Rugby Challenge (South Africa)

Rugby Challenge

Current season, competition or edition: 2019 Rugby Challenge
200px Competition logo
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2017
Inaugural season	2017
No. of teams	16
Countries	South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe
Most recent champion(s)	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]
Most titles	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]], [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]], [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]
Sponsor(s)	SuperSport
Related competitions	Currie Cup

The Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – is the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. The competition is organised by the South African Rugby Union and featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus Namibian side the [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]] and the Zimbabwe Academy. The inaugural season of the competition was in 2017, set up as the long-term successor of the Vodacom Cup competition.

The competition is played at roughly the same time as Super Rugby each season, and features a combination of Super Rugby players returning from injury, reserve players attempting to maintain their fitness levels and younger players trying to break through to the Super Rugby or Currie Cup sides. It therefore serves as an important developmental competition for South African rugby.

Format

The sixteen teams are geographically divided into two sections – a North Section and a Southern Section. Each team would play the other teams in their section once during the regular season, either at home or away. Some fixtures were moved to a neutral venue as part of a "SuperStack" initiative, where three matches—including a local amateur club match—were played at one site, with free entry available at these festivals to help promote rugby amongst all social strata. The winner and runner-up of each section would qualify to the Quarter Finals, along with the two third-placed teams with the best records.

Teams

The teams that compete in the Rugby Challenge are:

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

Zimbabwe

Location of teams in the Rugby Challenge
Northern Section
Southern Section

Northern Section
Team	Sponsored name
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Vodacom Blue Bulls XV
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Hino Valke
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Xerox Golden Lions XV
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Down Touch Griffons
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Tafel Lager Griquas
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Leopards
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Steval Pumas
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Windhoek Draught Welwitschias

Southern Section
Team	Sponsored name
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Boland Cavaliers
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Border Bulldogs
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Eastern Province Elephants
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Toyota Free State XV
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	Cell C Sharks XV
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	SWD Eagles
[[Image:{{{il}}}|14px|border]] [[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	DHL Western Province
Zimbabwe Academy	Zimbabwe Academy

Finals

The results of the finals played in the Rugby Challenge competition are as follows:

Rugby Challenge finals
Season	Winner	Score	Runner-Up
2017	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	28–19	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]
2018	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	32–30	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]
2019	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	28–13	[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]

Overall record

The overall record for the teams in the Rugby Challenge competition is as follows:

Rugby Challenge overall record
Team Name	Champions	Runner-Up	Semi-Final	Quarter Final
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	1	2	0	0
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	1	1	0	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	1	0	1	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	1	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	1	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	1	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	1	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	1	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	1
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	0
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	0
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	0
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	0
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	0
[[{{{tan}}}|{{{t}}}]]	0	0	0	0
Zimbabwe Academy	0	0	0	0

Non-South African clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Welwitschias	Windhoek	Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium	10,000

See also

• Currie Cup
• Vodacom Cup
• Bankfin Nite Series