# 1998 Vodacom Cup

The 1998 Vodacom Cup was played between 18 February and 28 May 2014 and was the 1st edition of this annual domestic cup competition. This edition of the Vodacom Cup was played between the fourteen provincial rugby union teams in South Africa.

## Competition

There were fourteen teams participating in the 1998 Vodacom Cup. These teams were geographically divided into two sections - Section A (south-western section) and Section B (north-eastern section), with seven teams in each section. Teams played all the other teams in their section twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away.
Teams received four log points for a win and two log points for a draw. Bonus log 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 two teams in each section qualified for the play-offs. In the semi-finals, the teams that finished first in each section had home advantage against the teams that finished second in the other section. The winners of these semi-finals then played each other in the final.

## Teams
### Team Listing

The following teams took part in the 1998 Vodacom Cup competition:
Section A :
| Team | Sponsored Name | Stadium/s | Sponsored Name |
| Boland | Boland | Boland Stadium, Wellington | Boland Stadium |
| Border | Border | Waverley Park, East London | Waverley Park |
| Eastern Province | Eastern Province | PE Stadium, Port Elizabeth | PE Stadium |
| Free State Cheetahs | Vodacom Free State Cheetahs | Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein | Vodacom Park |
| Griqualand West | Griqualand West | Griqua Park, Kimberley | ABSA Park |
| SWD Eagles | SWD Eagles | Outeniqua Park, George | Outeniqua Park |
| Western Province | Western Province | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town | Fedsure Park Newlands |
| Section B ||||
| Team | Sponsored Name | Stadium/s | Sponsored Name |
| Blue Bulls | Blue Bulls | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria | Minolta Loftus |
| Golden Lions | Golden Lions | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | Ellis Park Stadium |
| Falcons | MTN Falcons | Bosman Stadium, Brakpan | Bosman Stadium |
| Mpumalanga Pumas | Mpumalanga Pumas | Johann van Riebeeck Stadium, Witbank | Johann van Riebeeck Stadium |
| Natal Wildebeest | Natal Wildebeest | Kings Park Stadium, Durban | Kings Park Stadium |
| Natal Wildebeest | Natal Wildebeest | University of Natal, Durban | University of Natal |
| North West | North West | Olën Park, Potchefstroom | Olën Park |
| Northern Free State | Northern Free State | North West Stadium, Welkom | North West Stadium |

## Round-robin stage
### Logs

The final logs at the completion of the round-robin stage were as follows:
1998 Vodacom Cup Section A log :
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Griqualand West | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 627 | 257 | +370 | 9 | 2 | 51 |
| 2 | SWD Eagles | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 401 | 220 | +181 | 5 | 3 | 44 |
| 3 | Boland | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 374 | 341 | +33 | 6 | 1 | 39 |
| 4 | Eastern Province | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 285 | 355 | -70 | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| 5 | Free State Cheetahs | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 277 | 471 | -194 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 6 | Border | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 194 | 428 | -234 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 | Western Province | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 343 | 429 | -86 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 1998 Vodacom Cup Section B log ||||||||||||||
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Golden Lions | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 512 | 290 | +222 | 9 | 2 | 47 |
| 2 | Natal Wildebeest | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 507 | 341 | +166 | 11 | 0 | 47 |
| 3 | Mpumalanga Pumas | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 392 | 275 | +117 | 9 | 1 | 44 |
| 4 | Falcons | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 379 | 345 | +34 | 6 | 2 | 38 |
| 5 | Blue Bulls | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 303 | 389 | -86 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| 6 | Northern Free State | 12 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 238 | 429 | -191 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 7 | North West | 12 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 260 | 522 | -262 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = 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 Golden Lions, Griqualand West, Natal Wildebeest and SWD Eagles qualified to the Semi-final games. 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 ||||||||||||||

### Results
#### Section A
##### Round one

* Bye/s: Boland

##### Round two

* Bye/s: Griqualand West

##### Round three

* Bye/s: SWD Eagles

##### Round four

* Bye/s: Border

##### Round five

* Bye/s: Eastern Province

##### Round six

* Bye/s: Free State Cheetahs

##### Round seven

* Bye/s: Western Province

##### Round eight

* Bye/s: Boland

##### Round nine

* Bye/s: Griqualand West

##### Round ten

* Bye/s: SWD Eagles

##### Round eleven

* Bye/s: Border

##### Round twelve

* Bye/s: Free State Cheetahs

##### Round thirteen

* Bye/s: Eastern Province

##### Round fourteen

* Bye/s: Western Province

#### Section B
##### Round one

* Bye/s: Golden Lions

##### Round two

* Bye/s: Falcons

##### Round three

* Bye/s: Natal Wildebeest

##### Round four

* Bye/s: Northern Free State

##### Round five

* Bye/s: Mpumalanga Pumas

##### Round six

* Bye/s: Blue Bulls

##### Round seven

* Bye/s: North West

##### Round eight

* Bye/s: Golden Lions

##### Round nine

* Bye/s: Falcons

##### Round ten

* Bye/s: Northern Free State

##### Round eleven

* Bye/s: Natal Wildebeest

##### Round twelve

* Bye/s: Blue Bulls

##### Round thirteen

* Bye/s: North West

##### Round fourteen

* Bye/s: Mpumalanga Pumas

## Winners

* 1998 Vodacom Cup
* CHAMPIONS
* Griqualand West
* First Title