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Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-Anglophone Europe, or 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 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.
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, and their emblem is the Springbok, a native antelope and the national animal of South Africa. The team has represented 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 reigning World Champions, having won the World Cup a record four times. South Africa are the only team to have won half of the Rugby World Cups they have participated in, and 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 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 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 SA Cup 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.
Established in 1950, the East Africa rugby union team is a multi-national rugby union team drawing players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, though the vast majority of these came from Kenya which has traditionally been the strongest rugby playing nation in the region. The team has played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides and it conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982.
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 and two-time winner of World Rugby Player of the Year. 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, an award he won for a second time in 2024. He was awarded man of the match in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand. Known for his stamina, tackling ability and high work rate, he is considered to be one of the greatest players of his generation.
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 2015 Varsity Cup was contested from 9 February to 13 April 2015. The tournament was the eighth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-university rugby union competition featuring eight South African universities.
Wilmar Romano 'Boetie' Groenewald is a South African rugby union player for the Leopards in the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is flanker.
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 – was the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa from 2017 to 2019. The competition was 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, and was intended as the long-term successor of the Vodacom Cup competition.
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 – Wilmar Arnoldi". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
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