The 2018 Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – was the second edition of the
Rugby Challenge, the secondary domestic
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 in South Africa. The competition was organised by the
South African Rugby Union
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...
and was played between 21 April and 15 July 2018. The competition featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus n side the .
The competition was won by the for the first time, after they beat 32–30 in the final in
Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...
. Pumas fly-half
Chris Smith was the top scorer in the competition with 131 points, while Griquas wing
Enver Brandt was the top try scorer with 11 tries.
Competition rules and information
The fifteen teams in the competition were divided into three regional sections of five teams. Each team played home and away matches against the other four teams in their section over a ten-week period. The top two teams from each pool, along with the two third-placed teams with the best record progressed to the play-offs, which consisted of quarter finals, a semi-final and a final.
Teams
The teams that competed in the 2018 Rugby Challenge are:
Northern Section
Log
* The and the qualified for the
quarterfinals
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
as section winners and runners-up respectively. The also qualified as a best third-placed team.
Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Matches
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Round Eight
Round Nine
Round Ten
Central Section
Log
* and the qualified for the
quarterfinals
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
as section winners and runners-up respectively. The also qualified as a best third-placed team.
Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Matches
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Round Eight
Round Nine
Round Ten
Southern Section
Log
* and the qualified for the
quarterfinals
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
as section winners and runners-up respectively.
Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Matches
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Round Eight
Round Nine
Round Ten
Title play-offs
The final pool standings and title play-offs seeding were:
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
Honours
The honour roll for the 2018 Rugby Challenge was as follows:
Players
Squads
The following squads were named for the 2018 Rugby Challenge:
Top scorers
The top ten try and point scorers during the 2018 Rugby Challenge were:
Referees
The following referees officiated matches in the 2018 Rugby Challenge:
See also
*
2018 Currie Cup Premier Division
The 2018 Currie Cup Premier Division was the top tier of the 2018 Currie Cup, the 80th edition of the annual South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union. It was played between 17 August and 27 October 2018 a ...
*
2018 Currie Cup First Division
The 2018 Currie Cup First Division was the second tier of the 2018 Currie Cup, the 80th edition of the annual South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union. It was played between 24 August and 19 October 2018 ...
References
External links
SARU website
{{Rugby Challenge
Rugby Challenge (South Africa)
Rugby Challenge
Rugby Challenge