Rugby union in South Africa is a highly popular

team sport A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing teams which compete to win or cooperate to entertain their audience. Team members act together towards a shared objective. This can be done in a number of ways s ...

, along with

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, and is widely played all over the country. The

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

is among the strongest in the world and has been ranked in at least the top seven of the

World Rugby Rankings The World Rugby Rankings (formerly the IRB Rankings) is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nati ...

since its inception in 2003. The country hosted and won the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

, and won again in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. As with much else in South Africa, the organisation and playing of rugby has been entangled with politics, and racial politics in particular.

History

When Canon George Ogilvie became headmaster of

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in 1861, he introduced the game of

Winchester College football Winchester College football, known as Winkies, is a code of football played at Winchester College. It is akin to the Eton Field and Wall Games and Harrow Football in that it enjoys a large following from Old Wykehamists but is not played outs ...

. This version of football, which included handling of the ball, is seen as the beginnings of rugby in South Africa. Soon, the young gentlemen of Cape Town joined in and the first match in South Africa took place between the "Officers of the Army" and the "Gentlemen of the Civil Service" at Green Point in Cape Town on 23 August 1862 and ended as a 0–0 draw. The local press reported a series of football matches between scratch sides "Town v Suburbs" or "Home v Colonial-born". Around 1875,

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

began to be played in the Cape colony; the same year the first rugby (as opposed to Winchester football) club, Hamilton, was formed in

Sea Point, Cape Town Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is one of Cape Town's most affluent and densely populated suburbs, situated between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). Moving from ...

. Former England international

William Henry Milton Sir William Henry Milton (3 December 1854 – 6 March 1930) was the third Administrator of Mashonaland, played rugby for England and was South Africa's second Test cricket captain. Born in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and educated at Marlbo ...

arrived in Cape Town in 1878. He joined the Villagers club and started playing and preaching rugby. By the end of that year Cape Town had all but abandoned the Winchester game in favour of rugby. British colonists helped spread the game through the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, Natal and along the gold and diamond routes to Kimberley and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

troops would also play a key role in spreading the game throughout the country. Rugby union was introduced to South Africa by British colonists, including miners from rugby union stronghold Cornwall

Rugby union in Cornwall (before 1900) Rugby union in Cornwall (before 1900) is a timeline of rugby union in Cornwall in the 19th century. History Richard Carew (antiquary), Richard Carew in his ''Survey of Cornwall'' (1602) gives some laws of a game which has similarities to rugby. ...

, and began to be played in the Cape colony around 1875. In 1883, the Stellenbosch club was formed in the predominantly Boer farming district outside Cape Town and rugby was enthusiastically adopted by the young Boer farmers. As British and Boer migrated to the interior they helped spread the game from the Cape colony through the Eastern Cape, and Natal, and along the gold and diamond routes to Kimberley and Johannesburg. The game was strong enough in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 202 ...

for the

Western Province Rugby Football Union The Western Province Rugby Football Union (WPRFU) is the governing body for rugby union in Western Province, Sri Lanka. See also * Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union References External links Official website Sri Lankan rugby union governing bod ...

to be formed that same year;

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, wh ...

followed in 1886; Eastern Province in 1888; Transvaal in 1889 and in 1889 the

South African Rugby Board The South African Rugby Board was the rugby union governing body of white South Africans between 1889 and 1992. The governing of white and coloured rugby union was handled separately during South Africa under Apartheid. On the 23 March 1992 the no ...

was founded. Kimberley was the founding city of the South Africa Rugby Football Board in 1889. In 1889 the first nationwide tournament was held at Kimberley, with the

Western Province (rugby team) Western Province (known for sponsorship reasons as DHL Western Province) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Newlands, Cape Town, that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournaments. Founded in 1883, t ...

prevailing over Griqualand West, Eastern Province and Transvaal. England-v-Cape-Colony-1891

The first-ever tour of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

by a team from Southern Africa (drawing on players from the then independent republics of the Transvaal and the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

, and the British colonies of the Cape and Natal) took place in

1891 Events January–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. ** Germany takes formal possession of its new Af ...

, with the trip financially underwritten by (the British arch imperialist)

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Bri ...

of the Cape and (the resolutely Boer) President Kruger of the Transvaal Republic. Seven years later Britain was at war with the Boer republics, and during the Boer war British troops would play a key role in entrenching the game throughout the country, and games amongst the Boer population in prisoner of war camps popularised the game further. Pretoria rfc 1905

From the early years the game had been enthusiastically and passionately adopted by

coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

and black populations in the Cape colony, and the Eastern Cape in particular, but rugby organisation (under the South Africa Coloured Rugby Board formed in 1896) and teams were kept segregated with discrimination against black and coloured players and little government funding. Even before the 1948 elections in South Africa in which the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government came to power and legislated systematically along racial lines, foreign sporting teams going to South Africa had felt it necessary to exclude non-white players.

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

rugby teams in particular had done this, and the exclusion of

George Nēpia George Nēpia (25 April 1905 – 27 August 1986) was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Spor ...

and Jimmy Mill from the 1928

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

tour, and the dropping of "Ranji" Wilson from the New Zealand Army team nine years before that, had attracted little comment at the time. From 1960, international criticism of apartheid in particular grew in the wake of "The Wind of Change" speech by the British Prime Minister,

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, and the

Sharpeville massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd ...

near Johannesburg in South Africa. From then onward, the Springboks, perceived as prominent representatives of apartheid South Africa, were increasingly isolated internationally. Coming shortly after the Soweto riots as it did, the 1976 All Blacks tour of South Africa attracted international condemnation and 28 countries boycotted the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

in protest. The next year, in 1977,

the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territorial evolution of the British Empire ...

signed the

Gleneagles Agreement In the Gleneagles Agreement, in 1977, Commonwealth presidents and prime ministers agreed, as part of their support for the international campaign against apartheid, to discourage contact and competition between their sportsmen and sporting organi ...

, which discouraged any sporting contact with South Africa. A planned 1979 Springbok tour of France was stopped by the French government, which announced that it was inappropriate for South African teams to tour France, and after the 1981 Springbok tour of New Zealand went ahead in defiance of the Gleneagles Agreement, South Africa was banned by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...

from international competition until such time as apartheid ended. From 1990 to 1994 the legal apparatus of apartheid was abolished, and in 1992 the Springboks were readmitted to international rugby. On 23 March 1992 the non-racial South African Rugby Union and the South African Rugby Board were merged to form the South African Rugby Football Union. The unified body changed its name in 2005 to the current

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 ...

. SA Rugby celebrated 100 years of test rugby in 2006 and unveiled a new logo at a function at ABSA Stadium in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. Celebrations continued later in the year, with two tests against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

Present

According to

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

, South Africa has 434,219 registered players broken down into: 157,980 pre-teen males; 121,879 teen males; 143,722 senior males (total male players 423,581); 1,653 pre-teen females; 5,504 teen females; 3,481 senior females (total female players 10,638). However, this is an old report. There are 4,074 referees.

Governing body

From 1990 to 1991 the legal apparatus of apartheid was abolished, and in 1992 the Springboks were readmitted to international rugby. On 23 March 1992 the non-racial

and the

(the government-approved white-only governing body) were merged to form the South African Rugby Football Union. The unified body changed its name in 2005 to the current

National team

The national team are known as the Springboks. The jersey is a dark myrtle green with a gold collar and a logo of a leaping springbuck and a protea. The "Springbok" nickname and logo dates from the 1906/7 tour of Britain. The logo was not restricted to the white team alone though, the first coloured national team used the springbok in 1939 and the first black team in 1950.

National sevens team

South Africa also occupies an important place in the sevens version of the sport. The country hosts one of the 10 events in the annual

Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

. From 2001 through 2010, it was held at

Outeniqua Park Outeniqua Park is a multi-purpose stadium in George, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and was the home stadium of the South African leg of the IRB Sevens World Series from 2001 through 2010, after which it move ...

in George, a community along the

Garden Route The Garden Route (Afrikaans: ''Tuinroete'') is a stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdan ...

in the

. Starting in 2011, the tournament moved to the

and the much larger

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a soccer and rugby union stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa, It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches and the third place play off. It is the home of Chippa United Football Club and formerly of r ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

, and moved again in 2015 to

and

Cape Town Stadium The Cape Town Stadium ( af, Kaapstad-stadion; xh, Inkundla yezemidlalo yaseKapa) is an association football (soccer) and rugby union stadium in Cape Town, South Africa, that was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During the planning stage, it wa ...

. The Cape Town Sevens has since become one of the biggest annual events on the South African sporting calendar, attracting numerous local and international visitors over the course of the weekend on which it is held. South Africa's national team, known as Springbok Sevens, and also nicknamed "Blitzbokke", have become one of the sport's top national sides, as evidenced by their victory in the

2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series The 2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series was the tenth of an annual IRB Sevens World Series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000. South Africa national rugby sevens team ...

and recently in both 2016–2017 and 2017–18. Cape Town is scheduled to host the

2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in September. ...

Domestic competitions

Men's competitions

Super Rugby

Super Rugby is an international provincial competition featuring teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The competition, governed by

SANZAAR SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union. SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs fro ...

, was formed in 1996 as ''Super 12'' after the game turned

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and sk ...

, and became ''Super 14'' in 2006 with the addition of the new franchises Western Force in Australia and

Cheetahs The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

in South Africa. With the addition in 2011 of the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 20 ...

, a new Australian franchise, the competition rebranded itself as ''Super Rugby''. It now features five teams from each of the three countries. In 2016, Super Rugby will add three new teams. The

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

, representing the Eastern Cape, will receive a permanent place in the competition, and new teams based in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

will also join, bringing the competition to 18 teams. In the (old) Super 12 and Super 14 format, each team played each other team once in a round robin followed by a knockout finals series featuring the top four finishers. Starting in 2011, the teams were divided into Australian, New Zealand, and South African conferences; each team playing the other teams in its conference, home and away, and four teams from each of the other conferences once. The finals format also changed dramatically. The winner of each conference receives a finals berth, with the top two conference winners earning a first-round bye. The other conference winner is joined in the first round by the three non-conference winners with the best overall records without regard to affiliation. These four teams are then paired into knockout matches, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against one of the top two teams. The semi-final winners then advance to the final, hosted by the top surviving seed. When the competition expands in 2016, it will reorganise into two regional groups, each with two conferences. The Australasian Group will consist of all Australian and New Zealand teams, split into Australian and New Zealand Conferences. The African Group will consist of the six South African teams, plus the Argentine and Japanese teams, and in turn will be divided into Africa 1 and Africa 2 Conferences. The finals series will expand to eight teams in a pure knockout format. The top team from each conference will automatically qualify for the finals series and receive the top four seeds, with three additional Australasian teams and one extra team from the African Group qualifying based on table points during the regular season. As in the current format, each finals match will be hosted by the higher seed. The predecessor to professional Super Rugby was the Super 10, a tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga and Western Samoa, which ran for three years from 1993 to 1995. The South African Super Rugby teams are as follows: *

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding * Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

Lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; ad ...

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

* Stormers The Super 10 was won in 1993 by Transvaal but the Super Rugby competition was not won by a South African team until 2007, when South Africa provided the two finalists, the Bulls and the Sharks. The Bulls scored a last-second win over the Sharks in the final. The Bulls went on to win the last two titles under the Super 14 format, handing the Chiefs of New Zealand a record 61–17 thrashing in the 2009 final and defeating the Stormers in the 2010 final.

United Rugby Championship

Following a reorganisation of Super Rugby after its 2017 season, two of South Africa's six Super Rugby franchises, the

and

Southern Kings The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They we ...

, were axed. During the months preceding the announcement of Super Rugby contraction, the SARU had entered into discussions with Celtic Rugby Limited, the company that operates the European competition then known as Pro12, regarding the potential addition of the two axed Super Rugby sides to the league. Shortly before the league began its 2017–18 season, the Cheetahs and Kings were immediately admitted into the competition, which renamed itself Pro14 to reflect its new number of teams, and later expanded and renamed the United Rugby Championship. The South African teams now play alongside four each from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and two each from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The South African

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

teams include: *

Currie Cup

The Currie Cup tournament has been the premier domestic rugby union in South Africa since its first edition in 1892. Since then, the number of teams participating in the competition varied in different seasons, with the Currie Cup trophy being awarded to the champions of the top tier. Other trophies, such as the Percy Frames Trophy, the W.V. Simkins Trophy and the South African Cup (currently awarded to the winners of the First Division), were also on offer.

Other competitions

Between 1983 and 1994, teams also competed in a knockout cup competition called the Lion Cup. There was no competition in 1995, as South African rugby adjusted to the advent of professional rugby, but in 1996, a new competition – the Bankfin Nite Series – was launched. That lasted for two seasons before being replaced by 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 ...

. The Vodacom Cup was held between 1998 and 2015 and included teams from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

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 ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and the South African

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

province in addition to the fourteen South African provincial sides. The Vodacom Cup was discontinued in 2015 and replaced for 2016 with a one-off expanded Currie Cup before its permanent replacement, the Rugby Challenge, launched in 2017. The Challenge now includes only South African sides, plus the Namibian team that had sporadically featured in the Vodacom Cup. Since 2008, 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 ...

is an annual tournament held between the top university club sides in South Africa. In 2011, a second tier known as 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 ...

was added to the schedule. Non-university club sides can also compete for national honours; they compete in the annual Gold Cup competition, which was launched in 2013. It was preceded by a similar competition called the National Club Championships. There are also several youth competitions; all the provincial sides compete annually in the Under-21 and Under-19 Provincial Championships. The premier schools competition is known as the

Craven Week The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. The to ...

(there are two editions of this competition – an Under-18 competition for high schools and an Under-13 competition for primary schools), and the other national youth weeks are the Under-18 Academy Week, the Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and the Under-18 LSEN Week for Learners with Special Educational Needs.

Women's competitions

* Women's Premier Division * Women's First Division

International competitions

Rugby World Cup

South Africa did not take part in the first two World Cups, held in 1987 and 1991, as they were still under an international boycott due to

. South Africa however did play an important role in the first World Cup; despite knowing that they would not be able to participate, the delegates voted in favor and provided the swing vote for the World Cup. Since then South Africa have won the World Cup three times, in 1995 in their first appearance when they also hosted the event, and again in 2007 and 2019. The 1995 tournament concluded with then President Nelson Mandela (at the time described as the world's most famous former political prisoner), wearing a Springbok jersey and matching baseball cap, presenting the trophy to the South Africa's captain

François Pienaar Jacobus Francois Pienaar (born 2 January 1967) is a retired South African rugby union player. He played flanker for South Africa (the Springboks) from 1993 until 1996, winning 29 international caps, all of them as captain. He is best known for ...

(a young Afrikaner). Given the political history of South Africa, the moment is seen as one of the most emotional in the sport's history and symbolic of reconciliation and the birth of a new, free South Africa as a "rainbow nation". In 2007 the Springboks repeated their 1995 feat winning the 2007 World Cup by defeating England at Stade de France. In the 2011 World Cup, the Boks only managed to reach the quarter final stage where they were beaten by Australia. South Africa won the Rugby World Cup for a third time in

, once again defeating

, 32–12 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

. Upon winning for a third time, they have tied

for the most Rugby World Cup wins.

Tri Nations and The Rugby Championship

The Tri Nations was an annual competition involving New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Previously this involved each country playing one home and one away game against both other countries. From 2006 the competition was expanded with each nation playing both the other nations three times (except in Rugby World Cup years). Since 's strong performances in the 2007 World Cup a number of commentators believed they should join the Tri-Nations. This was firstly proposed for the 2008 tournament, then for 2010, but eventually this prospect came much closer to reality after the 2009 Tri Nations tournament, when SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) extended an official invitation to the Unión Argentina de Rugby (UAR), to join a new revised Four Nations tournament in 2012. This long-anticipated move was generally met with great approval from all parties involved.
The invitation was however subject to certain conditions, like the guaranteed availability of the top Puma players, most of whom play highly paid professional club rugby in Europe at present. With Argentina's entry ultimately confirmed, the Tri Nations was renamed The Rugby Championship. The involvement of the Pumas caused the competition to revert to a pure home-and-away series. The

Freedom Cup The Freedom Cup () is a minor international rugby union trophy contested between South Africa and New Zealand, during The Rugby Championship and previously during The Rugby Championship's predecessor, the Tri Nations. It was first contested in 2004 ...

(against New Zealand) and the

Mandela Challenge Plate The Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate is a rugby union trophy contested between Australia and South Africa. It is named after South Africa's first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela. History Initially designed to be held every two ye ...

(against Australia) are competed for as part of The Rugby Championship.

Africa Cup

The Africa Cup is an annual competition involving ten African nations. South Africa sent its top amateurs to this competition up until 2007.

References

External links

SA Rugby HomepageSouth African rugby union news from Planet RugbyIRB pages for South Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Union In South Africa