2023 Varsity Cup

The 2023 Varsity Cup was the 16th season of the Varsity Cup, the top competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series in men's rugby union. It was played between 20 February and 27 April 2023 and featured eight university teams.

2023 Varsity Cup
Countries	South Africa
Date	20 February – 17 April 2023
Champions	NWU Eagles (2nd title)
Runners-up	UCT Ikey Tigers
Relegated	UP Tuks
Matches played	59
Top point scorer	Ntokozo Makhaza (127 - UCT Ikey Tigers)
Top try scorer	Vernon Paulo (11 - NWU Eagles)

The 2023 season included notable upsets and intense competition, such as UJ securing a home victory over defending champions UCT Ikey Tigers in March. In the championship match, NWU Eagles edged out the UCT Ikey Tigers 27‑25 to claim their second Varsity Cup title. The tournament also marked the return of full‑capacity crowds at campus stadiums and the ongoing growth of varsity rugby following COVID‑19 disruptions.

Competition rules and information

There were eight participating university teams in the 2023 Varsity Cup. They played each other once during the pool stage, either at home or away. Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).

The top four teams after the pool stage qualified for the semifinals, which were followed by a final.

Teams

Location of teams in the 2023 Varsity Cup
CUT Ixias NWU Eagles UFS Shimlas UJ UP Tuks Wits Western Cape
Western Cape
Maties UCT Ikey Tigers UWC

The teams that played in the 2023 Varsity Cup are:

Standings

The final log for the 2023 Varsity Cup was:

2023 Varsity Cup log
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	NWU Eagles	7	6	0	1	281	154	+127	2	1	27
2	UFS Shimlas	7	5	0	2	223	220	+3	2	0	22
3	UCT Ikey Tigers	7	4	0	3	263	187	+76	4	1	21
4	Maties	7	4	0	3	223	250	−27	2	1	19
5	UJ	7	3	0	4	231	254	−23	3	2	17
6	Wits	7	3	0	4	228	267	−39	2	2	16
7	CUT Ixias	7	3	0	4	262	321	−59	3	0	15
8	UP Tuks	7	0	0	7	192	250	−58	1	4	5

Legend and competition rules
Legend:
	Qualified for the semifinals.		P = Games played, W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TF = Tries for, TA = Tries against, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points
Competition rules:
Qualification: The top four teams qualified for the semifinals. Points breakdown: * 4 points for a win * 2 points for a draw * 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less * 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

Pool stage

Matches

The following matches were played in the 2023 Varsity Cup:

Round one

	20 February 2023	CUT Ixias	49–59	Wits	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	13:30		Report

	20 February 2023	UP Tuks	25–26	UFS Shimlas	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	15:00		Report

	20 February 2023	Maties	21–19	UCT Ikey Tigers	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	17:00		Report

	20 February 2023	NWU Eagles	41–28	UJ	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	17:00		Report

Round two

	27 February 2023	NWU Eagles	63–16	UFS Shimlas	Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom
	15:00		Report

	27 February 2023	Wits	35–33	UJ	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	17:00		Report

	27 February 2023	UCT Ikey Tigers	40–19	UP Tuks	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	17:00		Report

	27 February 2023	Maties	19–23	CUT Ixias	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	17:00		Report

Round three

	6 March 2023	CUT Ixias	41–39	UP Tuks	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	13:30		Report

	6 March 2023	UJ	43–24	UCT Ikey Tigers	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	15:00		Report

	6 March 2023	UFS Shimlas	26–25	Wits	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	17:00		Report

Round four

	13 March 2023	UJ	12–54	CUT Ixias	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	14:00		Report

	13 March 2023	UCT Ikey Tigers	29–12	UFS Shimlas	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	17:00		Report

	13 March 2023	Wits	54–56	Maties	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	17:00		Report

	13 March 2023	UP Tuks	22–26	NWU Eagles	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	17:00		Report

Round five

	20 March 2023	UCT Ikey Tigers	46–19	Wits	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	14:00		Report

	20 March 2023	UFS Shimlas	31–30	UJ	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	17:00		Report

	20 March 2023	Maties	46–35	UP Tuks	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	17:00		Report

Round six

	27 March 2023	UJ	47–38	Maties	UJ Stadium, Johannesburg
	14:00		Report

	27 March 2023	Wits	33–21	UP Tuks	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	15:00		Report

	27 March 2023	UCT Ikey Tigers	26–42	NWU Eagles	UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town
	17:00		Report

	27 March 2023	UFS Shimlas	68–36	CUT Ixias	Shimla Park, Bloemfontein
	17:00		Report

Round seven

	3 April 2023	CUT Ixias	31–79	UCT Ikey Tigers	CUT Stadium, Bloemfontein
	13:30		Report

	3 April 2023	Wits	3–36	NWU Eagles	Wits Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg
	17:00		Report

	3 April 2023	UP Tuks	31–38	UJ	LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria
	17:00		Report

	3 April 2023	Maties	12–44	UFS Shimlas	Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch
	17:00		Report

Play-offs

	Semi-finals				Final
	10 April 2023
	UFS Shimlas	30
					17 April 2023
	UCT Ikey Tigers	65
					NWU Eagles	27
	10 April 2023
					UCT Ikey Tigers	25
	NWU Eagles	19
	Maties	10

Semi-finals

10 April 2023 15:00

UFS Shimlas	30–65	UCT Ikey Tigers
Try: Nkula  41' Adams  55' Farmer  67' Kunene  75' Con: Wentzel  42'  68',  76'	Report	Try: Delport  5' Crous  7' Makhaza  24' Blanckenberg  27' Koevort  35',  46',  53' Hayes  65' Davis  78' Con: Makhaza  7',  24',  28',  36',  66' Pen: Makhaza (60 p), (70 p)

Shimla Park, Bloemfontein Player That Rocks - David Hayes, UCT Ikey Tigers Attendance: 5,000 +

10 April 2023 17:00

NWU Eagles	19-10	Maties
Try: Swanepoel  8',  42' De Beer  71' Con: Robinson  8',  42'	Report	Try: Topley  61' Con: Matthee  62' Drop: Matthee  39'

Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom FNB Player That Rocks - Tino Swanepoel, NWU Eagles Attendance: 5,000 +

Final

17 April 2023 17:00

NWU Eagles	27–25	UCT Ikey Tigers
Try: Paulo  9',  32' Swanepoel  35',  55' Con: Robinson  36',  56' Pen: Robinson (20 p)	Report	Try: Crous  43' Van der Walt  70' Con: Makhaza  43',  71' Pen: Makhaza (2 p), (21 p), (29 p)

Fanie du Toit Sport Ground, Potchefstroom FNB Player That Rocks - Reynhardt Crous, UCT Ikey Tigers Attendance: 5,000 +

NWU Eagles

UCT

FB 15 Santino Swanepoel RW 14 Ricardo Windvogel OC 13 Gerhardus Pretorius IC 12 Vincent Phatudi LW 11 Naiden Jaarts FH 10 Zinedine Robinson SH 9 Sylvester Hassien N8 8 Zacharias Erlank OF 7 Henlein Bertram| BF 6 Chris Vermaak RL 5 Wihan Nel LL 4 Stephan Krugel TP 3 Ruan Swiegers (c) HK 2 Vernon Paulo LP 1 Ruben du Plessis Replacements: 16 Chyle Van Zyl 17 Jason Jansen 18 Eben Brand 19 Miyelani Ngobeni 20 Jandre De Beer 21 Aphelele Madaka 22 Martin Venter 23 Matthew Fortuin Coach: Burger van der Westhuizen

FB 15 Duran Koevort RW 14 Rethabile Louw OC 13 Joshua Boulle IC 12 Kyle Lamb LW 11 Ntokozo Makhaza FH 10 David Hayes SH 9 Asad Moos N8 8 Laro Delport OF 7 Kyle Ndiao BF 6 Siphomezo Dyonase RL 5 George van der Westhuizen LL 4 Reynhardt Crous TP 3 Bryan le Roux HK 2 Keagan Blanckenberg LP 1 Luthando Woji (c) Replacements: 16 Alex Castle 17 Christian 18 Jovan Bekker 19 Jac van der Walt 20 Jason Macleod Smith 21 Ndudula 22 Lezane Davis 23 Rihaz Fredericks Coach: Tom Dawson-Squibb

Player of the Match: Reynhardt Crous UCT Ikey Tigers

Honours

The honour roll for the 2023 Varsity Cup was as follows:

2023 Varsity Cup Honours
Champions:	NWU Eagles (2nd title)
Player That Rocks:	Lourens Oosthuizen, UFS Shimlas
Forward That Rocks:	Lourens Oosthuizen, UFS Shimlas
Back That Rocks:	Zane Bester, UFS Shimlas
Rookie of the year:	Asad Moos, UCT Ikey Tigers
Top Points Scorer:	Ntokozo Makhaza, UCT Ikey Tigers (127)
Top Try Scorer:	Vernon Paulo, NWU Eagles (11)