2016 Varsity Cup

2016 Varsity Cup
Countries South Africa
Date 8 February – 11 April 2016
← 2015
2017 →

The 2016 Varsity Cup will be contested from 8 February to 11 April 2016. The tournament (also known as the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International for sponsorship reasons) will be the ninth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-university rugby union competition featuring eight South African universities.

Competition rules and information

There will be eight participating universities in the 2016 Varsity Cup. These teams will play each other once over the course of the season, either home or away.

Teams will receive four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points will be awarded to teams that score four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lose a match by seven points or less. Teams will be ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).

The top four teams will qualify for the title play-offs. In the semi-finals, the team that finishes first will have home advantage against the team that finishes fourth, while the team that finishes second will have home advantage against the team that finishes third. The winners of these semi-finals will play each other in the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team.

The bottom team in the Varsity Cup will qualify for a relegation play-off against the runner-up of the Varsity Shield at the end of the season.

The Varsity Cup introduced a new scoring system for 2016. Tries are still worth five points, but bonus points can also be awarded for tries. If the try-scoring move originated between the halfway line and the opponents' 22, two bonus points will be awarded. If the try originated in the try-scoring team's own half, four bonus points will be awarded. This means that tries can be worth five, seven or nine points. In another change form previous seasons, the points for kicks reverted to the common scoring system used in rugby union – conversions will be worth two points, while penalties and drop goals will be worth three points.

While the 2014 and 2015 editions of the Varsity Cup saw all matches officiated by two referees, this reverted to just one official for 2016.

The Varsity Cup will also retain the White Card system introduced in 2015, but will only be used in the semi-finals and the final. Under this system, either team's coach or captain could refer incidents for further review, similar to the Umpire Decision Review System used in cricket. They could have incidents reviewed that they believed were either given incorrectly or went unnoticed by the on-field referees. Each team was entitled to one review in each half of the match; if a review proved successful, the team retained their white card review for that half, but if it was unsuccessful, they lost the right to further reviews for the remainder of the half.[1]

There were also two further changes introduced for the 2016 season. Firstly, if a maul does not move forwards for a period of five seconds, the referee will give the team in possession a further three seconds to use the ball and failure to do so will result in turnover of possession. Secondly, the traditional "crouch, bind, set" scrum call will be changed to "crouch, bind, slide", with the slide call ensuring no impact between the front rows.[2][3]

There were also some changes to the quota system: the number of players of colour that has to be included in a matchday 23 was increased from six to seven, with three of those in the starting line-up. Teams are allowed to field four first-year students under the age of 22, of which three have to be players of colour. Three additional first-year students can be fielded with no racial quotas, provided they were in Grade 12 as high school in 2015.[4]

Teams

Location of teams in the 2016 Varsity Cup

The following teams will take part in the 2016 Varsity Cup competition:

2016 Varsity Cup teams
Team Name University Stadium
CUT Ixias Central University of Technology CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
Maties Stellenbosch University Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
NMMU Madibaz Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University NMMU Stadium, Port Elizabeth
NWU Pukke North-West University Fanie du Toit Stadium, Potchefstroom
UCT Ikey Tigers University of Cape Town UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
UFS Shimlas University of the Free State Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
UJ University of Johannesburg UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
UP Tuks University of Pretoria LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria

Standings

The current standings for the 2016 Varsity Cup are:[5]

2016 Varsity Cup standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Maties 1 1 0 0 40 0 +40 6 0 1 0 5
2 NWU Pukke 1 1 0 0 38 15 +23 4 2 1 0 5
3 UJ 1 1 0 0 19 12 +7 1 1 0 0 4
4 UFS Shimlas 1 1 0 0 23 17 +6 3 2 0 0 4
5 UCT Ikey Tigers 1 0 0 1 17 23 −6 2 3 0 1 1
6 NMMU Madibaz 1 0 0 1 12 19 −7 1 1 0 1 1
7 UP Tuks 1 0 0 1 15 38 −23 2 4 0 0 0
8 CUT Ixias 1 0 0 1 0 40 −40 0 6 0 0 0

Round-by-round

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

Team Progression – 2016 Varsity Cup
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 Semi Final
Maties 5
(1st)
NWU Pukke 5
(2nd)
UJ 4
(3rd)
UFS Shimlas 4
(4th)
UCT Ikey Tigers 1
(5th)
NMMU Madibaz 1
(6th)
UP Tuks 0
(7th)
CUT Ixias 0
(8th)
Key: win draw loss

Fixtures

The following matches will be played in the 2016 Varsity Cup:[6][note 1]

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Semi-Finals

Final


Players

Squads

The following squads were named for the 2016 Varsity Cup:[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

Discipline

The following table contains all the cards handed out during the tournament:[25]

Cards
Player Team Red card
Joel Carew UCT Ikey Tigers 0 1
Teunis Nieuwoudt UFS Shimlas 0 1
* Legend: Red card = Sent off, = Sin-binned

Referees

The following referees officiated matches in the 2016 Varsity Cup:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In addition to the five points for a try, an additional two or four bonus points may also awarded for each individual try, depending on where the try-scoring move originated.[7][8] These are indicated by (2BP) or (4BP) after the minute of the try.

References

  1. ↑ "White card makes a comeback". Varsity Cup. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Varsity Cup ready to ‘slide’ into 2016" (Press release). Varsity Cup. 6 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Varsity Cup: Nine-point try". Rugby365. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Maak reg vir 9-punt drieë in Varsitybeker". Netwerk24 (in Afrikaans). 14 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "2016 Varsity Cup log". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Varsity Cup Fixtures & Logs". Varsity Cup. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "New points scoring system for tries". Varsity Cup. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "New points scoring system for tries (image)". Varsity Cup. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Janse van Rensburg scores a brace as Pukke win in Pretoria". Varsity Cup. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "FNB UP-TUKS 15-38 FNB NWU-PUKKE". South African Rugby Union. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "FNB Maties thumps FNB CUT in opening round". Varsity Cup. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "FNB MATIES 40-0 FNB CUT". South African Rugby Union. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Rain or shine, FNB UJ all the way!". Varsity Cup. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "FNB UJ 19-12 FNB NMMU MADIBAZ". South African Rugby Union. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "FNB Shimlas get their title defence off to a perfect start, defeating FNB UCT 23-17". Varsity Cup. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "FNB UCT IKEYS 17-23 FNB UFS SHIMLAS". South African Rugby Union. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "2016 CUT Ixias Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "2016 Maties Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "2016 NMMU Madibaz Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  20. ↑ "2016 NWU Pukke Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "2016 UCT Ikey Tigers Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "2016 UFS Shimlas Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  23. ↑ "2016 UJ Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  24. ↑ "2016 UP Tuks Varsity Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  25. ↑ "2016 Varsity Cup all cards". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 9 February 2016.

External links

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