List of South African rugby union teams explained

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 SA 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 Gold Cup.

Franchises

The eight franchises – teams that will participate in professional international competitions – and their constituent rugby unions are:

United Rugby Championship Franchises
FranchiseBaseRugby union
Blue Bulls Rugby Union
Golden Lions Rugby Union
KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union
Western Province Rugby Union
Other Franchises
FranchiseBaseRugby union
Free State Rugby Union
Eastern Province Rugby Union
Griqualand West Rugby Union
Nelspruit Mpumalanga Rugby Union

Provincial Rugby

See main article: Currie Cup, Rugby Challenge (South Africa) and Vodacom Cup.

The fourteen provincial unions each have a professional team that play in the annual Currie Cup and SA 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
UnionBaseProfessional team
Blue Bulls Rugby Union Pretoria
Boland Rugby Union
Border Rugby Football Union
Eastern Province Rugby Union Port Elizabeth
Free State Rugby Union Bloemfontein
Golden Lions Rugby Union Johannesburg
Griffons Rugby Union Welkom
Griqualand West Rugby Union
KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union Durban
Leopards Rugby Football Union Potchefstroom
Mpumalanga Rugby Union Nelspruit
South Western Districts Rugby Football Union George
Valke Rugby Union
Western Province Rugby Union Cape Town

From 2013 to 2015, a team participated in the Vodacom Cup competition. Limpopo Blue Bulls were a sub-union that formed part of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union.

Varsity Rugby

See main article: 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
UniversityTeamUnion
Free State Rugby Union
Eastern Province Rugby Union
North-West University Leopards Rugby Union
Blue Bulls Rugby Union
University of Cape Town Western Province Rugby Union
University of Fort Hare Border Rugby Football Union
University of Johannesburg Golden Lions Rugby Union
University of KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union
University of Pretoria Blue Bulls Rugby Union
University of Stellenbosch Western Province Rugby Union
University of the Free State Free State Rugby Union
University of the Western Cape Western Province Rugby Union
University of the Witwatersrand 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 Gold Cup.

Blue Bulls Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union are:[2]

Blue Bulls Limpopo Sub-Union

The club sides that form part of the Blue Bulls Limpopo Sub-Union are:[3]

Updated 8 May 2014.

Boland Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Boland Rugby Union are:[4]

Updated 8 May 2014.

Border Rugby Football Union

The club sides that recently played in the top-level domestic competition organized by the Border Rugby Football Union are:[5]

Updated 12 May 2014.

Eastern Province Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Eastern Province Rugby Union are:[6]

Updated 8 May 2014.

Free State Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Free State Rugby Union are:[7] [8]

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:[9]

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:[10] [11]

Updated 12 May 2014.

Griqualand West Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Griqualand West Rugby Union are:[12]

Updated 8 May 2014.

KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union are:

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:[13]

1 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:

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:[14]

Updated 6 May 2014.

Valke Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Valke Rugby Union are:[15]

Updated 8 May 2014.

Western Province Rugby Union

The club sides that form part of the Western Province Rugby Union are:[16]

Updated 8 May 2014.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Constitution of the South African Rugby Union . SuperSport . South African Rugby Union . April 2011 . 8 May 2014.
  2. Web site: Blou Bulle Rugby-Unie Klubs & Verenigings 2012 . Blue Bulls . 10 May 2014 . Afrikaans.
  3. Web site: Limpopo Club Contacts . Blue Bulls . 10 May 2014 . Afrikaans.
  4. Web site: Boland Clubs - Structure . Boland Rugby Union . 8 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140509001408/http://www.bolandrugby.com/boland_rugby_clubs.php?sub_section=structure . 9 May 2014 . dmy-all .
  5. Web site: 2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Border Premier League . South African Rugby Union . 19 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160531094000/http://www.sarugby.co.za/content.aspx?contentid=103291 . 31 May 2016 . live.
  6. Web site: Club Teams - Eastern Province Rugby . Eastern Province Rugby Football Union . 8 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140613173231/http://www.easternprovincerugby.com/club_teams . 13 June 2014 . dmy-all .
  7. Web site: Amateur Rugby . Free State Cheetahs . 28 May 2014.
  8. Web site: 2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Free State 1st League . South African Rugby Union . 19 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160531094002/http://www.sarugby.co.za/content.aspx?contentid=103301 . 31 May 2016 . live.
  9. Web site: Other Teams - Clubs . Golden Lions Rugby Union . 8 May 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140323052519/http://www.lionsrugby.co.za/lionsotherteam.aspx?item=4103 . 23 March 2014 . dmy-all .
  10. Web site: 2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Griffons 1st League . South African Rugby Union . 19 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160531094003/http://www.sarugby.co.za/content.aspx?contentid=103321 . 31 May 2016 . live.
  11. Web site: Griffons Club Rugby . Club Rugby SA . 12 May 2014.
  12. Web site: Clubs within the Griquas Region . Griqualand West Rugby Union . 8 May 2014.
  13. Web site: 2014 Community Cup Qualifying - Leopards Neser A League . South African Rugby Union . 19 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160531094007/http://www.sarugby.co.za/content.aspx?contentid=103371 . 31 May 2016 . live.
  14. Web site: Club Directory . SWD Eagles . 6 May 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150723093236/http://www.swdeagles.co.za/union/clubs/club-directory . 23 July 2015 . dmy-all .
  15. Web site: Valke Clubs . Valke Rugby Union . 8 May 2014.
  16. Web site: Western Province Club Rugby - View Club Info . Western Province Rugby Union . 8 May 2014.

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