Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

2018 Varsity Shield

The 2018 Varsity Shield was the 8th season of the Varsity Shield, the second-tier competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 19 February and 9 April 2018 and featured seven university teams.

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2018 Varsity Shield
CountriesSouth Africa
Date19 February – 9 April 2018
ChampionsUWC (2nd title)
Runners-upWSU All Blacks
PromotedUWC
Matches played24
Tries scored172
(average 7.2 per match)

The 2018 Varsity Shield was the 8th season of the Varsity Shield, the second-tier competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 19 February and 9 April 2018 and featured seven university teams.

The competition was won by UWC, who beat the WSU All Blacks 55–10 in the final played on 9 April 2018, also winning promotion to the 2019 Varsity Cup.

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.

Teams

Location of teams in the 2018 Varsity Shield

The teams that played in the 2018 Varsity Shield were:

2018 Varsity Shield teams
Team name University Stadium
CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town
Rhodes Rhodes University Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown
TUT Vikings Tshwane University of Technology TUT Stadium, Pretoria
UFH Blues University of Fort Hare Davidson Rugby Field, Alice
UKZN Impi University of KwaZulu-Natal Peter Booysen Sports Park, Pietermaritzburg
UWC University of the Western Cape UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town
WSU All Blacks Walter Sisulu University Buffalo City Stadium, East London

Pool stage

Standings

The final log for the 2018 Varsity Shield was:

2018 Varsity Shield log
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 UWC 6 6 0 0 331 86 +245 46 13 6 0 30
2 WSU All Blacks 6 5 0 1 137 111 +26 20 15 2 0 22
3 UKZN Impi 6 3 0 3 148 140 +8 20 18 3 2 17
4 TUT Vikings 6 4 0 2 118 155 −37 16 22 0 1 17
5 UFH Blues 6 2 0 4 116 126 −10 16 17 1 3 12
6 CPUT 6 1 0 5 149 179 −30 19 24 2 3 9
7 Rhodes 6 0 0 6 55 257 −202 9 35 0 0 0
Final standings.

Round-by-round

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

Team Progression – 2018 Varsity Shield
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 SF F
UWC 5
(1st) 		10
(1st) 		10
(2nd) 		15
(1st) 		20
(1st) 		25
(1st) 		30
(1st) 		Won Won
WSU All Blacks 0
(7th) 		5
(3rd) 		10
(3rd) 		14
(2nd) 		18
(2nd) 		22
(2nd) 		22
(2nd) 		Won Lost
UKZN Impi 4
(3rd) 		4
(4th) 		6
(5th) 		11
(4th) 		12
(3rd) 		12
(4th) 		17
(3rd) 		Lost N/a
TUT Vikings 4
(2nd) 		8
(2nd) 		12
(1st) 		12
(3rd) 		12
(4th) 		13
(3rd) 		17
(4th) 		Lost N/a
UFH Blues 1
(4th) 		1
(6th) 		6
(4th) 		7
(5th) 		11
(5th) 		11
(5th) 		12
(5th) 		N/a N/a
CPUT 0
(5th) 		1
(5th) 		1
(6th) 		1
(6th) 		2
(6th) 		7
(6th) 		9
(6th) 		N/a N/a
Rhodes 0
(6th) 		0
(7th) 		0
(7th) 		0
(7th) 		0
(7th) 		0
(7th) 		0
(7th) 		N/a N/a
Key: win draw loss bye

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Varsity Shield:

Round one

19 February 2018 UWC 42–5 WSU All Blacks UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town  
18:30 Report1
Scoreboard23


19 February 2018 UFH Blues 18–22 UKZN Impi Davidson Rugby Field, Alice  
18:30 Report4
Scoreboard56


19 February 2018 Rhodes 7–26 TUT Vikings Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown  
18:30 Report7
Scoreboard89
Bye/s: CPUT

Round two

22 February 2018 WSU All Blacks 47–16 Rhodes Buffalo City Stadium, East London  
16:45 Report10
Scoreboard1112


22 February 2018 TUT Vikings 21–18 CPUT TUT Stadium, Pretoria  
18:30 Report13
Scoreboard1415


22 February 2018 UWC 57–16 UKZN Impi UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town  
19:00 Report16
Scoreboard1718
Bye/s: UFH Blues

Round three

26 February 2018 UFH Blues 28–7 Rhodes Davidson Rugby Field, Alice  
18:30 Report19
Scoreboard2021


26 February 2018 UKZN Impi 20–24 TUT Vikings Howard College Rugby Stadium, Durban  
18:30 Report
Scoreboard2223


26 February 2018 CPUT 21–38 WSU All Blacks CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town  
18:30 Report24
Scoreboard2526
Bye/s: UWC

Round four

5 March 2018 CPUT 14–58 UWC CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town  
18:30 Report27
Scoreboard2829


5 March 2018 WSU All Blacks 20–16 UFH Blues Buffalo City Stadium, East London  
18:30 Report30
Scoreboard3132


5 March 2018 Rhodes 0–48 UKZN Impi Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown  
18:30 Report33
Scoreboard3435
Bye/s: TUT Vikings

Round five

12 March 2018 TUT Vikings 18–77 UWC TUT Stadium, Pretoria  
18:30 Report36
Scoreboard3738


12 March 2018 UFH Blues 18–17 CPUT Davidson Rugby Field, Alice  
18:30 Report39
Scoreboard4041


12 March 2018 UKZN Impi 8–12 WSU All Blacks Howard College Rugby Stadium, Durban  
18:30 Report
Scoreboard4243
Bye/s: Rhodes

Round six

15 March 2018 UWC 39–18 UFH Blues UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town  
18:30 Report44
Scoreboard4546


15 March 2018 WSU All Blacks 12–8 TUT Vikings Buffalo City Stadium, East London  
18:30 Report47
Scoreboard4849


15 March 2018 CPUT 50–10 Rhodes CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town  
18:30 Report50
Scoreboard5152
Bye/s: UKZN Impi

Round seven

19 March 2018 UKZN Impi 34–29 CPUT Peter Booysen Sports Park, Pietermaritzburg  
18:00 Report
Scoreboard5354


19 March 2018 TUT Vikings 21–18 UFH Blues TUT Stadium, Pretoria  
18:00 Report55
Scoreboard5657


19 March 2018 Rhodes 15–58 UWC Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown  
18:00 Report58
Scoreboard5960
Bye/s: WSU All Blacks

Play-offs

Semifinals

26 March 2018 WSU All Blacks 30–21 UKZN Impi Buffalo City Stadium, East London  
18:30 Report61
Scoreboard6263


26 March 2018 UWC 66–7 TUT Vikings UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town  
18:30 Report64
Scoreboard6566

Final

9 April 2018 UWC 55–10 WSU All Blacks UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town  
19:00 Report67
Scoreboard6869
See also

See also

References

References

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