The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

, an annual domestic

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

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, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Africa, as well as the and

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n side . The tournament was won by the for the first time; they beat 24–7 in the final played on 30 May 2015.

Competition rules and information

Sixteen teams participated in the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition. These teams were geographically divided into two sections, with eight teams in each of the Northern and Southern Sections. Teams played all the teams in their section once over the course of the season, either at home or away. At the request of the Namibia Rugby Union, all the ' matches were played in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

. Teams received four log points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus log 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 in each section qualified for the title play-offs. In the quarter finals, the teams that finished first in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished fourth in the other section and the teams that finished second in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished third in the other section. The winners of these quarter finals then played each other in the semi-finals, with the higher-placed team having home advantage. The two semi-final winners then met in the final.

Quotas

This competition saw the retention of the quota system used in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. Each match-day squad had to contain seven black players. Two of these had to be forwards and five of these had to be in the starting line-up.

Teams

Changes from 2014

In September 2014, the Namibia Rugby Union revealed that they were in talks with 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 ...

to enter the competition for the first time since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. Namibia's participation was confirmed on 19 November 2014 and it was later revealed that their new sponsor, First National Bank, agreed to a three-year sponsorship deal which should ensure their participation in the competition until 2017. In addition, the

Kenya Rugby Football Union Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) is the governing body for rugby union in Kenya. It was founded in 1970 and is affiliated to Rugby Africa and the international governing body World Rugby. KRU is responsible for the running of the Kenya national rugby un ...

also initially indicated that they intended to once again enter a team in the competition. However, after being included in the fixture list for the competition, the Kenyan RFU withdrew from the competition a month before its scheduled start date due to financial considerations. As a result, moved to the Southern Section of the competition, inheriting the Simba XV's fixtures.

Team Listing

The following teams took part in the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition:

Logs

Round-by-round

The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets:

Results

The following matches were played in the 2015 Vodacom Cup: ''All times are South African (GMT+2).''

Northern Section

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Round Eight

Round Nine

Southern Section

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Quarter Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

Honours

The honour roll for the 2015 Vodacom Cup was as follows:

Players

Player statistics

The following table contain points which were scored in the 2015 Vodacom Cup:

Discipline

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

Referees

The following referees officiated matches in the 2015 Vodacom Cup: * Rodney Boneparte * Ben Crouse * Stephan Geldenhuys *

Quinton Immelman Quinton Immelman (born 31 March 1981 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a rugby referee on the Premier Panel of the South African Rugby Union. In 2016, Immelman was added to the referees' roster for the 2016 Super Rugby season for the first time. Imm ...

* AJ Jacobs * Cwengile Jadezweni *

Jason Jaftha Jason Jamaine Jaftha (born 4 May 1985) is a South African Rugby Union referee that refereed in the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions. He hails from the Southern Cape (SWD union) where he attended Zwartberg High School. He served on the Elit ...

* Jaco Kotze * Pro Legoete *

Lloyd Linton Lloyd Linton (born 1 July 1988) is a professional rugby union referee who represented the Scottish Rugby Union. He has since moved to Germany to continue his medical career. Rugby union career Playing career Amateur career He played rugby uni ...

* Tahla Ntshakaza * Francois Pretorius * Jaco Pretorius * Oregopotse Rametsi * Archie Sehlako * Ricus van der Hoven *

Lourens van der Merwe Lourens van der Merwe is a rugby referee on the TMO Panel of the South African Rugby Union. References * Living people South African rugby union referees Super Rugby referees Year of birth missing (living people) {{SouthAfrica- ...

* Kurt Weaver

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vodacom Cup 2015 2015 rugby union tournaments for clubs 2015 in Namibian sport 2015 in South African rugby union Vodacom Cup

Competition rules and information

Quotas

Teams

Changes from 2014

Team Listing

Logs

Round-by-round

Results

Northern Section

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Round Eight

Round Nine

Southern Section

Round One

Round Two

Round Three

Round Four

Round Five

Round Six

Round Seven

Quarter Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

Honours

Players

Player statistics

Discipline

Referees

See also

References

External links