Local Rugby Competitions

Local Rugby Competitions

Local Rugby Competitions

Curry cup

The Curry Cup was founded in 1889, and is South Africa's leading and most competitive domestic rugby union competition. It is also one of the oldest rugby competitions in the world, and is played annually since 1968.  Currently there are eight South African teams competing in the Curry Cup competition, selected from the 14 Rugby unions in South Africa. These unions incude:

Griquas - Northern Cape (home matches in Kimberley)
Leopards - North West (home matches in Potchefstroom)
Natal Sharks - KwaZulu-Natal (home matches in Durban)
Pumas - Mpumalanga (home matches in Witbank)

Eastern Cape has two unions:

Border Bulldogs - eastern (home matches in East London)
Mighty Elephants - western (home matches in Port Elizabeth)

Free State has two unions:

Free State Cheetahs - central and western (home matches in Bloemfontein)
Griffons - eastern (home matches in Welkom)

Western Cape has three unions:

Boland Cavaliers (Afrikaans: Boland Kavaliers) - northern (home matches in Wellington)
Eagles - eastern (home matches in George)
Western Province - Cape Town metropolitan area

Gauteng has two unions that can draw only from Gauteng:

Falcons (Afrikaans: Valke) - the East Rand and other municipalities to the east and south of Johannesburg (home matches in Brakpan)
Golden Lions - Johannesburg and municipalities to its west (home matches in Johannesburg)

The only union that can draw players from parts of two provinces (Gauteng and Limpopo Province)

Blue Bulls - Pretoria, the two Gauteng municipalities to its east, and Limpopo Province (home matches in Pretoria)

Vodacom cup

The Vodacom Cup is an annual rugby competition held roughly the same time as the Super 14; and is therefore an important development tool for South African Rugby. It was first held in 1998 and was first won by Griqualand West, and was won in 2008 by the Blue Bulls.

Craven Week

The Craven Week is held for school boys in South Africa, which takes place annually. It started in 1964 and is named after the legendary coach and Springbok rugby player Dr Danie Craven.  The competition grew from 15 schools that were invited, to 20 schools at present. This competition is used by talent scouts to spot young stars, and to further their careers in rugby. The Coca-Cola Company is the main sponsor, and the tournament is currently known as the "Coca-Cola Craven Week".