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Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union or more often just rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in England in the first half of the 19th century. Rugby is simply based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is played between two teams of 15 players each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends.
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, building on competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 only included teams from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.
The Namibia national rugby union team represents Namibia in men's international rugby union competitions nicknamed the Welwitschias, are a tier-two nation in the World Rugby tier system, and have participated in seven Rugby World Cup competitions since their first appearance in 1999. They are governed by the Namibia Rugby Union.
The South Africa national rugby union team commonly known as the Springboks, is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jerseys with white shorts. Their emblem is a native antelope, the Springbok, which is the national animal of South Africa. The team has been representing South African Rugby Union in international rugby union since 30 July 1891, when they played their first test match against a British Isles touring team. Currently, the Springboks are the number one ranked rugby team in the world and are the reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup on a record four occasions. They are also the second nation to win the World Cup consecutively.
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 and the non-racial South African Rugby Union (SACOS), and took up its current name in 2005.
The Zimbabwe national rugby union team, nicknamed the Sables, represents the Zimbabwe Rugby Union in international competition. While sides representing the colony of Rhodesia have played as early as 1910, the modern day Zimbabwe rugby team did not play its first test until 1981, against Kenya. Zimbabwe has competed in two World Cups, in 1987 and 1991, in place of South Africa, who were sanctioned by the IRB at the time due to apartheid. Zimbabwe is categorized as Tier 3 Development One, which prioritizes Zimbabwe over other nations due to historical success as well as popularity of rugby in the nation.
The Eastern Province Elephants are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge competitions. They are governed by the Eastern Province Rugby Union. The team represents the Western half of the Eastern Cape province, and they play their home games at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
The Border Bulldogs is a South African professional rugby union team based in East London that participates in the annual Currie Cup competitions. They are governed by the Border Rugby Union (BRU).
The Northern Free State Griffons are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Rugby Challenge tournaments. They play out of Welkom at North West Stadium, and draw players from roughly the eastern third of Free State Province.
The Falcons – better known by their Afrikaans name the Valke and now known as the Hino Valke for sponsorship reasons – are a South African rugby union team in Gauteng province that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament.
The South Africa national under-20 rugby union team are South Africa's junior team at national level. They have been competing in the World Rugby Under 20 Championship since its inception in 2008. This Under-20 tournament replaced the previously-held Under-19 and Under-21 Rugby World Championships. Prior to 2018, it had been the country's "next senior" (second-level) 15-man national side, but World Rugby no longer allows member unions to designate age-grade sides as "next senior" teams.
Pieter Stephanus du Toit is a South African professional rugby union player. Du Toit plays as a lock or a flanker for the South Africa national team and the Toyota Verblitz in Japan Rugby League One. After winning the 2019 Rugby World Cup with South Africa, he was awarded the 2019 World Rugby Player of the Year. He was awarded player of the match in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand.
Willem Jacobus le Roux is a South African professional rugby union player. He is a versatile back-line player who generally plays as a fullback or wing, though earlier in his career he played mostly as a fly-half. He plays for the South Africa national team and for the Blue Bulls in the United Rugby Championship. He was born in Stellenbosch.
Handré Pollard is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national team and Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. His regular playing positions are fly-half, where he started for South Africa in their 2019 Rugby World Cup Final win, and inside-centre. He has previously played for the Bulls and Blue Bulls in his native South Africa, Osaka Red Hurricanes in Japan and Montpellier in France. He is one of 43 players who have won the Rugby World Cup on multiple occasions, 24 of whom are South Africans.
The 2014 Varsity Cup was contested from 3 February to 7 April 2014. The tournament was the seventh season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-university rugby union competition featuring eight South African universities.
In 1992, the South Africa Springboks played a rugby union test match against the New Zealand All Blacks, which later became known as the Return Test. The match was played at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on 15 August 1992. It was named as the Return Test as it was South Africa's first test match since the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) had banned them due to apartheid.
The Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – is the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. The competition is organised by the South African Rugby Union and featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus Namibian side the Welwitschias and the Zimbabwe Academy. The inaugural season of the competition was in 2017, set up as the long-term successor of the Vodacom Cup competition.
In 2019, the Lions participated in the 2019 Super Rugby competition, the 24th edition of the competition since its inception in 1996. They were included in the South African Conference of the competition, along with the Bulls, Jaguares, Sharks and Stormers.
The 2019 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 81st edition of the top tier of the Currie Cup, the premier domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. DirectAxis Financial Services was the tournament sponsor. It was organised by the South African Rugby Union and ran from 12 July to 7 September 2019.
The 2019 Currie Cup First Division – known as the Currie Cup sponsored by DirectAxis Financial Services for sponsorship reasons – was the second tier of the Currie Cup, the premier domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. It was the 81st edition of the competition organised by the South African Rugby Union and was played between 6 July and 31 August 2019.
References
- ↑ "SA Rugby Player Profile – Chris Massyn". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
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