Vodacom Cup

Vodacom Cup

Competition logo
Sport Rugby union
Founded 1998
Inaugural season 1998
Ceased 2015
No. of teams 16
Country South Africa
Namibia
Argentina
Kenya
Last
champion(s)		 Pumas
Most titles Golden Lions /
Griquas (5)
Sponsor(s) Vodacom
Related
competitions		 Currie Cup

The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. Mobile communications provider Vodacom was the title sponsor for the entire duration of the competition.

The competition was the third most prestigious in South African rugby, behind Super Rugby and the Currie Cup. It was contested at roughly the same time as Super Rugby each season from February to June and featured a combination of Super Rugby players returning from injury, reserve players attempting to maintain their fitness levels and younger players trying to break through to the Super Rugby or Currie Cup sides. It therefore served as an important developmental competition for South African rugby.

The competition was held every season between the fourteen South African rugby unions, but several additional teams also took part during the competition's history. The Limpopo Blue Bulls, officially a sub-union of the Blue Bulls, took part as a separate team between 2013 and 2015. Namibian side the Welwitschias played in the competition between 1999 and 2001, in 2010, 2011 and in 2015. Argentine side Pampas XV participated in the competition between 2010 and 2013 and a Simba XV from Kenya competed in 2014.[1][2]

The most successful teams in the history of the competition were Griquas and the Golden Lions, each winning it on five occasions. The Golden Lions also managed to win the competition for three consecutive seasons between 2002 and 2004.

Between 2001 and 2004, the competition was split into two tier, with the top half of teams competing for the Vodacom Cup and the bottom half competing for the Vodacom Shield.

The final edition of the competition was in 2015, with SARU deciding to restructure the domestic competitions from the 2016 season onwards.

The Vodacom Cup logo 1998–2010

Teams

The results of the teams that participated in the Vodacom Cup throughout the competition's history is as follows:

Vodacom Cup 1998–2015
Team 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Blue Bulls 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd
Boland Cavaliers 2nd
Border Bulldogs
Eastern Province Kings
Falcons 1st
Free State XV 1st 2nd 2nd
Golden Lions 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd
Griffons
Griquas 1st 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st
Leopards XV 2nd
Limpopo Blue Bulls N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Argentina Pampas XV N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1st N/A N/A
Pumas 2nd 1st
Sharks XV 2nd
Kenya Simba XV N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
SWD Eagles
Namibia Welwitschias N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Western Province 1st 2nd
Key: Champion Runner-up Lost in SF Lost in QF Did not enter
Some teams played under different names. Each team's record is shown against the team name as per the 2015 Vodacom Cup.

Finals

The results of the finals played in the Vodacom Cup competition are as follows:

Vodacom Cup finals
Season Winner Score Runner-Up
1998 Griqualand West 57–0 Golden Lions
1999 Golden Lions 73–7 Griqualand West
2000 Free State Cheetahs 44–24 Griqualand West
2001 Blue Bulls 42–24 Boland Cavaliers
2002 Golden Lions 54–38 Blue Bulls
2003 Golden Lions 26–17 Blue Bulls
2004 Golden Lions 35–16 Blue Bulls
2005 Griquas 27–25 Leopards
2006 Falcons 25–17 Natal Wildebeest
2007 Griquas 33–29 Blue Bulls
2008 Blue Bulls 25–21 Free State Cheetahs
2009 Griquas 28–19 Blue Bulls
2010 Blue Bulls 31–29 Free State Cheetahs
2011 Pampas XV 14–9 Blue Bulls
2012 Western Province 20–18 Griquas
2013 Golden Lions 42–28 Pumas
2014 Griquas 30–6 Golden Lions
2015 Pumas 24–7 Western Province

The Vodacom Cup Trophy

The Vodacom Cup

Overall Record

The overall record for the teams in the Vodacom Cup competition is as follows:

Vodacom Cup Overall Record
Ranking Team Name Champions Runner-Up Semi-Final Quarter Final
1 Griquas 5 (1998, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2014) 3 3 3
2 Golden Lions 5 (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013) 2 1 6
3 Blue Bulls 3 (2001, 2008, 2010) 6 4 2
4 Free State Cheetahs 1 (2000) 2 3 5
5 Western Province 1 (2012) 1 3 5
6 Pumas 1 (2015) 1 3 1
7 Falcons 1 (2006) 0 3 0
8 Pampas XV 1 (2011) 0 0 2
9 Sharks XV 0 1 5 4
10 Boland Cavaliers 0 1 4 3
11 Leopards 0 1 3 3
12 Eastern Province Kings 0 0 1 3
SWD Eagles 0 0 1 3
14 Border Bulldogs 0 0 0 0
Griffons 0 0 0 0
Limpopo Blue Bulls 0 0 0 0
Simba XV 0 0 0 0
Welwitschias 0 0 0 0

Vodacom Shield

From 2001 to 2004, the teams finishing outside the top 4 in the pool phases played in a secondary competition called the Vodacom Shield.

Finals

The results of the finals played in the Vodacom Shield competition are as follows:

Vodacom Cup finals
Season Winner Score Runner-Up
2001 Griffons 40–27 Mighty Elephants
2002 Mighty Elephants 26–20 Natal
2003 Border Bulldogs 32–0 Griquas
2004 Boland Cavaliers 19–12 SWD Eagles

Overall Record

The overall record for the teams in the Vodacom Cup competition is as follows:

Vodacom Shield Overall Record
Ranking Team Name Champions Runner-Up Semi-Final
1 Eastern Province Kings 1 (2002) 1 1
2 Border Bulldogs 1 (2003) 0 1
3 Boland Cavaliers 1 (2004) 0 0
Griffons 1 (2001) 0 0
5 Griquas 0 1 1
SWD Eagles 0 1 1
7 Sharks XV 0 1 0
8 Western Province 0 0 2
9 Leopards 0 0 1
Pumas 0 0 1
11 Falcons 0 0 0

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Argentina and Namibia to play in Vodacom Cup". South African Rugby Union. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
  2. ↑ "SA Rugby Log – 2010 Vodacom Cup". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
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