2019 Varsity Cup

The 2019 Varsity Cup was the 12th season of the Varsity Cup, the top competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 4 February and 22 April 2019 and featured nine university teams.

2019 Varsity Cup
Countries	South Africa
Date	4 February – 22 April 2019
Champions	Maties (5th title)
Runners-up	UP Tuks
← 2018 2020 →

There was a debut in the competition for UWC, who won promotion from the Varsity Shield in 2018.

Competition rules and information

There were nine participating university teams in the 2019 Varsity Cup. 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

Location of teams in the 2019 Varsity Cup
CUT Ixias NWU Pukke UFS Shimlas UJ UP Tuks Wits Western Cape
Western Cape
Maties UCT Ikey Tigers UWC

The teams that played in the 2019 Varsity Cup are:

2019 Varsity Cup teams
Team name	University	Stadium
CUT Ixias	Central University of Technology	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
Maties	Stellenbosch University	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
NWU Pukke	North-West University	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, 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
UWC	University of the Western Cape	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
Wits	University of the Witwatersrand	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg

Pool stage

Standings

The final log for the 2019 Varsity Cup was:

2019 Varsity Cup log
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Maties	8	8	0	0	385	129	+256	52	18	6	0	38
2	UP Tuks	8	6	1	1	284	115	+169	38	14	3	1	30
3	NWU Pukke	8	6	0	2	267	152	+115	35	18	5	0	29
4	UFS Shimlas	8	4	0	4	245	255	-10	34	35	5	1	22
5	UCT Ikey Tigers	8	3	1	4	227	262	−35	30	34	5	1	20
6	Wits	8	3	0	5	215	309	−94	30	37	3	1	16
7	CUT Ixias	8	3	0	5	156	276	−120	17	39	2	0	14
8	UJ	8	1	0	7	159	239	−80	20	31	2	1	7
9	UWC	8	1	0	7	198	399	−201	26	56	3	0	7
Correct as at 4 April 2019.

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

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2019 Varsity Cup:^[1]

Round one

	4 February 2019	UJ	8–23	NWU Pukke	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	16:45

	4 February 2019	UCT Ikey Tigers	32–24	UWC	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	18:30

	4 February 2019	UP Tuks	23–6	CUT Ixias	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	18:30

	4 February 2019	Maties	33–17	Wits	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00

Bye/s: UFS Shimlas

Round two

	11 February 2019	UWC	25–47	UFS Shimlas	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	16:45

	11 February 2019	Wits	25–15	CUT Ixias	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	18:30

	11 February 2019	UCT Ikey Tigers	5–66	Maties	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	19:00

	12 February 2019	UJ	19–40	UP Tuks	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	14:00

Bye/s: NWU Pukke

Round three

	18 February 2019	CUT Ixias	27–26	UJ	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	16:45

	18 February 2019	NWU Pukke	37–21	UWC	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	18:30

	18 February 2019	Wits	26–33	UFS Shimlas	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	18:30

	18 February 2019	UP Tuks	24–26	Maties	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	19:00

Bye/s: UCT Ikey Tigers

Round four

	25 February 2019	UCT Ikey Tigers	42–23	UJ	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	16:45

	25 February 2019	CUT Ixias	15–50	Maties	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	18:30

	25 February 2019	UP Tuks	46–12	Wits	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	18:30

	25 February 2019	UFS Shimlas	13–26	NWU Pukke	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:00

Bye/s: UWC

Round five

	4 March 2019	UJ	39–16	Wits	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	16:45

	4 March 2019	UFS Shimlas	51–40	UCT Ikey Tigers	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	18:30

	4 March 2019	UWC	12–70	UP Tuks	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	18:30

	4 March 2019	Maties	43–15	NWU Pukke	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00

Bye/s: CUT Ixias

Round six

	11 March 2019	UWC	21–38	CUT Ixias	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	16:45

	11 March 2019	Maties	24–13	UJ	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	18:30

	11 March 2019	NWU Pukke	32–17	UCT Ikey Tigers	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	18:30

	11 March 2019	UFS Shimlas	14–27	UP Tuks	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:00

Bye/s: Wits

Round seven

	18 March 2019	Wits	30–29	UCT Ikey Tigers	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	16:45

	18 March 2019	UWC	29–17	UJ	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	18:30

	18 March 2019	CUT Ixias	38–35	UFS Shimlas	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	18:30

	18 March 2019	NWU Pukke	0–28	UP Tuks	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	19:00

Bye/s: Maties

Round eight

	25 March 2019	UP Tuks	26–26	UCT Ikey Tigers	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	16:45

	25 March 2019	CUT Ixias	7–60	NWU Pukke	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	18:30

	25 March 2019	Wits	74–40	UWC	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	18:30

	25 March 2019	UFS Shimlas	14–59	Maties	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:00

Bye/s: UJ

Round nine

	1 April 2019	UCT Ikey Tigers	36–10	CUT Ixias	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	16:45

	1 April 2019	UJ	14–38	UFS Shimlas	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	18:30

	1 April 2019	Maties	84–26	UWC	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	18:30

	1 April 2019	NWU Pukke	74–15	Wits	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	19:00

Bye/s: UP Tuks

Play-offs

	Semi-final				Final
	8 April
	UP Tuks	24
					15 April
	NWU Pukke	18
					UP Tuks	12
	8 April
					Maties	34
	Maties	47
	UFS Shimlas	5

Semi-finals

	8 April 2019	UP Tuks	24–18	NWU Pukke	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	16:45

	8 April 2019	Maties	47–5	UFS Shimlas	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00

Final

	15 April 2019	Maties	34–12	UP Tuks	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00

North v South match

After the season, a further match was played between a selection of players from the northern universities — CUT Ixias, NWU Pukke, UJ, UP Tuks and Wits — and a selection of players from the southern universities — Maties, UCT Ikey Tigers, UFS Shimlas and UWC:^[1]

	22 April 2019	North	–	South