2014.
Leopards Rugby Football Union
The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organised by the Leopards Rugby Football Union (or teams from the region playing in other competitions) are:[15]
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1 NWU Pukke play club rugby in the Golden Lions Pirates Grand Challenge.
2 Klerksdorp and Vaal Reefs play club rugby in the Valke Peregrine League.
3 Rustenburg Impala play club rugby in the Blue Bulls Carlton League.
Mpumalanga Rugby Union
The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organised by the Mpumalanga Rugby Union are:[16]
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Updated 12 May 2014.
South Western Districts Rugby Football Union
The club sides that form part of the South Western Districts Rugby Football Union are:[17]
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Updated 6 May 2014.
Valke Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Valke Rugby Union are:[18]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
Western Province Rugby Union
The club sides that form part of the Western Province Rugby Union are:[19]
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Updated 8 May 2014.
See also
References
- ↑ "Constitution of the South African Rugby Union" (PDF). South African Rugby Union. SuperSport. April 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ "Blou Bulle Rugby-Unie Klubs & Verenigings 2012" (in Afrikaans). Blue Bulls. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Limpopo Club Contacts" (in Afrikaans). Blue Bulls. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ↑ "Boland Clubs - Structure". Boland Rugby Union. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ "2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Border Premier League". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2015 Community Cup Qualifying - 2014 Border Super League". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ↑ "Club Teams - Eastern Province Rugby". Eastern Province Rugby Football Union. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ "Amateur Rugby". Free State Cheetahs. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
- ↑ "2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Free State 1st League". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2015 Community Cup Qualifying - 2014 Free State First League & Town Challenge Cup". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ↑ "Other Teams - Clubs". Golden Lions Rugby Union. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ "2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Griffons 1st League". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ↑ "Griffons Club Rugby". Club Rugby SA. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
- ↑ "Clubs within the Griquas Region". Griqualand West Rugby Union. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ "2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Leopards Neser A League". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2015 Community Cup Qualifying - 2014 Mpumalanga Leagues". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
- ↑ "Club Directory". SWD Eagles. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ↑ "Valke Clubs". Valke Rugby Union. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ↑ "Western Province Club Rugby - View Club Info". Western Province Rugby Union. Retrieved 8 May 2014.