2022 Varsity Cup

The 2022 Varsity Cup was the 15th season of the Varsity Cup, the top competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 14 February and 25 April 2022 and featured ten university teams.^[1]

2022 Varsity Cup
Countries	South Africa
Date	14 February – 25 April 2022
Champions	UP Tuks (5th title)
Runners-up	Maties
← 2021 2023 →

Competition rules and information

There were ten participating university teams in the 2022 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 Eagles UFS Shimlas UJ UP Tuks Wits NMU Madibaz Western Cape
Western Cape
Maties UCT Ikey Tigers UWC

The teams that played in the 2022 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
NMU Madibaz	Nelson Mandela University	NMU Stadium, Port Elizabeth
NWU Eagles	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 2022 Varsity Cup was:

2022 Varsity Cup log
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	BP	Pts
1	UFS Shimlas	9	7	0	2	400	228	+172			9	0	9	37
2	UCT Ikey Tigers	9	7	0	2	307	270	+37			8	0	8	36
3	Maties	9	7	0	2	324	232	+92			6	0	6	34
4	UP Tuks	9	6	0	3	279	172	+107			6	0	6	30
5	NWU Eagles	9	6	0	3	266	182	+84			5	0	5	29
6	UJ	9	4	1	4	287	258	+29			4	2	6	24
7	Wits	9	4	0	5	239	262	-25			3	1	4	20
8	UWC	9	2	0	7	255	403	-148			5	0	5	13
9	NMU Madibaz	9	1	0	8	194	389	-195			4	1	5	9
10	CUT Ixias	9	0	1	8	219	372	-153			4	2	6	8

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 2022 Varsity Cup:

Round one

	14 February 2022	NWU Eagles	26–35	UCT Ikey Tigers	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	17:00	Try: Bertram 14' Genis 28' Con: Petersen 16' 29' Pen: Petersen 6' 11' 25' 29'	Report	Try: Hartzenberg 22' Fredericks 42' Rose 46' Christian 72' Koevort 80' Con: Hayes 23' 47' Fredericks 43' Bowman 80+1'

	14 February 2022	UP Tuks	9–19	Maties	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00	Pen: Burger 12' 20' 50'	Report	Try: Swart 70' Con: Mathee 71' Pen: Van der Bank 11' 23' 43' Mathee 80'

	14 February 2022	UWC	16–56	UFS Shimlas	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

	14 February 2022	Wits	31–20	NMU Madibaz	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

	14 February 2022	CUT Ixias	44–44	UJ	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	19:00	Try: Drotske 23' Stander 35' Rampai 38' Van Wyk 59' Pen try 63' Kotze 68' Con: Brand 24' 36' 39' 60' 69'	Report	Try: Terblanche 11' 16' Apea-Adu 28' Pawson 32' Rampai 54' Masuku 72' Con: Viljoen 29' 33' 55' 73' Pen: Viljoen 2' 63'

Round two

	21 February 2022	NWU Eagles	40–19	UWC	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	17:00		Report

	21 February 2022	UFS Shimlas	50–28	Maties	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:00		Report

	21 February 2022	UCT Ikey Tigers	26–24	UJ	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

	21 February 2022	NMU Madibaz	6–22	UP Tuks	NMU Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	19:00		Report

	21 February 2022	Wits	20–18	CUT Ixias	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

Round three

	28 February 2022	CUT Ixias	27–48	UFS Shimlas	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	17:00		Report

	28 February 2022	UP Tuks	38–30	UCT Ikey Tigers	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	19:00		Report

	28 February 2022	Maties	37–10	Wits	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00		Report

	28 February 2022	UJ	35–14	NWU Eagles	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

	28 February 2022	UWC	60–26	NMU Madibaz	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

Round four

	7 March 2022	NMU Madibaz	36–25	CUT Ixias	NMU Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	17:00		Report

	7 March 2022	NWU Eagles	17–8	UP Tuks	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	19:00		Report

	7 March 2022	Maties	40–36	UJ	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00		Report

	7 March 2022	Wits	53–31	UFS Shimlas	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

	7 March 2022	UCT Ikey Tigers	51–26	UWC	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

Round five

	14 March 2022	UWC	19–51	UP Tuks	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	17:00		Report

	14 March 2022	UJ	29–24	Wits	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

	14 March 2022	CUT Ixias	19–52	Maties	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	19:00		Report

	14 March 2022	UFS Shimlas	22–32	NWU Eagles	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:00		Report

	14 March 2022	UCT Ikey Tigers	33–26	NMU Madibaz	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

Round six

	21 March 2022	Wits	51–12	UWC	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	17:00		Report

	21 March 2022	Maties	20–12	NWU Eagles	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00		Report

	21 March 2022	UP Tuks	61–12	CUT Ixias	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	19:00		Report

	21 March 2022	NMU Madibaz	9–24	UJ	NMU Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	19:00		Report

	22 March 2022	UFS Shimlas	58–7	UCT Ikey Tigers	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	09:00		Report

Round seven

	28 March 2022	UWC	44–38	CUT Ixias	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

	28 March 2022	UCT Ikey Tigers	44–27	Maties	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

	28 March 2022	UP Tuks	39-24	Wits	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	19:00		Report

	28 March 2022	NWU Eagles	61–26	NMU Madibaz	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	19:00		Report

	28 March 2022	UJ	26–37	UFS Shimlas	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

Round eight

	4 April 2022	UWC	28–50	UJ	UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
	17:00		Report

	4 April 2022	UFS Shimlas	26-15	UP Tuks	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:00		Report

	4 April 2022	Maties	61–21	NMU Madibaz	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00		Report

	4 April 2022	CUT Ixias	14–33	NWU Eagles	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	19:00		Report

	4 April 2022	Wits	23–47	UCT Ikey Tigers	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	19:00		Report

Round nine

	11 April 2022	UJ	19–36	UP Tuks	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	17:00	Con: Maties	Report

	11 April 2022	Maties	40–31	UWC	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:00		Report

	11 April 2022	NWU Eagles	31–3	Wits	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	19:00		Report

	11 April 2022	NMU Madibaz	24–72	UFS Shimlas	NMU Stadium, Port Elizabeth
	19:00		Report

	11 April 2022	UCT Ikey Tigers	34–22	CUT Ixias	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	19:00		Report

Play-offs

	Semi-finals				Final
	18 April 2022
	UCT Ikey Tigers	19
					25 April 2022
	Maties	58
					Maties	23
	18 April 2022
					UP Tuks	29
	UFS Shimlas	21
	UP Tuks	29

Semi-finals

	18 April 2022	UCT Ikey Tigers	19–58	Maties	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	17:00		Report

	18 April 2022	UFS Shimlas	21-29	UP Tuks	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	19:15		Report

Final

	25 April 2022	Maties	23–29	UP Tuks	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	19:15		Report