| 2019 Rugby Challenge | |
| Countries: | South Africa |
| Date: | 27 April – 22 June 2019 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Matches: | 59 |
| Tries: | 557 |
| Top Point Scorer: | George Whitehead, Griquas (95) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Jamba Ulengo, Free State XV (10) |
| Prevseason: | 2018 |
| Nextseason: | 2024 |
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.
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.[1]
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 |
| 2019 Rugby Challenge North Section log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts< | --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 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 | |||||||||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 15 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 20 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 25 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 30 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 35 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | Won | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | Lost | |
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 15 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 20 (1st) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 21 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 26 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 31 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | Won | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | Won | |
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (6th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (4th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 10 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 15 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 20 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 25 (3rd) | |||||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 15 (2nd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 16 (3rd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 17 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 22 (3rd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 23 (4th) | |||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 1 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 3 (7th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 8 (6th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 13 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 14 (5th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 19 (5th) | |||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 2 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 3 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 4 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 6 (7th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 11 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 11 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 12 (6th) | |||||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (4th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (5th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 11 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 11 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 12 (7th) | |||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | |||||
| Key: | win | draw | loss | bye |
| 2019 Rugby Challenge South Section log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts< | --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 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 | ||||||||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 15 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 20 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 24 (1st) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 29 (1st) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 30 (1st) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | Lost | ||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 9 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 14 (2nd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 15 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 20 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 25 (2nd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 29 (2nd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | Lost | ||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (4th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (6th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 15 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 20 (2nd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 22 (3rd) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 27 (3rd) | ||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 1 (5th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 6 (3rd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 6 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 11 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 16 (4th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 16 (4th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 21 (4th) | ||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (7th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (6th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 10 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 10 (5th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 14 (5th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 19 (5th) | ||||
| style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 1 (7th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 6 (5th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 6 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 7 (6th) | style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 11 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 11 (6th) | ||||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;" | 5 (3rd) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (4th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 5 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 6 (7th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 6 (7th) | ||||
| Zimbabwe Academy | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (6th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 0 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 2 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 2 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 2 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 2 (8th) | style="background:#FFCCCC;" | 2 (8th) | |||
| Key: | win | draw | loss | bye |
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) | |
The following referees officiated matches in the 2019 Rugby Challenge:
| 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 |