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Wikipedia - Varsity Rugby
Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each university's internal champions competing in the Koshuis Rugby Championships (now known as Res Rugby). In 2011, a second tier competition called the Varsity Shield was added, increasing the number of participating universities to thirteen. A Young Guns tournament for the Under-20 side of the Varsity Cup teams was launched in 2012. A further expansion for the 2017 season saw three additional universities added to the Varsity Shield, totaling sixteen teams.
The Varsity Cup was dominated by Maties during the competition's formative years, with the team winning the first three tournaments in a row. Four other sides – NWU Eagles (NWU Pukke), UCT Ikey Tigers, UFS Shimlas and UP Tuks – have also won the tournament subsequently. Those five sides, along with UJ, participated in the Varsity Cup in each season since its conception, while CUT Ixias, NMU Madibaz, TUT Vikings, UWC and Wits participated in the Varsity Cup on occasion, but also played in the second-tier Varsity Shield competition in certain seasons. CPUT, Rhodes, UFH Blues, UKZN Impi and WSU All Blacks have never been able to win promotion to the Varsity Cup, spending all their time in the Varsity Shield tournament.
Currently the only team to have won the Varsity Cup and have been demoted to the Varsity Shield are UP Tuks, following a winless 2023 Varsity Cup campaign.
History
The Varsity Cup tournament was founded in 2008, with former Springbok World Cup winning captain, Francois Piennaar playing a key role in the establishment. It featured the rugby teams of eight universities, with Maties, NMU Madibaz, NWU Pukke, TUT Vikings, UCT Ikey Tigers, UFS Shimlas, UJ and UP Tuks being the founding members of the competition. At the same time, the Koshuis Rugby Championships (now known as Res Rugby) was also launched; this competition featured the university residence (koshuis) teams that won the internal league for each of the Varsity Cup universities.
In 2011, a second tier was added below the Varsity Cup tournament, called the Varsity Shield, which featured the rugby teams of a further five universities. CUT Ixias, UFH Blues, UKZN Impi, UWC and Wits were the expansion teams that were added to the Varsity Shield for its first season.
In 2012, an Under-20 competition was also added, called the Young Guns. Each season, the same eight teams that took part in the Varsity Cup could enter their youth teams in this Young Guns competition. The name "Varsity Rugby" was also coined in 2012 to describe the four competitions collectively.
From the inception of the tournament in 2008 until 2017, the title sponsors of the tournaments were First National Bank and Steinhoff International. For this reason, the competitions were officially known as the "FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International", "FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International", "FNB Young Guns presented by Steinhoff International" and the "Steinhoff Koshuis Rugby Championships". In 2018, Steinhoff withdrew as a sponsor, with FNB retaining the sponsorship rights.