Rugby Africa Cup

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Rugby Africa Cup
Current season or competition:
Rugby football current event.svg 2021–22 Rugby Africa Cup
Rugby Africa Cup (logo).png
Sport Rugby union
Instituted2000
Governing bodyAfrica (Rugby Africa)
HoldersFlag of Namibia.svg  Namibia (2022)
Most titlesFlag of Namibia.svg  Namibia (9 titles)

The Rugby Africa Cup is a two-year men's rugby union tournament involving the top 16 African nations based on their World Rugby rankings, it is organised by Rugby Africa. The tournament was first held in 2000. [1] It was renamed the Rugby Africa Cup in November 2019, it was previously called the Africa Cup since 2006, the CAR Top 9 and CAR Top 10.

Contents

Due to South Africa being far stronger than any other African nation, South African teams have only competed five times, and won the competition three times. The winning South African teams on these occasions were the under 23 or amateur players (in 2005, 2006 and 2007).

History

The African Cup of Rugby Union took place for the first time in 2000, with five teams taking part in the event, Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the hosts South Africa, the winner of the competition. In 2004, a second division called CAR Development Trophy and now named now African Development Trophy was formed, reserved for U19 national teams. In 2006, the Africa Cup was coupled with the Rugby World Cup qualification, the winner qualified for the Rugby World Cup. In 2011, a Division 1A was created and in 2014, the division took place as a four-team championship.

The winner of the 2022 Africa Gold Cup will qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the runner-up will qualify for its final qualification tournament in November 2022.

Structure

The tournament was revamped in November 2019, this time the top 16 nations, based on their World Rugby rankings prior to the competition, will compete over a two-year period. [2] According to their website Rugby Africa explained the tournament as follows:

The first stage consists of a qualifying round: the teams ranked 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th will oppose the teams ranked 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively, in a single match at home. The winner of each of these four matches will progress to the group phase. In this second stage, the 12 teams are divided into 4 pools; inside each pool the 3 teams play against each other in a home or away game. The winner of each group will progress to the final tournament of the RAC. The top four teams from Africa will meet in one venue for the final stage of the RAC, which will include two semi-finals, a play-off for third place and, ultimately, the final to decide who will be the African champions. [3]

The 2019–20 Rugby Africa Cup was the first tournament after the restructuring, [4] but was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021–22 Rugby Africa Cup will double as a 2023 Rugby World Cup qualifier for Africa.

In addition to the main fifteens tournaments, an Under-20 competition featuring eight teams was held in April and a rugby sevens tournament involving twelve teams was held in November. A women's rugby sevens tournament is also to be scheduled.

Summary

Below is a list of previous tournaments and final results:

YearHostFinalThird place match
WinnerScoreRunner-upThirdScoreFourth
Africa Cup
2000 Flag of Morocco.svg
Casablanca, Morocco
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa Amateurs
44–14Flag of Morocco.svg
Morocco
No third place
2001 Flag of Morocco.svg
Casablanca, Morocco
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa Amateurs
36–20Flag of Morocco.svg
Morocco
No third place
2002 Flag of Namibia.svg
Windhoek, Namibia
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
1
26–19Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
No third place
Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunis, Tunisia
17–24
2003 Flag of Morocco.svg
Casablanca, Morocco
Flag of Morocco.svg
Morocco
27–7Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar and Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
2004 Flag of Namibia.svg
Windhoek, Namibia
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
39–22Flag of Morocco.svg
Morocco
No third place
2005 Flag of France.svg
Paris, France
Flag of Morocco.svg
Morocco
43–6Flag of Madagascar.svg
Madagascar
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia and Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Amateurs
2006 Flag of Namibia.svg
Windhoek, Namibia
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa Amateurs
29–27Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar and Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
2007 Flag of Madagascar.svg
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Flag of Uganda.svg
Uganda
42–11Flag of Madagascar.svg
Madagascar
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
20–17Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg
Ivory Coast
2008–09 Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunis, Tunisia
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
2
18–13Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast and Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
Flag of Namibia.svg
Windhoek, Namibia
22–10
2010 Not assigned 3
2011 Flag of Kenya.svg
Nairobi, Kenya
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
16–7Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
No third place
2012 Flag of Tunisia.svg
Jemmal, Tunisia
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
22–18Flag of Uganda.svg
Uganda
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
31–24Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
2013 Flag of Madagascar.svg
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
29–17Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
Flag of Madagascar.svg
Madagascar
48–32Flag of Uganda.svg
Uganda
2014 Flag of Madagascar.svg
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
n/a Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
n/a Flag of Madagascar.svg
Madagascar
2015 Flag of Namibia.svg
Windhoek, Namibia
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
n/a Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
n/a Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
2016 Flag of Namibia.svg
Windhoek, Namibia
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
n/a Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
Flag of Uganda.svg
Uganda
n/a Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
Gold Cup
2017 Flag of Kenya.svg
Nairobi, Kenya
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
n/a Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
Flag of Uganda.svg
Uganda
n/a Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
2018 Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
n/a Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
Flag of Uganda.svg
Uganda
n/a Flag of Tunisia.svg
Tunisia
2019 Cancelled 4
Rugby Africa Cup
2019–20 Cancelled after the qualification stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. [5]
2021–22 Flag of France.svg
Aix-en-Provence, France
Flag of Namibia.svg
Namibia
36–0Flag of Kenya.svg
Kenya
Flag of Algeria.svg
Algeria
20–12Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.
^1 The aggregate results was drawn 33-33. Namibia won on tries scored.
^2 Namibia won the series with aggregate results of 40-23.
^3 In the 2010 Africa Cup no outright winner was declared. Morocco beat Tunisia 29–6 in the final of the north section, whilst Kenya won the 2010 Victoria Cup in the south.
^4 The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Cups of the 2019 season were cancelled due to a lack of funding, brought on by the loss of broadcast sponsor Kwese Sports. [6] The Victoria Cup was revived to replace it, which was won by Zimbabwe.

Overall

The overall record of the teams are as follows:

TeamChampionsRunners-upThirdFourthLosing semi-finals
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 9 (2002**, 2004*, 2009**, 2014, 2015*, 2016*, 2017, 2018, 2022)2 (2003, 2006*)1 (2005)
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Amateurs 3 (2000, 2001, 2006)1 (2005)
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2 (2011*, 2013)4 (2016, 2017*, 2018, 2022)4 (2007, 2012, 2014, 2015)
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 2 (2003*, 2005)3 (2000*, 2001*, 2004)1 (2006)
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 1 (2012)3 (2013, 2014, 2015)2 (2016, 2022)
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 1 (2007)1 (2012)3 (2016, 2017, 2018)1 (2013)2 (2003, 2009)
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 3 (2002**, 2009**, 2011)4 (2012*, 2015, 2017, 2018)
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 2 (2005, 2007*)1 (2013*)1 (2014*)2 (2003, 2006)
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 1 (2022)
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 1 (2007)1 (2009)
* hosts
** home/away

Rugby Africa Gold Cup perpetual trophy

The Rugby Africa Gold Cup is the perpetual trophy awarded to the winner of the Africa Gold Cup, a qualifier for the Rugby World Cup organised by World Rugby's African association, Rugby Africa, since 2000. The Rugby Africa Gold Cup.jpg
The Rugby Africa Gold Cup is the perpetual trophy awarded to the winner of the Africa Gold Cup, a qualifier for the Rugby World Cup organised by World Rugby's African association, Rugby Africa, since 2000.

The Rugby Africa Gold Cup is the perpetual trophy awarded to the winner of the Africa Cup (Africa Gold Cup), an annual rugby union tournament involving Africa's top six national 15-man teams (excluding South Africa), organised by World Rugby's African association, Rugby Africa, since 2000.

The Rugby Africa Gold Cup perpetual trophy – a Rugby World Cup qualifier – has been officially unveiled during the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Congress in Brussels on May 8, 2018, in the presence of Abdelaziz Bougja, President of Rugby Africa, Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder of APO Group and main official partner of Rugby Africa, [7] Gianni Merlo, President of the International Sports Press Association, AIPS  [ it ], [8] and Mitchell Obi, President of AIPS Africa.

It has been presented to the winner of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup for the first time in August 2018.

Prior to this date, each winner of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup received a trophy.

The back of the trophy is engraved with the text "Presented by Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard, Founder of APO Group; Abdelaziz Bougja, President of Rugby Africa".

Handmade by Swatkins, Great Britain's leading Trophy, Award and Silverware manufacturer since 1898, the Rugby Africa Gold Cup is a Gold Plated Perpetual Trophy Cup. Standing at a height of 47 centimetres (18.5 in) and weighing 3.3 kilograms (7.3 lb), it features a smooth Georgian-bodied design, complete with patterned handles, a stepped lid that is supplied complete with a circular solid African mahogany base. The Trophy has been engraved with the text 'Rugby Africa Gold Cup' and has the shape of Africa in pride of place on the main body. To complete, on the gold plated plinth band this holds the names of the winners. It's estimated there is enough space for at least 70 winning teams' names to be engraved on the base of the perpetual trophy, which would allow it to be used until at least the year 2080.

Lower Level Championships

Second level

YearHostFinalThird place match
WinnerScoreRunner-upThirdScoreFourth
Africa Cup 1B
2011 Kampala, Uganda Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe n/a Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar
2012 Antananarivo, Madagascar Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar n/a Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal n/a Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
2013 Dakar, Senegal Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 45–13Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 41–5Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana
2014 Nabeul, Tunisia Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 26–6Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 32–31Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
2015 Kampala, Uganda Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda n/a Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal n/a Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast
2016 Monastir, Tunisia Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 15–14Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia No third place
Rugby Africa Silver Cup
2017 Casablanca, Morocco Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 8–3Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 47–19Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana
2018 Mufulira, Zambia Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 31–0Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia No third place
^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.

Third level

YearHostFinalThird place match
WinnerScoreRunner-upThirdScoreFourth
Africa Cup 1C
2011 Yaoundé, Cameroon Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 15–6Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 17–12Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana
2012 Gaborone, Botswana Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana n/a Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius n/a Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia
2013 Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast n/a Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria n/a Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia
2014 Gaborone, Botswana Flag of South Africa.svg Impala RC n/a Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana n/a Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
2015 Lusaka, Zambia Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia n/a Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe B
2016 Casablanca, Morocco Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco n/a Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius
Rugby Africa Bronze Cup
2017 Mufulira, Zambia Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 30–25Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia No third place
2018 Elmina, Ghana Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 23–17Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 32–22Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho
^n/a A round-robin tournament determined the final standings.

Fourth level

YearHostFinalThird place match
WinnerScoreRunner-upThirdScoreFourth
Africa Cup 1D
2011 Johannesburg, South Africa Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius 41–12Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria No third place

See also

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