2019 Varsity Shield
{{morefootnotes|date=August 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Use South African English|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox rugby union season
| name = 2019 Varsity Shield
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| countries = South Africa
| date = 18 February – 11 April 2019
| champions =
| count =
| runnersup =
| promoted =
| relegated =
| matches =
| attendance =
| tries =
| top point scorer =
| top try scorer =
| prevseason = 2018
| nextseason = 2020
}}
{{2019 in South African rugby union}}
The 2019 Varsity Shield was the 9th season of the Varsity Shield, the second-tier competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 18 February and 11 April 2019 and featured seven university teams.
There was a debut in the competition for {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}, who were relegated from the Varsity Cup in 2018.
Competition rules and information
There were seven participating university teams in the 2019 Varsity Shield. They played each other once during the pool stage, either at home or 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 four teams after the pool stage qualified for the semifinals, which were followed by a final. 2019 is a non-relegation year.
Teams
{{Location map+ | South Africa | float=right | width=350 | caption=Location of teams in the 2019 Varsity Shield |places=
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-33.935050 | long=18.634166 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|CPUT}} }}
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-34.009252 | long=25.679051 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|NMU Madibaz}} | position=bottom }}
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-33.311760 | long=26.516377 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|Rhodes}} | position=left }}
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-25.734155 | long=28.161387 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|TUT Vikings}} | position=bottom }}
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-32.783353 | long=26.883349 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|UFH Blues}} | position=top }}
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-29.634799 | long=30.401756 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|UKZN Impi}} | position=bottom }}
{{Location map~ | South Africa | lat=-33.006720 | long=27.907376 | mark=Blue pog.svg | label={{Rut|WSU All Blacks}} }}
}}
The teams that played in the 2019 Varsity Cup are:
| class="wikitable collapsible sortable" style="text-align:left; width:60%;" | ||
| colspan="100%" align=center | 2019 Varsity Cup teams | ||
|---|---|---|
| width="20%" | Team name
! width="40%" | University ! width="40%" | Stadium | ||
| {{Rut|CPUT}} | Cape Peninsula University of Technology | {{Rus|CPUT Sports Stadium}} |
| {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}} | Nelson Mandela University | {{Rus|NMU Stadium}} |
| {{Rut|Rhodes}} | Rhodes University | {{Rus|Rhodes Great Field}} |
| {{Rut|TUT Vikings}} | Tshwane University of Technology | {{Rus|TUT Stadium}} |
| {{Rut|UFH Blues}} | University of Fort Hare | {{Rus|Davidson Rugby Field}} |
| {{Rut|UKZN Impi}} | University of KwaZulu-Natal | {{Rus|Peter Booysen Sports Park}} |
| {{Rut|WSU All Blacks}} | Walter Sisulu University | {{Rus|Buffalo City Stadium}} |
Pool stage
=Standings=
The final log for the 2019 Varsity Shield was:{{cite web | url=http://www.varsitycup.co.za/varsity-cup-fixtures-logs/2019/2019-varsity-shield | title=2019 Varsity Cup | work=Varsity Cup | date=26 November 2018 | accessdate=26 November 2018}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:100%; width:60%;" | |||||||
| colspan="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" | 2019 Varsity Shield log | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="width:5%;" | Pos
! style="width:35%;" | Team ! style="width:5%;" | P ! style="width:5%;" | W ! style="width:5%;" | D ! style="width:5%;" | L ! style="width:5%;" | PD ! style="width:5%;" | Pts | |||||||
| style="background:#E8FFD8;"
| 1 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}} | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 30 |
| style="background:#E8FFD8;"
| 2 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|CPUT}} | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 105 | 25 |
| style="background:#E8FFD8;"
| 3 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|WSU All Blacks}} | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 18 |
| style="background:#E8FFD8;"
| 4 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|UKZN Impi}} | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 16 |
| 5 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|UFH Blues}} | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −22 | 9 |
| 6 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|TUT Vikings}} | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -176 | 5 |
| 7 | style="text-align:left;" | {{Rut|Rhodes}} | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -160 | 4 |
| colspan="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" | | |||||||
| colspan="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" | Correct as at 20 February 2019. |
| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:center; font-size:100%; width:60%;" |
| colspan="100%" style="border:0px" | Legend and competition rules |
|---|
| colspan="100%" | |
| colspan="100%" style="border:0px" | Legend: |
| style="width:5%; background:#E8FFD8" |
| style="width:30%; background:#E8FFD8" | Qualified for the semifinals. | style="width:5%;" | | style="width:60%;" | P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TF = Tries for, TA = Tries against, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points |
| colspan="100%" | |
| colspan="100%" style="border:0px" | Competition rules: |
| colspan="100%" | Qualification:
The top four teams qualified for the semifinals. Points breakdown: |
=Matches=
==Round one==
{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 18 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}
| score = 38–21
| report = Having been relegated from the Varsity cup, NMU started the game as a team that had something to prove. They played hard and were the evetualy winners.
| away = {{Rut|CPUT}}
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 18 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|UFH Blues}}
| score = 22–36
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| away = {{Rut|WSU All Blacks}}
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 18 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|UKZN Impi}}
| score = 50–10
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| away = {{Rut|Rhodes}}
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|TUT Vikings}}}}
==Round two==
{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 21 February 2019
| time = 16:45
| home = {{Rut|Rhodes}}
| score = 13–12
| report =
| away = {{Rut|UFH Blues}}
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 21 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|CPUT}}
| score = 57–28
| report = CPUT and TUT looked evenly matched throughout the game. In the first half it looked as though the game could go either way. However in the second half, CPUT came out strong and dominated to eventually secure the game.
| away = {{Rut|TUT Vikings}}
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 21 February 2019
| time = 19:00
| home = {{Rut|WSU All Blacks}}
| score = 3–32
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| away = {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|UKZN Impi}}}}
==Round three==
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| date = 25 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}
| score = 53–8
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| date = 25 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|WSU All Blacks}}
| score = 22–28
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 25 February 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|TUT Vikings}}
| score = 7–52
| report = Playing away from their TUT stadium the game promised much. TUT cam out firing but the UKZN players absorbed the pressure and eventually came back to thoroughly dominate the game in all aspects.
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|UFH Blues}}}}
==Round four==
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| date = 4 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|UKZN Impi}}
| score = 12–41
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| away = {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}
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| stadium = {{Rus|Peter Booysen Sports Park}}
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 4 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|Rhodes}}
| score = 6–32
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| date = 4 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|UFH Blues}}
| score = 33–7
| report = Tut was soundly beaten in the forward battle. Many a scrum went backwards by the might of the UFH scrum. TUT will need to up their game to regain pride this season.
| away = {{Rut|TUT Vikings}}
| try1 = Brandt Fields,Sokhana Mpemba(2),Rocur Julies,Mihlali Nobomvu,Lukho Jongizulu
| con1 =Rocur Julies (2), Brandt Fields (2)
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| try2 = Laro Delport
| con2 = Mauritz Maritz
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|CPUT}}}}
==Round five==
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| date = 11 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|WSU All Blacks}}
| score = 27–28
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 11 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|TUT Vikings}}
| score =25 –17
| report = TUT's first win of the season. Playing for pride the bottom feeders played a tough game.In an evenly matched game, the eventual winners were TUT
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 11 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|CPUT}}
| score = 41–25
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}}}
==Round six==
{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 18 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}
| score = 62–5
| report = Can any team stop NMU? certainly not TUT who were completely dominated in all aspects. Big loss for TUT
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 18 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|UKZN Impi}}
| score = 18–24
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 18 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|Rhodes}}
| score = 10–52
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|WSU All Blacks}}}}
==Round seven==
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| date = 25 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|UFH Blues}}
| score = 9–32
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| away = {{Rut|NMU Madibaz}}
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 25 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|TUT Vikings}}
| score = 13–40
| report = This game started off as an evenly matched affair. Till the second half where WSU came back to thrash TUT. New blood is needed in TUT.
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| date = 25 March 2019
| time = 18:30
| home = {{Rut|CPUT}}
| score = 69–40
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{{Rubye|{{Rut|Rhodes}}}}
Play-offs
=Semifinals=
{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 4 April 2019
| time =
| home = FNB CPUT
| score = 40–8
| report =
| away = FNB WSU
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{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 4 April 2019
| time =
| home = FNB Madibaz
| score = 46–0
| report =
| away = FNB UKZN
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=Final=
{{rugbybox collapsible
| date = 11 April 2019
| time = 18:15
| home = FNB Madibaz
| score = 28–32
| report =
| away = FNB CPUT
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References
{{reflist}}
{{Varsity Rugby}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varsity Shield 2019}}