# 2018 Varsity Shield

The 2018 Varsity Shield was the 8th season of the Varsity Shield, the second-tier competition in the annual Varsity Rugby series. It was played between 19 February and 9 April 2018 and featured seven university teams.
The competition was won by UWC, who beat the WSU All Blacks 55–10 in the final played on 9 April 2018, also winning promotion to the 2019 Varsity Cup.

## Competition rules and information

There were seven participating university teams in the 2019 Varsity Shield. 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

The teams that played in the 2018 Varsity Shield were:
| 2018 Varsity Shield teams |
| Team name | University | Stadium |
| CPUT | Cape Peninsula University of Technology | CPUT Sports Stadium, Cape Town |
| Rhodes | Rhodes University | Rhodes Great Field, Grahamstown |
| TUT Vikings | Tshwane University of Technology | TUT Stadium, Pretoria |
| UFH Blues | University of Fort Hare | Davidson Rugby Field, Alice |
| UKZN Impi | University of KwaZulu-Natal | Peter Booysen Sports Park, Pietermaritzburg |
| UWC | University of the Western Cape | UWC Sport Stadium, Cape Town |
| WSU All Blacks | Walter Sisulu University | Buffalo City Stadium, East London |

## Pool stage
### Standings

The final log for the 2018 Varsity Shield was:
| 2018 Varsity Shield log |
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | UWC | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 331 | 86 | +245 | 46 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| 2 | WSU All Blacks | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 137 | 111 | +26 | 20 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| 3 | UKZN Impi | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 148 | 140 | +8 | 20 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | TUT Vikings | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 118 | 155 | −37 | 16 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 5 | UFH Blues | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 116 | 126 | −10 | 16 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 6 | CPUT | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 149 | 179 | −30 | 19 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Rhodes | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 55 | 257 | −202 | 9 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Final standings. |
| 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 |

### Round-by-round

The table below shows a team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
| Team Progression – 2018 Varsity Shield |
| Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | SF | F |
| UWC | 5 (1st) | 10 (1st) | 10 (2nd) | 15 (1st) | 20 (1st) | 25 (1st) | 30 (1st) | Won | Won |
| WSU All Blacks | 0 (7th) | 5 (3rd) | 10 (3rd) | 14 (2nd) | 18 (2nd) | 22 (2nd) | 22 (2nd) | Won | Lost |
| UKZN Impi | 4 (3rd) | 4 (4th) | 6 (5th) | 11 (4th) | 12 (3rd) | 12 (4th) | 17 (3rd) | Lost | — |
| TUT Vikings | 4 (2nd) | 8 (2nd) | 12 (1st) | 12 (3rd) | 12 (4th) | 13 (3rd) | 17 (4th) | Lost | — |
| UFH Blues | 1 (4th) | 1 (6th) | 6 (4th) | 7 (5th) | 11 (5th) | 11 (5th) | 12 (5th) | — | — |
| CPUT | 0 (5th) | 1 (5th) | 1 (6th) | 1 (6th) | 2 (6th) | 7 (6th) | 9 (6th) | — | — |
| Rhodes | 0 (6th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | — | — |
| Key: | win | draw | loss | bye | |

### Matches

The following matches were played in the 2018 Varsity Shield:

#### Round one

* Bye/s: CPUT

#### Round two

* Bye/s: UFH Blues

#### Round three

* Bye/s: UWC

#### Round four

* Bye/s: TUT Vikings

#### Round five

* Bye/s: Rhodes

#### Round six

* Bye/s: UKZN Impi

#### Round seven

* Bye/s: WSU All Blacks