2018 Varsity Shield
2018 South African rugby competition
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The 2018 Varsity Shield was the 8th season of the Varsity Shield, the second-tier competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 19 February and 9 April 2018 and featured seven university teams.
| 2018 Varsity Shield | |
|---|---|
| |
| Countries | South Africa |
| Date | 19 February – 9 April 2018 |
| Champions | UWC (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | WSU All Blacks |
| Promoted | UWC |
| Matches played | 24 |
| Tries scored | 172 (average 7.2 per match) |
The competition was won by UWC, who beat the WSU All Blacks 55–10 in the final played on 9 April 2018, also winning promotion to the 2019 Varsity Cup.
Competition rules and information
There were seven participating university teams in the 2019 Varsity Shield. They played each other once during the pool stage, 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 seven points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).
The top four teams after the pool stage qualified for the semifinals, which were followed by a final.
Teams
The teams that played in the 2018 Varsity Shield were:
| 2018 Varsity Shield teams | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team name | University | Stadium |
| CPUT | Cape Peninsula University of Technology | CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town |
| Rhodes | Rhodes University | Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown |
| TUT Vikings | Tshwane University of Technology | TUT Stadium, Pretoria |
| UFH Blues | University of Fort Hare | Davidson Rugby Field, Alice |
| UKZN Impi | University of KwaZulu-Natal | Peter Booysen Sports Park, Pietermaritzburg |
| UWC | University of the Western Cape | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town |
| WSU All Blacks | Walter Sisulu University | Buffalo City Stadium, East London |
Pool stage
Standings
The final log for the 2018 Varsity Shield was:
| 2018 Varsity Shield log | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | UWC | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 331 | 86 | +245 | 46 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| 2 | WSU All Blacks | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 137 | 111 | +26 | 20 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| 3 | UKZN Impi | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 148 | 140 | +8 | 20 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | TUT Vikings | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 118 | 155 | −37 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 5 | UFH Blues | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 126 | −10 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 6 | CPUT | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 149 | 179 | −30 | 19 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Rhodes | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 55 | 257 | −202 | 9 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Final standings. |
| Legend and competition rules | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Legend: | |||
| Qualified for the semifinals. | P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TF = Tries for, TA = Tries against, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points | ||
| Competition rules: | |||
Qualification:
The top four teams qualified for the semifinals. Points breakdown:* 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less * 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match |
Round-by-round
The table below shows a 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 – 2018 Varsity Shield | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | SF | F |
| UWC | 5 (1st) |
10 (1st) |
10 (2nd) |
15 (1st) |
20 (1st) |
25 (1st) |
30 (1st) |
Won | Won |
| WSU All Blacks | 0 (7th) |
5 (3rd) |
10 (3rd) |
14 (2nd) |
18 (2nd) |
22 (2nd) |
22 (2nd) |
Won | Lost |
| UKZN Impi | 4 (3rd) |
4 (4th) |
6 (5th) |
11 (4th) |
12 (3rd) |
12 (4th) |
17 (3rd) |
Lost | N/a |
| TUT Vikings | 4 (2nd) |
8 (2nd) |
12 (1st) |
12 (3rd) |
12 (4th) |
13 (3rd) |
17 (4th) |
Lost | N/a |
| UFH Blues | 1 (4th) |
1 (6th) |
6 (4th) |
7 (5th) |
11 (5th) |
11 (5th) |
12 (5th) |
N/a | N/a |
| CPUT | 0 (5th) |
1 (5th) |
1 (6th) |
1 (6th) |
2 (6th) |
7 (6th) |
9 (6th) |
N/a | N/a |
| Rhodes | 0 (6th) |
0 (7th) |
0 (7th) |
0 (7th) |
0 (7th) |
0 (7th) |
0 (7th) |
N/a | N/a |
| Key: | win | draw | loss | bye |
Matches
The following matches were played in the 2018 Varsity Shield:
Round one
| 19 February 2018 | UWC | 42–5 | WSU All Blacks | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 18:30 | Report[1] Scoreboard[2][3] |
| 19 February 2018 | UFH Blues | 18–22 | UKZN Impi | Davidson Rugby Field, Alice | ||
| 18:30 | Report[4] Scoreboard[5][6] |
| 19 February 2018 | Rhodes | 7–26 | TUT Vikings | Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown | ||
| 18:30 | Report[7] Scoreboard[8][9] |
| Bye/s: CPUT |
Round two
| 22 February 2018 | WSU All Blacks | 47–16 | Rhodes | Buffalo City Stadium, East London | ||
| 16:45 | Report[10] Scoreboard[11][12] |
| 22 February 2018 | TUT Vikings | 21–18 | CPUT | TUT Stadium, Pretoria | ||
| 18:30 | Report[13] Scoreboard[14][15] |
| 22 February 2018 | UWC | 57–16 | UKZN Impi | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 19:00 | Report[16] Scoreboard[17][18] |
| Bye/s: UFH Blues |
Round three
| 26 February 2018 | UFH Blues | 28–7 | Rhodes | Davidson Rugby Field, Alice | ||
| 18:30 | Report[19] Scoreboard[20][21] |
| 26 February 2018 | UKZN Impi | 20–24 | TUT Vikings | Howard College Rugby Stadium, Durban | ||
| 18:30 | Report Scoreboard[22][23] |
| 26 February 2018 | CPUT | 21–38 | WSU All Blacks | CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 18:30 | Report[24] Scoreboard[25][26] |
| Bye/s: UWC |
Round four
| 5 March 2018 | CPUT | 14–58 | UWC | CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 18:30 | Report[27] Scoreboard[28][29] |
| 5 March 2018 | WSU All Blacks | 20–16 | UFH Blues | Buffalo City Stadium, East London | ||
| 18:30 | Report[30] Scoreboard[31][32] |
| 5 March 2018 | Rhodes | 0–48 | UKZN Impi | Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown | ||
| 18:30 | Report[33] Scoreboard[34][35] |
| Bye/s: TUT Vikings |
Round five
| 12 March 2018 | TUT Vikings | 18–77 | UWC | TUT Stadium, Pretoria | ||
| 18:30 | Report[36] Scoreboard[37][38] |
| 12 March 2018 | UFH Blues | 18–17 | CPUT | Davidson Rugby Field, Alice | ||
| 18:30 | Report[39] Scoreboard[40][41] |
| 12 March 2018 | UKZN Impi | 8–12 | WSU All Blacks | Howard College Rugby Stadium, Durban | ||
| 18:30 | Report Scoreboard[42][43] |
| Bye/s: Rhodes |
Round six
| 15 March 2018 | UWC | 39–18 | UFH Blues | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 18:30 | Report[44] Scoreboard[45][46] |
| 15 March 2018 | WSU All Blacks | 12–8 | TUT Vikings | Buffalo City Stadium, East London | ||
| 18:30 | Report[47] Scoreboard[48][49] |
| 15 March 2018 | CPUT | 50–10 | Rhodes | CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 18:30 | Report[50] Scoreboard[51][52] |
| Bye/s: UKZN Impi |
Round seven
| 19 March 2018 | UKZN Impi | 34–29 | CPUT | Peter Booysen Sports Park, Pietermaritzburg | ||
| 18:00 | Report Scoreboard[53][54] |
| 19 March 2018 | TUT Vikings | 21–18 | UFH Blues | TUT Stadium, Pretoria | ||
| 18:00 | Report[55] Scoreboard[56][57] |
| 19 March 2018 | Rhodes | 15–58 | UWC | Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown | ||
| 18:00 | Report[58] Scoreboard[59][60] |
| Bye/s: WSU All Blacks |
Play-offs
Semifinals
| 26 March 2018 | WSU All Blacks | 30–21 | UKZN Impi | Buffalo City Stadium, East London | ||
| 18:30 | Report[61] Scoreboard[62][63] |
| 26 March 2018 | UWC | 66–7 | TUT Vikings | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 18:30 | Report[64] Scoreboard[65][66] |
Final
| 9 April 2018 | UWC | 55–10 | WSU All Blacks | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 19:00 | Report[67] Scoreboard[68][69] |