The 2016 Varsity Shield was contested from 1 February to 18 April 2016. The tournament (also known as the ''FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International'' for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the

Varsity Shield 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 univers ...

, an annual second-tier inter-university

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

competition featuring five South African universities. Following a disruption during the

Varsity Cup 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 univers ...

Round Three match between and and general unrest on various university campuses, all fixtures scheduled for 29 February were postponed to 4 April, with the semi-finals and final also postponed by a week. On 1 March, it was also announced that the round of matches scheduled for 7 March would also be postponed, with the situation at various universities being monitored to determine when the competition will resume. After a meeting by the executive management of Varsity Rugby on 9 March, it was decided that all remaining matches in the competition would be played at neutral venues and that matches should resume on 14 March. The tournament was won by for the second time; they beat 39–2 in the final played on 18 April 2016. Wits was also promoted to the top-tier

competition for

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Competition rules and information

There were five participating universities in the 2015 Varsity Shield. These teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once 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 two teams qualified for the title play-offs. These teams played each other in the final, at the home venue of the higher-placed team. The Varsity Shield winner was promoted to the

2017 Varsity Cup The 2017 Varsity Cup was the 2017 edition of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-university rugby union competition featuring university sides in South Africa. The tournament – known as the ''FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International'' ...

competition, while the bottom team in the Varsity Cup was relegated to the

2017 Varsity Shield The 2017 Varsity Shield was the 2017 edition of the Varsity Shield, an annual second-tier inter-university rugby union competition featuring university sides in South Africa. The tournament – known as the ''FNB Varsity Shield presented by Stei ...

. There was also a promotion/relegation match between the 7th-placed team in the Varsity Cup and the Varsity Shield runner-up at the end of the 2016 season. Three new universities will join the Varsity Shield in 2017. The Varsity Shield used a different scoring system to the regular system. Tries were worth five points as usual, but conversions were worth three points, while penalties and drop goals were only worth two points.

Teams

Standings

The final league standings for the 2016 Varsity Shield were:

Round-by-round

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2016 Varsity Shield:

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Round seven

Round eight

Round nine

Round ten

Final

Honours

The honour roll for the 2016 Varsity Shield was as follows:

Players

Player statistics

The following table contain points that were scored in the 2016 Varsity Shield:

Squads

The following squads were named for the 2016 Varsity Shield:

Discipline

The following table contains all the cards handed out during the tournament:

Referees

The following referees officiated matches in the 2016 Varsity Shield:

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Varsity Shield 2016

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2016 in South African rugby union 2016 rugby union tournaments for clubs